A survey, commissioned by the BMA to look at public attitudes to the NHS and doctor unemployment, reveals the public has little or no confidence in the Government’s plans to improve standards and meet targets anytime soon.

Responses also show the public feels the Government should take action to end doctor unemployment.

These results have been published as part of a speech given to doctors from across the UK in Liverpool by Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA’s chair of council, at the opening of the Association’s annual conference in Liverpool today.

Professor Banfield also said the BMA has listened to prolonged and repeated concerns from doctors that the country’s medical regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC), has failed to protect patients and support doctors. As a result, the BMA is now calling for the creation of a new medical regulator, solely for doctors.

Results from a recent survey of doctors by the BMA indicated that the majority have no confidence in the GMC and more than 80% of respondents support the creation of a new medical regulator.

Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA Chair of Council, warned that the GMC’s approach to regulating Physician Associates has led to ‘incessant and unsafe blurring of professional boundaries that threaten the very foundations of practising medicine, what it means to be a doctor’ and of a ‘dangerous obsession with substituting doctors’ at the expense of patient safety.

He said that ‘more than 150 years ago the BMA, led by our founder Sir Charles Hastings, campaigned for the creation of a medical regulator that could protect the public’ and that ‘today we have to unearth the old battles, we have to fight for the soul of our profession and renew our calls for a regulator, one unburdened by the abject failure of what the GMC has become’.

These comments reflect the BMA’s long-standing criticism of the GMC's treatment of doctors and, more recently, its approach to regulating Physician Associates in a way that fails to distinguish them from qualified doctors. The survey of doctors also reveals that more than 60% of respondents believe the GMC is failing to keep patients safe and fulfil its primary function of protecting the public.

During the speech he announced the launch of a BMA register for doctors to sign in support of a new regulator for doctors only. Professor Banfield said in his speech that the GMC failed the medical profession and patients for far too long, that it is ‘clueless about how medicine is delivered. Condescending of the working lives of doctors. Contemptuous of the profession’s legitimate safety concerns, it has disregarded its statutory duty to protect patients.’

The BMA believes a new medical regulator should:

• ^{have a clear statutory duty to protect the public, rather than simply being an overarching objective.} 
• ^{regulate doctors only, providing the public with a clear distinction between uniquely qualified doctors and non-doctor roles.}
• ^{enforce new statutory protections of medical practitioner titles, to ensure the public is not confused by perplexing NHS job titles that blur the lines between doctors and non-doctors.}

Professor Banfield said it was time for an independent regulator that once again commands the confidence of the profession.’

The public’s confidence in the Government’s plans to improve standards and targets in the health services by the end of this parliament, also featured in Professor Banfield’s speech.

A survey of the public carried out on behalf of the BMA revealed the majority (61%) to have little or no confidence in the Government’s plans to cut how many people wait more than four hours in Emergency Departments and even more, (65%) have little or no confidence that the Government will restore the maximum 18-weeks people wait for treatment from their referral. In the same survey, more than 90% said it was important, or very important that the Government takes action to fix the ongoing issue of doctor unemployment.

On this, Professor Banfield said the public shared the doctors’ scepticism and that ‘if Wes Streeting wants to be remembered for saving the NHS, rather than joining the long line of those who broke it, then this is his chance. Ultimately, the detail will show if it’s a genuine plan to reform the NHS and value its staff, or just another press release dressed up as progress.'

With the announcement of the Government’s 10 Year Plan expected in the coming weeks, Professor Banfield said this Government must not make the same mistakes as previous ones have. He said the Plan needs to address doctor unemployment and, ’Whether resident doctors continue to face unemployment from ludicrous specialty bottlenecks. Another debacle that the NHS has been aware of for years, but hasn’t lifted a finger to resolve, let alone taken any responsibility for.'

He went on to say, ‘My message to governments is clear – doctors should be the ones to train the next generation, to drive innovation and learning, and you need to pay them what they are worth.'

ENDS

Notes to editors

The speech was given from 0930 Monday 23rd June. Please check against delivery.

2065 members of the public were surveyed between the 13th and 16th June 2025.

1539 doctors responded to a BMA survey, conducted between the 13th and 16th June 2025. 

Question: Would you support the creation of a new medical regulator focused solely on doctors? A total of 1,402 responses were received 

Responses:   

Not sure          12.3%   172  

No                    5.6%     78  

Yes                  82.2%  1152  

Question: To what extent do you agree with the following statement: "I have confidence in the GMC’s ability to fulfil its primary function of protecting the public?” A total of 1,404 responses were received. 

Responses:   

Strongly agree                              3.1%                                     43  

Agree                                           13.1%                                   184  

Neither agree nor disagree          22.6%                                   318  

Disagree                                      27.1%                                   380  

Strongly disagree                         34.1%                                   479  

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.