Helen Stokes-Lampard

Helen Stokes-Lampard was born in October 1970,[1] the daughter of a headmaster. She grew up in Swansea, South Wales.[2] She qualified in Medicine from St George's Hospital Medical School, London in 1996 where she was President of the Students' Union.[3]

In 2016, she was one of four candidates that stood to succeed Maureen Baker as the Chair of the RCGP Council.[4] In July, the college announced that Stokes-Lampard had been elected as the next RCGP chair, and would begin this appointment in November 2016.[5] She became Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners on 19 November 2016.

She began working at the University of Birmingham's Department of Primary Care in 2000, while she was a GP registrar.[3] She gained a PhD in 2009.[3][6] The subject of her PhD was 'Variation in NHS Utilisation of Vault Cytology Tests in Women post-hysterectomy. Her diverse research interests have spanned gynaecological cancer screening, all aspects of women's health, epidemiology and data linkage studies.

She is a GP partner practising in Lichfield, Staffordshire.[7][8][9] In 2008 she set up a private service, offering human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines.[10]

Prior to training as a GP, she worked in Obstetrics and Gynaecology for several years and this experience shaped her clinical and academic aspirations. She was a personal mentor for doctors in difficulty in the Midlands until 2016, a scheme supported by the West Midlands Deanery and RCGP Midland Faculty.

Stokes-Lampard was the Head of Primary Care (undergraduate) in the Medical School of the University of Birmingham until becoming RCGP Chair.

In 2012 she became the RCGP's first female honorary treasurer.[2] During her first eighteen months as treasurer the RCGP had a dispute with a construction firm and successfully defended a legal challenge about examinations run by the college brought by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO).[11] She had also spoken in favour of acupuncture, after published evidence led to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommending it as an option for the treatment of low back pain.[12] She is a Governor at the Birmingham Women's NHS Foundation Trust, with a term of office that runs until October 2017.[13]

In September 2016, she was named at the top of a list of powerful GPs compiled by Pulse magazine.[14] In December 2017 she was ranked 29 in the Health Service Journal (HSJ's) Top 100 most influential people in health.[15]

In her first year as Chair of the RCGP she led policy papers on sexual and reproductive health - Time to Act [16] and the College's first annual assessment of the GP Forward View [17] She has spoken publicly about the adverse impacts of social isolation and loneliness on the health of the population and how it is akin to a long-term chronic condition.[18] Her term of office as Chair of the RCGP Council will end in November 2019, when she will be succeeded by Martin Marshall.

• profile at the University of Birmingham