» Congratulations RNZCGP award winners

Congratulations RNZCGP award winners

Pinnacle Incorporated | 30/07/2019

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2019 Royal New Zealand College of General Practice (RNZCGP) College Awards presented Saturday 27 July at the RNZCGP annual Conference.

College Awards recognise the hard work and dedication of exceptional general practitioners and community members. Among the winners were two of our members and one past member!

Community Service Medal

This is awarded to members and Fellows of the College who have made an outstanding contribution to general practice through work within their own communities. Community Service Medals were awarded to Dr Michael Miller and Dr Maree McCracken.

Michael Miller, Whangamata Medical Centre

Michael wasn't in attendence to receive his award but below he is shown on screen.

Dr Michael Miller's colleagues describe him as a phenomenon. With his energy and expertise he has served his community in Whangamata for many years.

Furthermore, he has contributed much to rural communities all across New Zealand through his work with his Primary Health Organisation and the Rural General Practice Network.

Michael is the quintessential rural GP. He is embedded in his community, and provides 24/7 support to the people he lives and works with, via PRIME services (and every other avenue he can come up with).

Michael is a leader, a colleague, and a friend to many of us.

Maree McCracken, South City Health and Pinnacle GP liaison - primary mental health

"I am humbled by the nomination and acknowledgment by my colleagues for purely doing what so may of us hard working GPs do everyday, advocating for high quality care for our patients and communities. My whānau whakapapa to Puraukanui in Dunedin (Kai Tahu)

Dr Maree McCracken worked tirelessly to improve mental health services for the Waikato community for many years.

As the Mental Health GP Lead at Pinnacle, Maree has been instrumental in developing collaboration between Primary Health Organisations and the District Health Board since 2017.

Maree supported the introduction of a psychiatrist to the community service, which required her to demonstrate expert leadership and diplomacy skills.

Maree is committed to improving those skills through professional development. Alongside this work, Maree is a GP at South City Health, where she works with The People's Project to develop and deliver healthcare for homeless people.

Distinguished Fellowship of the College

Distinguished Fellowship is awarded to Fellows of the College for outstanding and sustained services to either the aims or work of the College, or science or practice of medicine.

Dr Fiona Bolden

We also acknowledge the success of Dr Fiona Bolden. Although no longer officially a Pinnacle member, Fiona dedicated a lot of her time to the network for many years in the mental health and rural spaces.

Dr Fiona Bolden is described by Raglan kaumatua Russell Riki as "more than a doctor." To her community, she is a friend, sister, daughter and confidante.

After qualifying in the UK, Fiona visited New Zealand to complete locums in Whaingaroa and Kawhia. She fell in love with the country, and within a year had returned with her family. She joined a practice in Raglan, where she worked until 2018.

During this time, Fiona has improved mental healthcare on a local and national scale, she has been a fierce advocate for Māori health, and she has taken on leadership roles with the Rural General Practice Network.

For more information

For more information about the awards visit the RNZCGP website.