ROLE CALL: Kiwi GPs named global fellows; promotion for health IT leader

Global honours have been awarded to specialist GPs Felicity Goodyear-Smith, of Auckland, and Jo Scott-Jones, of Ōpōtiki.

The pair have been awarded fellowship of the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians, commonly known as WONCA.

The awards recognise their outstanding contributions to the RNZCGP and to local and international general practice, says a media release from the college.

The fellowships were awarded virtually to Professor Goodyear-Smith and Dr Scott-Jones at WONCA’s recent 23rd World Conference of Family Doctors. College president Samantha Murton says their contributions “span clinical, research and teaching, and they truly epitomise the characteristics of a GP”. “I am thrilled they have been internationally recognised for their achievements.”

Professor Goodyear-Smith is a senior academic at the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland, and is founding editor-in-chief of the college’s Journal of Primary Health Care. She obtained college fellowship in 1998 and distinguished fellowship in 2016.

She chairs WONCA’s research working party; and has co-edited three books on WONCA’s behalf.

Dr Scott-Jones is medical director for Pinnacle Midlands Health Network, has a GP practice in Ōpōtiki, and works as a GP across the five DHBs of the Midland region.

He obtained college fellowship in 1999, and fellowship of the Division of Rural Hospital Medicine in 2003. He was awarded the college’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2007.

Dr Scott-Jones is the author of First Time, a long-running, regular column in New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa.

Kate Reid has been promoted to partner – consulting at Deloitte in Auckland, after joining the firm as director for digital health in 2018. Earlier roles include general manager of Orion Health and managing director, Atlantis Healthcare NZ.

Ms Reid is chair of New Zealand Health IT, the sector’s peak body, and was one of the founders of Women in HealthTech.

On the Deloitte website, Ms Reid writes: “I believe that shifting from a ‘sickness’ to a ‘wellbeing’ system relies on holistically managing all aspects of a person’s world, not just their physical health. To do this effectively requires cross-sector collaboration, partnership and a longer-term view of managing people’s overall health and wellbeing.”