ONE of London’s busiest accident and emergency departments was ordered to make improvements yesterday after regulators found there were not enough doctors to meet demand.

North Middlesex University Hospital’s urgent and emergency care services were rated “inadequate” by Care Quality Commission inspectors.

Staff at the hospital told inspectors they were worried about patient safety because middle-grade doctors were often left in charge of the emergency department overnight — with no consultant present after 11pm.

Some patients had to wait overnight to be told whether they would be admitted or sent home.

Nurses told inspectors they had spent a “substantial amount of time supporting and advising more junior doctors.”

In recent weeks, it has emerged that the General Medical Council issued preliminary warnings to North Middlesex Hospital leaders because of a lack of training for junior doctors.

The doctors’ regulator threatened “withdrawal of approval for the trainees in the emergency department.”