Dr Shikha Pitalia is an award winning entrepreneurial doctor who, from small beginnings in 2002, has brought improved healthcare for hundredsofthousandsofpatientsacrossthe North West. SSPHealthis the largest provider of primary care GP services in the North West of England, one of only three such organisations in England serving more than 100,000 patients. Dr Pitalia and her GP husband Dr Sanjay Pitalia have pioneered ‘federated General Practice’, which the BMA [Medical Association] has described as “increasingly being viewed as a vital part of the future of general practice”.

SSP Health currently manages 37 GP practices across 10 NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups in Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Cumbria. The company employs almost 500 people and has a head office in Ashton- in-Makerfield, Wigan. It cares for approximately 140,000 patients. In 2009, Dr Pitalia – who is Secretary of the British International Doctors’ Association, Wigan division, supporting education and welfare for doctors from diverse backgrounds – co-founded SSP Health Charitable Trust, raising funds for local, national and international health-related charities.