Unqualified student nurses are regularly running hospital wards while they are training, potentially putting patients at risk, according to a survey.

The Royal College of Nursing surveyed more than 1,500 student nurses about their experiences during clinical placements and found that 44 per cent had been left alone “without any warning and without a registered doctor or nurse present”. Of those, 93 per cent said that it had happened more than once.

Peter Carter, the college’s general secretary, blamed the NHS deficits crisis and said that the practice compromised patient safety.

About 15 per cent of students said that they had witnessed adverse events while left in charge, such as a patient taking a severe turn for the worse or a mistake being made about patient care.

A separate poll by the college of senior nurses at 84 hospitals also suggested that a lack of qualified nurses on wards was affecting patient care. About 60 per cent of senior nurses said that care was “compromised” at least once or twice a week by inadequate staffing levels.

Student nurses must complete 2,300 hours of clinical practice and should never be left unsupervised, according to the college. The only exception would be if a nurse were close to qualifying and time alone on a ward had been prearranged.

Dr Carter said: “Up and down the country, we are seeing nursing jobs being lost and posts being frozen and deleted to cut costs. That means those registered nurses left have to do ever more with even fewer resources.”

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, a health minister, said: “Since 1997 we have recruited around 85,000 more nurses and now have record numbers providing safe, high-quality treatment for millions of NHS patients every year. Patient safety is of paramount importance to government and NHS staff alike and we would expect any nurse, whether in training or in practice, to report any incident they feel has an adverse effect on patient safety.”

Times Recommends

• Swine flu vaccine for all as drug rushed through
• Artificial sperm and the race to build a baby
• BBC jets out stars to tout for prizes