Headlines about overworked and sleep-deprived doctors are sadly nothing new, but our recent member sleep survey was a reality shock for anyone who imagined things might improve after the pandemic.

As reported in the Guardian, the proportion of survey respondents who felt sleep deprived at work was actually higher than three years ago (89% compared with 75% in 2022). And disturbingly, one in three said extreme tiredness had impaired their ability to treat patients, up from 26% in 2022. Respondents reported that exhaustion had led to 69 near misses and 17 cases where patients had been harmed.

The relentless demands of the job, coupled with the lack of effective support for those who work long hours on the front line, often alone and without a proper break or refreshment, are an impossible load for many doctors. It's evident from surveys like this, as well as from calls to our advice line and requests for assistance from members who made an error because they were struggling under pressure.

A generation of exhausted and demoralised doctors is incompatible with safe patient care, as well as with the government's 10-year health plan for the NHS. So what's to be done? It's not simply about "stuffing their mouths with gold," as Aneurin Bevan reportedly said when trying to establish the NHS.

Doctors deserve to be paid fairly but it's just as important for them to have protected breaktimes. A decent handover, rather than feel they need to work a double shift to cover staffing gaps. Effective training and supervision where necessary, and support to manage workplace stress.

All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Healthcare Workers

While it's essential for the MDU to be there for individual members and to join with other professional organisations in publicly raising our concerns, we also need to make our voices heard in Westminster. Following the decision to abolish NHS England and bring its powers back into direct government control, we have a responsibility to engage with policymakers and lawmakers and seek a better deal for healthcare professionals.

The MDU has been doing this for a long time, submitting evidence to Health and Social Care Select Committee (HSCSC) hearings, briefing MPs and peers on current medico-legal issues and producing our Agenda for Change last September, which set out our policy priorities for the new government.

Now we've taken this up a gear by organising the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Healthcare Workers, which will focus on the issues of greatest concern. Following its inaugural meeting in March, the APPG (at time of writing) comprises 36 MPs and peers from across the political spectrum under chair Cat Eccles MP (Labour) and her three officers: Peter Prinsley MP (Labour), Robin Swann MP (Ulster Unionist) and Lord McColl (Conservative), all of whom have a strong connection to healthcare.

Members are united by an active interest in the area, from former Paralympian Baroness Tanni-Grey Thompson to Green Party health spokesperson, Adrian Ramsey, as well as members of the HSCSC.

The group will meet regularly when parliament is in session to focus on subjects that matter to our members, such as improving patient safety out-of-hours, the challenges in general practice and clinical negligence in maternity care.

Parliamentarians will get to hear front-line accounts from experts at organisations such as the royal colleges, NHS Practitioner Health and medical charities.

The APPG will help ensure that politicians are well-briefed on the challenges faced by healthcare professionals when they speak in debate and push urgent issues like professional wellbeing and regulatory reform up the political agenda. Most importantly. it brings people together - lawmakers, influencers and healthcare advocates - for an important cause. That's a telling example of the MDU's convening power.

The MDU will continue to work hard to raise the plight of healthcare workers in the corridors of power and I'm proud of the MDU policy team for getting the APPG up and running. At a time when the healthcare system is letting down healthcare workers and their patients, we're determined that members will be heard by the country's decision-makers.