Hospital interns have been asked to do duties they are not qualified for, according to a new medical council report.

Nine hospitals across two hospital groups were visited as part of the Medical Council's review of training standards.

The South/South West Hospital Group was found to be 3% non-complaint with intern training standards, and 8% non-compliant in relation to specialist training standards.

The Saolta University Health Group, meanwhile, was 7% non-compliant with specialist training standards.

According to the council, similar issues emerged across the hospitals, in particular around the issue of protected training time.

The reports also identify a number of other concerns raised during inspections of the individual hospitals - including cases of interns being asked to perform duties above their grade; trainees left unsupervised while a consultant was away for a week; and allegations of bullying being observed by interns "which went unchallenged by other members of a multidisciplinary team".

In another case, a medical registrar left interns to write notes in patients' charts 'regardless if they have seen the patient or not'.

Medical Council President Rita Doyle said: "Bullying in the work place will not be tolerated. Interns and NCHDs must have the resources required to allow them to treat their patients and to develop their skills while furthering their education.

"When doctors are overworked without appropriate rest periods and breaks this can lead to an impact on their physical and mental wellbeing and, in turn, could become a patient safety issue.”

Úna O'Rourke, the council's Director of Education, Training and Professionalism, said the the nine hospitals were 'at least partially complying' with the council's standards - but numerous similar issues arose across many of the training sites.

However, she added that "many positives were identified during the inspections", in particular the commitment from those in charge of the training programmes.