The BBC's Andrew Hosken said few people appreciated the central vetting role played by the DoH, believing it was mainly an issue between local trusts and individual staff members.
The BBC's Andrew Hosken said children's protection charities such as Kidscape had found that publicity surrounding cases such as that of missing Cambridgeshire schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman and other high-profile disappearances had increased parents' concerns.
The DoH revealed that its officials had approved more than 400 severance payments in the last five years, but it said it did not know how much of the money may have been tied to so-called gagging clauses - the BBC Radio 4 Today programme's Andrew Hosken reported.