The state of medical education and practice in the UK Barometer survey 2024
Why we commissioned this research:
Every year we report on, The state of medical education and practice in the UK. We use our data, wider research evidence, and analysis to provide comprehensive insight into the profession.
The Barometer survey is one of the key sources of evidence that underpins our report. The survey runs annually and seeks to gain evidence of how doctors’ experiences of practising in the UK are changing. This informs our work to support doctors and address the challenges and pressures they are encountering.
What did the research involve?
The survey, as in previous years, covered doctors’ satisfaction in their working lives, career intentions over the next year, experiences in the workplace, and adaptations to pressurised environments.
4,697 doctors currently working in the UK completed the survey between 10 September — 14 October 2024. To make sure findings are representative of all licensed doctors, weighting was applied using GMC population data on age, ethnicity, registration, and place of primary medical qualification.
Key findings:
- Across key measures, 2024 barometer survey findings indicate a continued improvement, but remain lower than the 2019 pre-COVID-19 baseline.
- The proportion of doctors satisfied with their day-to-day work increased to almost three in five (59%). The proportion dissatisfied (33%) has decreased since 2023 (39%) but is still higher than the 2019 baseline (30%).
- There are signs that doctors’ wellbeing has also improved: the proportion at high risk of burnout has decreased since 2023 (18% in 2024 compared to 21% in 2023) but remains slightly higher than 2019 (16%).
- An improvement in measures related to workload seen between 2022 and 2023 has continued this year. Since 2023, there has been a reduction in the proportion of doctors working beyond their rostered hours (from 66% to 62%), struggling to take breaks (from 65% to 60%) and feeling unable to cope with their workload (from 38% to 33%) at least once a week.
- While the vast majority of doctors enjoy their interactions with patients (84%), many still report finding it difficult to manage patient’s expectations (46%) or provide patients with a sufficient level of care (40%) at least once a week.
- Only four in ten doctors (39%) said they feel able to progress their career in the way they want. High workload pressure, competition for training posts and lack of support for training & development were the most common reasons why doctors don’t feel this way. Conversely, key reasons doctors gave for why they feel able to progress their career were supportive management & colleagues, as well as access to training & development opportunities.
- In 2024, 15% had taken hard steps towards leaving the UK medical profession. This is in line with the 16% recorded in 2023. The demands of doctors’ current role adversely impacting their wellbeing was a key reason given for wanting to leave.
