The Conservatives have been accused of putting children in danger by wanting hospitals to adopt stricter checks that would clog the system with red tape.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley carried out research that showed routine checks were not being carried out at a number of hospitals, including Frenchay and Southmead, on child admissions to find out if they were on the child protection register.

It came in the wake of the case of baby P where medical staff failed to spot telltale signs of the abuse that eventually killed him.

Critics claims the Tory plan would mean hospitals carrying out time-consuming and unnecessary checks.

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said: "To force NHS staff to check every child admitted to A&E, regardless of whether its for meningitis or from a car crash, to see whether they are on the child protection list, they say, would be unhelpful and even dangerous."

North Bristol Trust admitted it did not carry out routine checks on all child admissions.

But a spokesman said: "The issue of child protection is something everyone at North Bristol NHS Trust takes extremely seriously. All our senior nurses and doctors have child protection training."