At least one in five National Health Services doctors have cut their hours ­complaining of exhaustion, a survey has found. Nearly a quarter – around 23 per cent have taken time off for stress in the past year, and 41 per cent will not do overtime as most are struggling to manage at work.

According to the responses to the survey conducted by the General Medical Council and analyzed by over 4,000 doctors across the UK, hospitals are understaffed, and patients are endangered if trends continue. Junior doctors have walked out 11 times and consultants at least four-five times. The GMC says it also found that a “concerning” number of doctors are taking time off work due to increased stress.

The regulator said, “Workloads are high and professional satisfaction is low”.

GMC says action must be taken to support doctors. In the foreword to the report, GMC chief executive and registrar Charlie Massey and GMC chairwoman Professor Dame Carrie MacEwen wrote: “UK health services are in a critical state and those who work within them are at breaking point. Workloads are high and professional satisfaction is low”.

“Seeking to protect their wellbeing, doctors are taking matters into their own hands. Many are reducing their hours and declining additional work. A concerning proportion is taking time off due to stress. This further constrains capacity, increasing the pressure on those who remain,” Dr. Massey wrote.

“We must be clear that doctors protecting their wellbeing is essential, but they shouldn’t feel their only option is to reduce their working hours. This presents challenges in capacity planning, adding further pressure to services that are already stretched,” he added.

However, the NHS says it is doing all it can to improve the working conditions of doctors, “We have been working to improve the training and working lives of doctors and we know there is more work needed, particularly recognizing the risk of burnout,” an NHS spokesperson told The Sun.

“As part of the NHS long-term workforce plan, we are taking action to further improve working conditions, including increasing choice and flexibility in training and reducing duplicative inductions so clinicians can spend less time on admin and more time treating patients,” he added.

"We are also strengthening occupational health services and reviewing our mental health and treatment offer for staff, to ensure everyone working in the NHS has the right support.”

Burnout – a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped at the workplace – is a mental health issue most doctors across the world have to deal with. According to experts, burnout can affect medical providers for a number of reasons, including:

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