Security checks still have to be completed on 1,700 doctors, raising the prospect that many are being asked to work illegally.

Figures released to The Times show that the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has been asked to check 4,500 doctors’ records since June 16, most of whom will have been junior doctors starting work on August 1. But the bureau has only been able to complete 2,800 of those checks.

The Department of Health had claimed that only 30 junior doctors would not have been checked in time.

The worrying figures come after Gordon Brown promised last month to tighten checks on junior doctors, particularly those from overseas, after the failed terrorist attacks on Glasgow and London.

A bureau spokesman confirmed that it had received about 4,500 requests for checks on people with the job title “doctor” since June 16. By August 1, it had completed 2,800 checks. The figures include all NHS and privately employed doctors, he said. “We expect to still work within our own target of completing 90 per cent of checks within 28 days.”

About 30,000 junior doctors took up new training positions on August 1 as part of the annual training rotation, according to the British Medical Association. Hundreds of trainees have never worked for the NHS before and should undergo full security checks to ensure that they are fit to practise and do not put the public in danger.

Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, said that the figures appeared to show that many junior doctors had not been checked. “Once the further risk associated with the attacks in Glasgow had been raised, surely the department would have ensured that accelerated checks had been completed by August,” he said.

Names of new British-based doctors are put through an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check to discover whether a person has a criminal record or allegations of misconduct that remain on police file.

Overseas doctors are supposed to be checked by the hospital. Most are asked to bring certification from their home countries, which is then verified by the authorities. The checking requirement can be set aside if there is evidence of a previous disclosure to an NHS employing organisation within the previous three years.

Trust managers said last week that no checks would be made on some junior staff before they were put to work on wards. Jeremy Levy, director of medical education at the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, in West London, said: “Because the system is so chaotic, we have only been told of the identity of junior doctors starting with us over the past ten days. Last year, we were given three months’ notice and so we could check their names with plenty of time to spare. But this year, we will have to start employing some doctors without any.

“Overseas doctors can take months to check. We will have no choice but to allow them to work until we have received full police clearance.”

A department spokesperson said that the figures were misleading. “The figure of 1,700 refers to all doctors awaiting checks, including junior, senior, NHS and nonNHS. However, in practice no NHS doctor is allowed to treat patients unsupervised unless they have received a CRB check.”

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