The Royal College of Physicians says NHS doctor shortages are driving longer hospital stays, bigger waiting lists, and rising burnout
NHS doctors across the UK are facing unprecedented pressure as the NHS struggles with deep staffing gaps, warns the Royal College of Physicians. With workloads increasing and rotas stretched to the limit, both patients and staff are feeling the strain. The RCP states that urgent attention is needed, as the current situation is placing the system and its personnel under significant pressure.
Exposing the NHS and the pressure doctors are facing
A major new report, The Voice of Physicians: RCP Emerging Themes Report 2025, claims that NHS doctors across the UK are delivering high-quality care under ‘unrelenting pressure’, with many medical professionals confirming that corridor care, rota gaps, and overstretched services are routine in hospital care.
The NHS system is under extreme strain, with rising workloads, deteriorating staff morale and numbers, as well as growing concerns about the safety of patient care, forcing the healthcare system to become increasingly unsustainable.
The report, launched at Med+ 2025, draws on RCP hospital visits between October 2024 and September 2025, as well as national surveys from 2025 , including the Focus on Physicians and the Next Generation survey.
Within the report’s findings, the RCP exposed:
- 83% say consultant rota gaps directly impact patient care, primarily through increased length of stay and reduced access to outpatient care
- 45% enjoy their job less than last year
- 66% report resident doctor rota gaps on acute medical rotas
- 78% had provided care in corridors or waiting areas in the past month
- 68% report problems with delayed discharges
- 59% report consultant vacancies in their departments
- 30% have made plans to bring forward their retirement age.
Urgent national intervention is desperately needed
The RCP is calling for urgent national action, including:
- A long-term workforce plan with independently verified projections for consultant and specialist numbers to meet population need, and fair distribution of doctors across all regions and specialities.
- Fairer, more flexible training reform with protected time for supervision and education built into every programme.
- Action to close rota gaps, reduce reliance on locums and recognise the non-clinical work that keeps the NHS running.
- Support to retain senior doctors, making consultant roles more sustainable and enabling flexible retirement options.
- A national commitment to end corridor care, recognising it as unsafe and unsustainable, with transparent data published all year round.
- Investment in social care, to tackle delayed discharges, improve patient flow and prevent avoidable hospital admissions.
- Stronger, clinically led leadership, ensuring inclusive decision-making and visible accountability at every level of the system.
Professor Mumtaz Patel, RCP president, said: “Physicians are working tirelessly to deliver safe, compassionate care in an NHS that is under extreme pressure. But we cannot continue to ask NHS doctors to perform the impossible. Corridor care is unsafe and unsustainable – it must never become normalised. The RCP is calling for coordinated national action to tackle workforce shortages, protect training time and invest in social care to restore safe patient flow.”
Dr Catherine Rowan and Dr Stephen Joseph, co-chairs of the RCP Resident Doctor Committee, said:“We want to learn and deliver great patient care, but the reality is that service pressures often leave little time for training or reflection. When you’re constantly firefighting, supervision and education are often the first areas to get pushed to the margins – yet they’re essential for patient safety and for developing confident and competent future consultants.”
Responding to our following generation survey, one resident NHS doctor told us: “When someone is off sick or away, we’re just expected to absorb the extra workload without recognition, or support, doing the work of two people with no additional time, resources or pay. When I advocate for my training needs, I’m made to feel like a burden or a troublemaker. There’s no accountability for training failures, either locally or regionally, and many consultants are so overwhelmed themselves that they’re no longer in a position to fight for us and their future colleagues. The system is broken, and we’re burning out trying to hold it together.”
Professor Patel added:“We heard powerful stories of dedication, innovation and teamwork from physicians at every stage of their careers. Their expertise must be at the heart of health system reform. Listening to NHS doctors and acting on what they tell us is the only way to ensure that the NHS remains safe, sustainable and fit for the future. Our response to the 10 Year Workforce Plan will emphasise the importance of genuine and meaningful engagement with clinicians as key to the delivery and implementation of NHS plans.”
