Nearly half of student nurses in the NHS have been left alone with a patient at some point during their training, the results of a new survey have shown.
The figures from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) reveal that 44 per cent of trainees had been left in sole charge of patients without any warning by doctors and senior medical staff.
Eight in ten of the 1,500 trainee nurses questioned in the survey claim this has happened at least three times.
Additionally, more than one in six believed that the health of a patient under their care at this time had been adversely affected as a result.
The RCN also claims over 80 per cent of respondents had not reported being left alone, while a further third believed that complaining about the incident would jeopardise their overall grade.
The news has been slammed by critics who claim cuts in staffing by the NHS are putting patients' lives at risk.
RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: "This is yet another example of how deficits-driven cost cutting is compromising patient safety."
Recent figures from RCN claim more than 22,300 NHS posts in England have been lost in the past 18 months.
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