A GMC report has emphasised that reducing the pressure on doctors and improving workplace culture are vital steps in recruiting and retaining doctorsCHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES

Doctors are being “pushed beyond their limits”, their regulator has warned, with the profession facing “crunch point”.

A new report from the General Medical Council (GMC) says that the UK is hugely dependent on doctors who qualified abroad, at a time when it risks becoming less attractive to foreign workers.

Demand for medics is outstripping supply at pace, it adds, and in parts of the UK more than 40 per cent of doctors were trained in foreign countries.

The council’s annual State of Medical Education and Practice report shows the number of doctors on the medical register has grown by 2 per cent since 2012, while England has experienced a 27 per cent increase in patients going to A&E.

The report says that staff “goodwill…