One in five doctors in the United Kingdom are considering abandoning the profession, the sector's watchdog has warned, as it urged the government to enhance career pathways for medical staff.

Nineteen percent of physicians are contemplating leaving their positions, the General Medical Council, or GMC, revealed on Thursday, while another 12 percent may seek opportunities abroad for career advancement or better compensation, reported the Financial Times.

The GMC urged improvements to training and career development to stem the exodus.

Almost one-third of doctors at all levels felt "unable to advance (their) education, training or career", according to the report by the GMC, which is the independent regulator of doctors in the UK.

The survey found 43 percent of physicians had actively explored positions overseas, with 15 percent pursuing international opportunities or engaging with recruiters.

A previous report from the FT highlighted how doctors face delays in progressing in their careers to become specialist consultants due to limited training capacity.

The report emerged a day after the British Medical Association, or BMA, announced a pause in strike action to open a "window for negotiations" with Health Secretary Wes Streeting during its push for a pay settlement.

Streeting was critical of last month's five-day stoppage by resident doctors and is opposed to an additional pay increase. But the BMA, which is England's main medical union, says doctors' pay has fallen 21 percent in real terms since 2008.

Streeting is exploring ways to enhance working conditions, including covering examination costs and expanding training positions to improve career progression.

The UK has more than 328,000 registered doctors, according to the GMC, which polled almost 5,000 medical professionals.

While the survey included doctors in private practice, the vast majority of participants worked within the National Health Service.

The Times newspaper quoted GMC Chief Executive Charlie Massey as saying: "Like any profession, doctors who are disillusioned with their careers will start looking elsewhere."

The newspaper also quoted the report warning that "we must be alive to the ongoing risks to retention of doctors and the impact of losing talented staff. This could threaten government ambitions to reduce waiting times and deliver better care to patients".

Commenting in the article, Billy Palmer, a senior fellow at Nuffield Trust, said: "Pay and industrial action have been a lightning rod for dissatisfaction among doctors but this survey puts a spotlight on the wider difficulties facing the medical profession. Job guarantees, better rotas and placements, and protection of training time need to be on the table."

The FT quoted the Department of Health and Social Care as saying the report was "further evidence of what we know, that, after more than a decade of neglect, doctors have legitimate complaints about their conditions".

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com