Trainee Doctors Report Rise in Unwelcome Sexual Conduct

Nearly a fifth more trainee doctors reported unwelcome sexual conduct on a daily or weekly basis this year, the General Medical Council’s (GMC) 2026 National Training Survey has found, even as most trainees continued to rate their teaching and clinical supervision highly. The survey, which assesses working conditions, workplace culture, and training quality for doctors in postgraduate medical posts across the UK, ran between March and May and drew responses from more than 51,000 doctors in training and nearly 23,000 trainers. As well as this UK-wide report, the GMC published separate country-level briefings for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales this year. Responding to a new question on multidisciplinary working, 83% of trainees said their organisation encouraged a culture of shared learning and knowledge-sharing between healthcare professions. Burnout Eases, but Unwelcome Sexual Conduct Rises The GMC said that — despite a small improvement in the burnout figures over the last year and fewer experiences of discriminatory behaviours reported by trainees — there had been a “small but real increase” in the number of trainees reporting unwelcome sexual conduct. Compared with last year, almost 20% more trainees reported unwelcome sexual conduct on a daily or weekly basis. “Any rise in this measure matters, and trainees must be able to work and learn free from harassment,” the GMC said. “We will continue to expect organisations to take direct action to address this.” Responding to the survey, Ben Morrin, chief executive of NHS Employers, said the findings showed trainees continue to value their teaching and supervision, with some improvement in rota design and notification. However, he said it was concerning that trainees were reporting more unwelcome sexual conduct, which was “absolutely unacceptable” and would be “a fundamental area of focus for employers”. Key findings included: - 87% of trainees rated the quality of their clinical supervision as good or very good - 61% of trainees and 47% of trainers were judged at moderate or high risk of burnout - 26% of trainees said their training had been affected because rota gaps weren't dealt with appropriately, a figure matched by 29% of trainers - 28% of trainees reported experiencing micro-aggressions, negative comments, or oppressive body language from colleagues High Pressure in Emergency Medicine Responding to the findings, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said that resident doctors in the specialty "continue to report greater workload pressures than the average". Professor Simon Carley, dean of RCEM, said that 30% of emergency medicine residents were classed as at high risk of burnout, compared with 19% of resident doctors overall. “It is likely that corridor care is contributing to this,” he said. He said the survey results showed not only the toll of working in “intolerably overcrowded EDs” but also the secondary impact of corridor care: nearly nine in 10 resident doctors in emergency medicine believed corridor care affected their ability to provide patient care, and eight in 10 believed it was affecting their training. “So, not only is corridor care causing chaos and impacting the lives of patients today, but it is compromising the development of future consultants,” Carley said. Corridor Care Normalised An investigation by The BMJ last December found that corridor care was becoming normalised in A&E departments in England, while the Health Services Safety Investigations Body called this year for more data on how the practice is impacting patient care. In June, the RCEM said it affected roughly one in 21 emergency department attendances, and described it as “utterly unacceptable” and “an undignified and dangerous way to deal with patients”. Unsustainable Burnout Levels Professor Mumtaz Patel, president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), said that this year’s survey offered “some small green shoots of encouragement”, but ultimately these did not represent “the material improvement that doctors in training programmes deserve to see in their everyday working lives”. More than three in five remained at moderate or high risk of burnout — a level that was “simply unsustainable for individuals, the future workforce and for patient care”. Today's findings, she added, continue to echo concerns raised in the RCP's own national next generation survey of resident doctors: “training is too often compromised by service pressures and working conditions that leave doctors unable to thrive”. Dr Stephen Joseph, co-chair of the RCP Resident Doctor Committee, said that the contradictions were striking. Doctors told the GMC they rated their teaching and clinical supervision highly, yet 61% were at moderate or high risk of burnout. In contrast, in the RCP's 2025 survey, only 44% of resident doctors were satisfied with their training, with the majority pointing to poor staffing, rota gaps, and unmanageable workloads. Joseph said this suggests that the GMC survey may be asking narrow questions about training quality, but not enough about the conditions doctors are training in. “Good teaching cannot compensate for a poor working environment,” he said, and “training cannot be effective in a system that gives way when services are under pressure.” Dr Sheena Meredith is an established medical writer, editor, and consultant in healthcare communications, with extensive experience writing for medical professionals and the general public. She is qualified in medicine and in law and medical ethics.