43. Dr Vish Ratnasuriya

At 35, Dr Ratnasuriya is one of the youngest GPs on our list. As chair of Our Health Partnership, he oversaw the merger of 32 practices in Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield this year to become the largest super-practice in the country, with more than 150 GP partners and 280,000 patients.

It is run by an executive team and a seven-member partnership board, with Dr Vish Ratnasuriya at its head.

He tells Pulse he is proud of having built ‘a real community’, and this industrial-scale model of general practice he has pioneered looks set to become a feature in other parts of the country over the coming year in order to make struggling practices more sustainable.

he tells Pulse. ‘[I love] the bringing together of so many colleagues into a single organisation, building a real community and sense of partnership across 32 previously respected strong and distinct organisations, whilst having much of the interest and challenge of a new venture behind the scenes.’

It’s most certainly been a busy year and with Dr Ratnasuriya recently appointed one of the RCGP GP ambassadors to ensure GPs have a strong voice in the implementation of the GP Forward View across England, he has a lot on his plate.

Why influential: GP in charge of the UK’s biggest practice

Surprising fact: Can be found at his local climbing wall once a week