Responding to the GMC's 2026 "State of medical education and practice in the UK: Workplace experiences" report, Dr Amit Kochhar, representative body chair at the BMA, said:
"This report makes for concerning reading. The limited gains in job satisfaction for doctors over the last two years have been wiped out: it is not difficult to see why. Over the last two years doctors have been trying to treat patients as best they can but have been stymied by a combination of unsustainable workloads, bottlenecks in the system, and poor treatment by employers. It is concerning enough that in England and Northern Ireland four in ten doctors cannot provide the level of care they would like, and even more troubling that in Wales and Scotland this figure is nudging 50 per cent.
"Ultimately this is a patient safety issue. Doctors cannot support patients unless they themselves are supported. With six in 10 GPs feeling unable to give the care they would like the government has a major challenge ahead that in England must be met by the upcoming Workforce Plan.
"This report also shows how important it is to tackle training bottlenecks. The recent industrial action in England by resident doctors should not have been necessary in order to have government step up to the plate and produce some plan to give resident doctors confidence in their future careers. Only one in five foundation doctors report they are able to progress their careers as they would want, though given recent industrial action this should have been apparent to the government and workforce planners without this survey.
"It is not only doctors in formal training who show worrying declines in job satisfaction. Locally employed doctors have shown a steep decline in job satisfaction with only 54% reporting satisfaction compared to 63% last year. These are also the doctors most likely to report considering taking their skills abroad; another worrying sign. It remains to be seen whether the recent resident doctor deal providing greater job security to locally employed doctors will be enough to move this dial, but their precarious position in the medical job market makes them a flashing warning light in the system.
"Any solution to the problem relies on greater training capacity, but this depends itself on the capacity of the training workforce, which looks in doubt. Specialist trainer satisfaction fell from 61% in 2024 to 53% in 2025. Their high risk of burnout rose from 15% to 20%, and the proportion identifying workload pressure as contributing to compromised patient safety or care rose from 48% to 59%.
"It is essential that senior doctors get their protected time to engage in training activities if they are to be able to help ease pressures and bottlenecks further down the resident doctor training ladder. While there is some hope to be derived from the report that doctors are finding AI helpful in dealing with administrative burdens, the upcoming workforce plan cannot avoid the need to get the fundamentals correct. These fundamentals remain rooted in the capacity of the training system."
Notes to editors
The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.