31. Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya

  This London GP trainee was the first medic on the scene at the Westminster terror attack this year.

Dr Wijesuriya was being interviewed by the BBC in Westminster when he heard screams and ran to the scene. According to news reports, he treated two people, one of whom was likely to have been the attacker.

This came just weeks after being elected chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, with responsibility for mitigating the negative impact of last year’s junior doctor strikes and Jeremy Hunt’s subsequent contract imposition.

Dr Wijesuriya says his team has made ‘some huge improvements to training conditions’, including setting standards for notice of rotas, winning more money in the contract for junior doctors, changing limitations and barriers to non-full-time training and working to set up a healthcare-wide gender pay gap review.

He says: ‘We’ve working well with organisations like Health Education England and the GMC to improve training conditions.’

He adds: ‘I don’t think there’s enough space on the page to thank all of the incredible junior doctors I work alongside and represent by name, but as a community we have really pulled together in what have been tough times to challenge and improve things.’

Why influential

Leading the junior doctors at a time of major change

What he says

‘I’ll continue to work to improve trainees’ lives’

Random fact

He was added to the BMA’s Book of Valour this summer