UniGeniusMedicine interviews

NHS hot topics for medicine interviews

38 questions on today's NHS and medical ethics. Answer one out loud, then see what a strong answer covers.

NHS and hot topicsPanel question: 2 minutes

Some A&E patients are treated on trolleys in corridors. Why does this happen, and what are the risks?

What a strong answer covers
  • Too few free beds, often because patients who are well enough to leave cannot be discharged
  • Risks: no privacy or dignity, harder monitoring, infection control
  • The fix is the whole system: discharge, social care and community services

Follow-up: As a junior doctor, what could you do for a patient waiting in a corridor?

Practise a whole station. A running clock, follow-ups that change the situation and feedback on your own words.

Run the free four-station circuit

All 38 questions

Ethics

  1. What are the four principles of medical ethics? Use an example.
  2. A 15-year-old asks her GP for the contraceptive pill and does not want her parents told. Should the GP prescribe it?
  3. A patient with epilepsy is still driving after being told by his doctor to stop. He refuses to tell the DVLA. What should the doctor do?
  4. A Jehovah's Witness who is an adult with capacity refuses a blood transfusion that could save her life. What should happen?
  5. What does 'capacity' mean, and how is it assessed?
  6. You see a friend on your course post a photo from a ward on social media. A patient's face is just visible in the background. What do you do?
  7. You smell alcohol on a senior doctor's breath before a morning clinic. What do you do?
  8. Should doctors and dentists ever lie to patients?
  9. Should assisted dying be legal in England and Wales?
  10. England uses an opt-out system for organ donation. Is that ethical?
  11. Should vaccination be compulsory for children?
  12. Should smokers or heavy drinkers be lower priority for treatment?
  13. There is one intensive care bed left. Two patients need it: a 30-year-old after a car crash and an 80-year-old with pneumonia. How should the decision be made?
  14. A patient gives you a £50 gift card to thank you for your care. Do you accept it?
  15. A friend copies your coursework and submits it as their own. The tutor has not noticed. What do you do?
  16. Should the sale of human organs be legal?
  17. A patient tells you a joke that is racist about another member of staff. How do you respond?
  18. What does consent mean, and what makes it valid?

NHS and hot topics

  1. What is the biggest challenge facing the NHS?
  2. The 10 Year Health Plan for England describes three shifts. What are they, and which matters most?
  3. Is it ever right for doctors to go on strike?
  4. What is a physician associate, and how should the role work alongside doctors?
  5. Should AI be used to diagnose patients?
  6. Why are patients stuck in hospital when they are well enough to leave?
  7. What is antimicrobial resistance, and what can doctors and dentists do about it?
  8. Should weight-loss injections be widely available on the NHS?
  9. From 2027 it will be illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. Is that the right approach?
  10. What are health inequalities? Give an example.
  11. Should the NHS charge patients who miss appointments?
  12. How is the NHS funded and run in England?
  13. Many patients now book online or use apps. Who might be left behind?
  14. What is the role of public health, and how does it differ from treating individual patients?
  15. Why do some doctors leave the NHS or move abroad?
  16. Some A&E patients are treated on trolleys in corridors. Why does this happen, and what are the risks?
  17. Should the NHS pay private hospitals to cut waiting lists?
  18. Why do people find it hard to get a GP appointment, and what would help?
  19. How does climate change affect health, and what can healthcare do about it?
  20. Should patients be able to read their GP records in the NHS App?

How we wrote these

Each question is original and covers a current NHS issue or a medical ethics topic interviewers often raise. The notes give the facts you need and both sides, not a script. Facts in the answer notes were checked against the sources below on 4 October 2026, and again by an independent reviewer.

The clock gives a panel question 30 seconds to think and 2 minutes to answer, and a station 2 minutes to plan and 6 to answer. Schools set their own timings: find your school's format.

What are the NHS hot topics for 2026 interviews?

Waiting lists and corridor care, GP access, the 10 Year Health Plan, resident doctors' pay and the 2026 deal, physician associates, AI, weight-loss drugs, the smoking law and assisted dying. Each is a question above.

How much do I need to know?

Enough to explain the issue in two sentences and give both sides. Interviewers want balanced judgement, not statistics.

How do I keep up to date?

Read NHS England and GOV.UK announcements and one good news source each week, and note one fact and one opinion for each topic.

Sources