The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

A posthumous Distinguished Service Medal from the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners was announced today honouring the late Dr Thomas Nigel Ellison.

The announcement of the medal for Dr Ellison’s contribution to the health sector was made at the 2011 Conference for General Practice currently being held in Auckland.

Chair of the RNZCGP Awards Committee, Dr Jonathan Fox, says the Awards Committee was unanimous in its endorsement of the award to someone who so embodied the words ‘distinguished service’.

Dr Ellison was born in Rarotonga and was the second youngest child of 11 of parents of English, Scottish and New Zealand Maori descent (Ngai Tahu, Te Atiawa, and Ngati Porou). His father Dr Edward Pohau Ellison, graduated from Otago Medical School as one of the first Maori medical graduates behind Sir Maui Pomare, Sir Peter Buck and Dr Tutere Wi Repa.

Tom Ellison became a rural general practitioner in 1966, setting up practice in Raglan and servicing a population of 7,500 for more than 40 years. He worked long hours in his early years, being known for only ever taking just three two-week holiday breaks in 20 years.

Tom’s workload lessened in the 1980s, but his dedication to the local community and general practice continued. He was a kaumatua for te ORA and a founding member of the College’s Te Akoranga a Maui (Maori Faculty). He was awarded a QSM in 1981 and the Maarire Goodall Award for Services to Maori and Polynesian Health in 2005.

On Sunday 14th August 2011, Dr Tom Ellison died at Waikato Hospital after a short illness.

There is a family reunion of the Ellison family in Wellington later this year and it is likely that the Distinguished Service Medal will be presented to his family at this time or alternatively in Dr Ellison’s Raglan community in October.

Distinguished Service Medals were also awarded to three College members who have made a significant contribution to the College – Dr Jennifer Margaret Waddell of Auckland, a dedicated member of the General Practice Education Programme Stage 2 (GPEP2) team for many years, who has helped a lot registrars on their path to Fellowship.

Dr Alana Marie Wilson of Wellington was also honoured. She has been a GP at the Newtown Medical Centre for more than 13 years, and a GP representative on the New Zealand Resuscitation Council, and has developed guidelines and provided advice on resuscitation in general practice since 1998.

The last medal went to Dr Antony Ivan Yelavich of Dunedin for his more than 30 years involvement with undergraduate medical teaching of fourth and fifth year students, and several years as a student mentor. He has also been a member of the Otago/Southland Faculty Board since 1994 and served as treasurer for 14 years.

ENDS

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