One in three hospitals are relying on inexperienced doctors to look after patients in A&E, the Conservatives said.
Health regulators have highlighted concerns that patients are being put at risk in some hospitals because of a lack of senior doctors on duty in accident and emergency departments.
It was a key criticism in the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal and also at Basildon Hospital uncovered last week.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Conservatives found almost one in three hospitals did not have a senior doctor on duty including 13 per cent which only had a junior doctor present.
Hospital trusts were questioned about staffing on a range of nights.
It was found that hospitals rated poorly for patient safety by the Dr Foster report, released at the weekend, also had low staffing levels in A&E.
Of the five worst hospitals for patient safety three did not have a sufficiently senior doctor on duty or used 40 per cent or more agency staff on either night. They were Basildon and Thurrock, Scarborough and North East Yorkshire and Weston Area Health.
When asked about staffing on a weekday night, seven hospitals reported that at least half their nurses were agency or bank and three reported that at least half their doctors were agency staff.
On a weekend night, there were ten hospitals with half of the nurses on duty working for an agency, and six trusts with half of the doctors on duty being agency workers.
Read more at The Telegraph.
