Stress Drives 31% of UK Resident Doctors to Take Sick Leave

According to a recent workforce experience report from the General Medical Council (GMC), the mental health of UK resident doctors has been severely impacted by the ongoing strikes and disputes over pay and working conditions. The report found that a staggering 31% of resident doctors, now called "junior doctors" or "residents", took sick leave due to stress in the 12-month period leading up to July 2024.

This alarming statistic is significantly higher than the 23% rate of stress-related sick leave among all doctors during the same period. The resident doctors were engaged in a prolonged strike, lasting 44 days between March 2023 and July 2024, as they fought for better pay and working conditions.

The new data suggests that around 24,000 of the 77,000 resident doctors working in the UK took at least one extra day off due to stress-related issues during this turbulent time. The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents the resident doctors, has continued to push for a resolution, staging a five-day walkout last month.

This week, the BMA announced that it had agreed to a "window for negotiations" with Health Secretary Wes Streeting, during which time it would not announce further strike dates. The union's co-chairs, Dr. Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr. Melissa Ryan, stated that they would work with the government on "delivering non-pay items it previously agreed to", but emphasized that "going forward there has to be movement on pay" to address the underlying issues driving the resident doctors' mental health crisis.