AROUND four in 10 doctors struggle to sufficiently care for patients at least once a week, rising to six in 10 among GPs, a major survey by the General Medical Council has found.

The GMC’s annual poll of more than 4,600 doctors, released today, found overall job satisfaction declined slightly in 2025, returning to levels last seen in 2023.

Some 41 per cent said they found it hard to provide sufficient care at least once a week, rising to 60 per cent among GPs and 51 per cent among recently qualified doctors — pressures the report linked to “clear emotional strains for doctors, including guilt, frustration, a reduced sense of purpose, and feelings of moral injury.”

More than half of doctors cited delays to care, treatment or tests as the main barrier to patient care, rising to 73 per cent among GPs, alongside staffing shortages and workload pressures.

Only one in five doctors said co-ordination between primary and secondary care was currently effective.

GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said: “Patients rightly expect good care from their doctors, and doctors are clear about what good care looks like.

“Yet many tell us that providing that level of care is difficult. It is not due to a lack of professionalism or commitment, but because of the pressures in their working environment.”

The survey also found the proportion of doctors considering leaving the profession permanently, for reasons other than retirement, rose to 22 per cent from 19 per cent in 2024.

“Unless those pressures are addressed, doctors will continue to struggle to deliver the care patients need and expect,” Mr Massey said.

“However committed doctors may be, the quality of care they can provide is shaped by the conditions in which they work.”