Future Leader in General Practice: ‘GPs have the power to transform their communities’

We talk to the winners of last year’s General Practice Awards to learn how they work and what inspires them. Next up is our Future Leader in General Practice Dr Zoyah Hussain, who won for championing community-based and tailored care for her patients in Yorkshire

When I initially decided to pursue a career in medicine, I was hopeful to break both gender and cultural stereotypes. I grew up in a small town called Skipton, where Pakistani girls were not expected to be high achieving. As a first-generation applicant to university, I was fortunate to receive two scholarships to study at Leeds Medical School. 

A born and bred Yorkshire girl, I completed foundation training in Bradford before joining the Airedale GP Training Scheme, where I stayed on after qualifying. I was drawn to general practice because of its variety and the flexibility to pursue a portfolio career. I am currently a ‘first five’ salaried GP at Modality AWC, a super-partnership covering almost 90,000 patients.

One of my additional roles is the divisional Childhood Immunisation Lead. In this role, I facilitate a monthly drop in for childhood immunisations at the local shopping centre, alongside a nursing team and community partnership organisations. In some QOF age categories, the vaccination uptake has increased by over 30%! It has also meant that our PCN has hit the highest rate of immunisation uptake in 20 years; in contrast with the declining regional – and national – rates of immunisation.  

As a doctor of South Asian origin, reducing health disparities is absolutely core to how I practise. I felt that outreach work for the local community shouldn’t be limited to immunisations and wanted to provide more community targeted work. If I was to deliver potentially health changing lifestyle intervention, then this needed to be at the grassroots levels.  

In 2024, I co-hosted a Healthy Ramadan Facebook Live which gained more than 2,000 views in its first week. I also began running ‘Healthy Ramadan’ sessions across three community centres, providing advice on healthy fasting and lifestyle change. The impact of this work was brought home to me when one patient returned a year later to say she had lost 20kg, reversed her diabetes and improved her mobility after following advice from the sessions.

I have also been involved in projects aimed at reducing health inequalities and increasing screening uptake in deprived areas. My most recent pilot, the ‘Multi-Generational Household Project’, involved visiting households to provide health MOTs, screening advice and flu vaccinations. This was successful in bringing women who have never had a smear into the surgery, picking up an undiagnosed malignant hypertension, increasing screening uptakes and picking up a potential cancer.

Having always sought my own opportunities and self built my career and success, demonstrating that a silver spoon is not the only route to success I wanted to use my story to highlight that it is possible for others to follow a similar trajectory. This has included running the BIMA ‘Lifesavers’ course at a Keighley mosque, teaching basic life support to the public, and supporting evening GP access sessions for drug and alcohol service users through Project Six.

After receiving the Modality Health Inequalities Champion award within my division, I was later shortlisted for awards including HSJ Clinical Leader of the Year, the National B.A.M.E Awards for Public Health Impact and the Muslim Health Awards. Winning Cogora’s (Pulse’s publishers) Future Leader in General Practice award in December was an unexpected honour. It was a truly humbling experience to be recognised on a national scale – particularly while balancing work with raising my two children, now aged six and four. 

Not only did it act as a catalyst of motivation for 2026, but it also strengthened my resolve to improve healthcare for all, including the next generation. I am currently completing a Level Seven Future Leaders apprenticeship while working on community-focused projects including falls prevention, hypertension support and multiagency care for underserved patients. I am also training to become a GP trainer, with the aim of supporting our future doctors.

With the NHS 10-year plan placing greater emphasis on shifting care from hospitals into the community, I hope general practice will remain at the centre of delivering more personalised, community-based care. This leaves me excited to see how my own roles in community-based care can help shape positive healthcare changes for all. I believe that future leaders in the NHS will have a strong foundation in community-focused and personalised care that prioritises reducing health inequalities and ensures a fair service for all.

Dr Zoyah Hussain is a salaried GP in West Yorkshire, and the winner of Future Leader of General Practice at the GP Awards.