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23. Dr Stephanie deGiorgio

Dr Stephanie deGiorgio is the GP best known for ‘taking on Jeremy Hunt twice’. At last year’s RCGP Conference she called out the then health secretary for allowing GP working conditions to deteriorate since his previous appearance at the event in 2014 – when she had warned him the profession was exhausted.

The Kent GP has long been a poster woman for grassroots GPs. She runs Resilient GP, the online forum she co-founded to support primary care staff, which has grown again this year, to more than 11,500 members. And now she has been ‘learning to love being a GP again’ – albeit within an emergency department.

She is now using her profile to get the issue of perinatal mental health on the agenda – and she is doing a great job of it. Dr deGiorgio recently helped to launch the #Hiddenhalf campaign in Parliament with charity NCT, to raise awareness about women’s poor access to treatment for postnatal mental illness – and the gaps in primary care funding needed to tackle the issue.

This year she is hoping to get a fully funded six-week postnatal check into the GP contract.

She describes this past 12 months as having been ‘busy’, which seems something of an understatement when you also consider her appointment as East Kent’s maternal and infant mental health lead, and her involvement in the #obsmuk group, aimed at reducing the stigma of obesity. She is also writing a women’s health course for NB Medical Education – in her spare time…

Why influential: Tireless campaigner for GPs

What others say: ‘Grasps opportunities to support others with enthusiasm, resilience and humour’

Random fact: She has a phobia of baked beans