RCP responds to GMC national training survey

Professor Mumtaz Patel, RCP president, said:

‘While this year’s GMC national training survey offers some small green shoots of encouragement, ultimately the changes do not represent the material improvement that doctors in training programmes deserve to see in their everyday working lives. More than three in five remain at moderate or high risk of burnout - a level that is simply unsustainable for individuals, the future workforce and for patient care. 
 
‘A one percentage point fall in the proportion of doctors at high risk of burnout may be a small step in the right direction, but it is not enough when the numbers at moderate and low risk have both increased by the same amount. In reality, there has been virtually no change in how resident doctors experience their daytime workload.  
 
‘There has also been just one percentage point increase in the number of doctors who say they have never heard insults or stereotypes directed at someone in their presence, because of a protected characteristic. It is unacceptable that two-thirds have witnessed this type of behaviour - every doctor should be able to train in an environment that is safe, inclusive and respectful. 
 
‘Today’s findings continue to echo the concerns raised in our own RCP national next generation survey of resident doctors: training is too often compromised by service pressures and working conditions that leave doctors unable to thrive. 
 
‘We need a dedicated NHS workforce retention strategy, underpinned by investment in the medical workforce to deliver excellent patient care. That means getting the basics right: safe and supportive workplaces, flexible working and training, protected time for career development, and proper rest and study facilities around the clock. It also means a zero-tolerance approach to harassment, bullying and sexual misconduct, with organisations and individuals held to account. 
 
‘The GMC’s findings have an important guiding role to play in phase 2 of the medical training review. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver the practical, evidence-based reform doctors in training deserve.' 

Dr Stephen Joseph, co-chair of the RCP Resident Doctor Committee, said: 

'The contradictions in these results are striking. Doctors rate their teaching and clinical supervision highly, and most feel positive about their overall training experience, yet 61% are at moderate or high risk of burnout.

'It is notable that in our own Next Generation survey in 2025, only 44% of resident doctors said they were satisfied with their training, with the majority pointing to poor staffing, rota gaps and unmanageable workload as the biggest barriers to learning.

'That tells us the GMC national training survey may be asking the right narrow questions about training quality, but not enough about the conditions doctors are training in. Good teaching cannot compensate for a poor working environment, and urgent action is needed to reduce burnout.

‘Regrettably, this survey also shows a real increase in trainees reporting unwelcome sexual conduct on a daily or weekly basis. Any rise in this measure is unacceptable. Resident doctors must be able to work and learn free from harassment, and we expect organisations to treat this as an urgent priority.

'Training cannot be effective in a system that gives way when services are under pressure. The medical training review must listen closely to these findings and deliver reforms that protect learning time, invest in workforce capacity and give trainers the resource and support to deliver high-quality training.

'Without this, we risk continuing to ask the next generation of physicians to absorb pressures that the system itself has failed to resolve.'

Dr Seán Coghlan, chair of the RCP Student Foundation Doctor Network, agreed: 

‘For doctors at the start of their careers, these results will feel all too familiar. Modest changes in national figures do not necessarily translate into a noticeably better working life.

‘Doctors need to see tangible improvements including safe staffing, manageable workloads, protected learning opportunities and a clear route into the training posts they need to progress. 

‘The NHS cannot afford for early-career doctors to feel that their training, wellbeing and future are an afterthought. The medical training review is an opportunity to turn the evidence from this survey into change that doctors can genuinely feel in their working lives.’