Helen is back at UoB following a three-year secondment (2020-23) as Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges through the Covid19 pandemic. AoMRC is the national body that represents and coordinates the UKs 24 Royal Colleges and Medical Faculties that in turn represent all the main medical specialities that award higher professional qualifications. They ensure that patients are safely and properly cared for by setting standards for the ways doctors are educated, trained and monitored throughout their careers.
She has been appointed to the small Expert Advisory Panel which advises the AI Frontier Taskforce and she Chairs the Independent clinical oversight group for the GRAIL/Galleri study.
Helen has had a high media profile with over 350 TV, 200 radio and 30,000 appearances in printed media (newspapers). She has been a member of national workforce committees, the national emergency pressures panel and worked with leaders at Westminster, DHSC, NHS England, GMC, HEE, Med Schools Council, UKHSA, OCID, CQC, NICE, and the four CMOs.
Helen had previously held various roles at UoB including Head of Primary Care Teaching, Clinical Director of the NIHR accredited Primary Care Trials Unit and Head of the Academic GP Trainees programme. She ran an MSc module in Community Gynaecology and has taught communication skills and ethics.
Prior to training as a GP, Helen worked in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and her diverse research interests have spanned gynaecological cancer screening, all aspects of women's health, epidemiology and data linkage studies.
As founding Chair of the National Academy for Social Prescribing, she is helping shape the direction of this national charity, establishing an academic basis for the social prescribing movement, building sustainable alliances and raising its profile.
She remains a part-time GP partner at in Lichfield, at a large, friendly group practice which she joined in 2002.
Helen is the founding Chair of the Dames Commander Society and a Trustee of Macmillan Cancer.
She is naturally enthusiastic and dynamic and is a firm believer in the Harry Truman saying “It is remarkable what you can achieve when you do not care who gets the credit.”
She was awarded a DBE in the new years honours list 2022: “Helen Stokes-Lampard was the most inspirational leader of General Practice in a generation. As Chair, she led the largest Medical Royal College. She persuaded policy makers and health professionals of the importance of general practice to the future of the NHS and the need to address the historical imbalance between primary and secondary care investment. Thanks to her leadership, General Practice is now seen as the solution to many of society’s health problems. She spearheaded a national campaign on tackling loneliness, a major health threat affecting over 9 million people in the UK. She worked closely with many agencies including NHSE’s Next Generation GP Programme to inspire hundreds of students at events across the UK; the numbers choosing general practice are now at record levels. She now leads the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.”