More than four in ten doctors say they struggle at least once a week to provide the standard of care they would like, according to a General Medical Council report published on 13 August 2026, with workload, staffing shortages and administrative burden identified as the main causes. The findings, drawn from an annual survey of over 4,500 doctors, prompted the Royal College of Physicians to warn that doctors in the early stages of their careers are encountering particular difficulty with progression and development.
The report, part of the council's annual series on the state of medical education and practice, was published weeks before applications open for specialty training posts starting in 2027. Recruitment for those posts opens on 22 October 2026, and the priority rules introduced by the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 will apply at shortlisting as well as at the offer stage for the first time.
Dr Dan Furmedge, senior censor and vice president for education and training at the Royal College of Physicians, stated that the findings on early-career doctors should concern health leaders, and that training is too often squeezed by service pressures despite being the foundation of a sustainable workforce.
The college pointed to its own national survey of more than 1,000 resident doctors, which found that 26 percent felt ready for the next step in their career. Seventy-two percent reported that staffing shortages and rota gaps were affecting their training and wellbeing, 66 percent cited excessive workload and 59 percent identified poor information technology systems. Fewer than one in five, at 17 percent, considered current recruitment processes to be fair.
Dr Stephen Joseph, co-chair of the college's resident doctor committee, stated that these are not isolated problems but symptoms of a system under sustained pressure, and that protecting training time is central to retaining staff and maintaining safe care.
Dr Nalin Wickramasuriya, a retired consultant paediatrician and founder of Medical Interview Preparation, stated that the survey describes a cohort preparing for competitive selection with less of the informal supervision and rehearsal that senior colleagues once had time to provide. He added that Online Resident Doctor Interview Coaching and structured practice under realistic conditions have become a substitute for opportunities that were previously built into the working week, and that candidates who rehearse deliberately tend to reason more clearly when questioned by a panel.
The findings arrive while NHS England conducts a review of medical education and training, and ahead of the publication of a ten year workforce plan. The Royal College of Physicians has argued that training should be treated as a core function of the health service rather than an activity that can be reduced when services come under strain, and that technology cannot substitute for investment in supervision and staffing.
Medical Interview Preparation provides one-to-one coaching and mock interviews for doctors applying to specialty training posts in the United Kingdom. The company offers personalised consulting, group programmes and digital learning resources designed to help candidates prepare for competitive selection processes.
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For more information about Medical Interview Preparation, contact the company here:
Medical Interview Preparation
Nalin Wickramasuriya
+447740619786
bpnalinw@gmail.com
19a Bacon Lane
Hayling Island
Hampshire
PO11 0DN
United Kingdom
