One in three NHS doctors exhausted, putting patients at risk

A third of NHS doctors (35%) are so tired that their ability to treat patients is impaired, according to a report.

Long hours, staff shortages and cover, and soaring demand as the NHS still struggles with its post-pandemic backlog are leaving doctors exhausted and burned out, the survey of 500 doctors by the Medical Defence Union (MDU) has concluded.

A further third (34%) said their ability to practise medicine may have been impaired, according to the survey published in The Guardian.

Of the 69% who said extreme tiredness had or may have impaired their ability to treat patients, one in four (26%) said one of their patients had been harmed or a near miss had occurred as a result.

When doctors last answered confidential questions about tiredness in February 2022, nearly one in 10 (9%) said they felt sleep-deprived at work on a daily basis. Three years on, the proportion affected had more than doubled to one in five (22%), the MDU found, meaning the situation has actually got worse since the pandemic.

The proportion of medics saying extreme tiredness had impaired their ability to treat patients was 26% in 2022 and 35% in 2025.

In 2022, more than one in six (17%) said sleep deprivation was affecting their technical abilities when caring for patients. In 2025, it was more than one in five (22%).

Dr Udvitha Nandasoma, the MDU’s head of advisory services, said: “There has been no let-up in the immense pressures faced by healthcare professionals in the past three years, and this is continuing to impact doctors’ mental health and affect patient care.

“When patients come to harm as a result of an impaired doctor, tiredness and fatigue are so common that they might not stand out as contributing factors and the focus can unfairly fall on the individual clinician. Nearly four in 10 doctors (38%) told us they were rarely or never able to take breaks during the working day, including lunch breaks. This is an unsustainable situation.

“If the government is to succeed in its 10-year health plan for the NHS, it needs staff to be firing on all cylinders so they can safely care for patients,” Dr Nandasoma added.

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