RCP responds to NHS England update on the 10 Point Plan to improve resident doctors’ working lives

Responding to the update, Professor Mumtaz Patel, RCP president, said:

‘This is a very welcome update from NHS England. A large majority of trusts reported improvements to workplace wellbeing, with these findings broadly backed up by NHS-appointed resident doctor peer leads. Rota transparency is progressing and action is being taken on payroll accuracy, annual leave reform and exception reporting. These practical steps to improve lives will make a real difference if they are consistently felt on the ground.

‘Our 2025 national next gen survey of resident doctors found that 63% of those who said they were thinking of leaving the NHS to work abroad said they were dissatisfied with working conditions. Many told us that basic needs were often unmet. During weekends and nights, 49% said there were food options available at their place of work, and of these, only 56% said there were hot food options available. Out of hours, fewer than half (49%) had a safe and comfortable place to rest.

‘The real test now is sustained delivery – and of course, there is still plenty of work to do on rotation reform, study budgets and introducing a lead employer model – but this is a great start. The RCP, our Resident Doctor Committee and our Student and Foundation Doctor Network will continue to hold government and the NHS to account on delivering what they’ve promised, which is why it’s so important that NHS England continues to publish regular publicly-available updates in the future.

‘Longer-term, through our next generation campaign, the RCP is clear that improving working conditions must go hand in hand with wider structural reform of training and workforce planning, so the next generation of physicians can build long-term careers in the NHS and secure the future of high-quality patient care.’