Warning over hospital security

Hospitals are "just as vulnerable as any nightclub", a security management specialist based in a London hospital told Health Service Journal.

The warning comes just days after it emerged that seven of the eight people held over the failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow had links to the NHS.

The unnamed security expert said thefts of lethal substances could go unnoticed for days. He told the journal: "Most hospitals give staff cards that let them into certain areas, but it's easy to lend someone your pass. That could give them access to x-ray machines, isotopes, chemicals and disease slides. It could be days before anyone realised a virus was missing."

He added: "The official view is that the threat to hospitals is fairly low, but we're just as vulnerable as any nightclub - these people want maximum impact."

The problem could be made worse by weaknesses in vetting of hospital employees, the journal reported.

David Amos, the Department of Health's former deputy director general of workforce, said up to one in five NHS trusts were not following guidelines on screening staff.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered the new security minister, Admiral Sir Alan West, to examine potential failings in NHS overseas recruitment procedures after the attempted terrorist attacks on central London and Glasgow Airport.

Admiral West, former head of the Royal Navy, reported back to Mr Brown in private with his initial findings on Monday.

Of the eight people held over the attacks, five are doctors or trainee doctors in Britain, one is a doctor in Australia who previously worked in the UK, and one is a hospital laboratory researcher.