Dr Jonathon Chambers, a Christchurch-based GP, has been awarded a Community Service Medal by The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
The Community Service Medal recognises members who have made an outstanding contribution to general practice through work in their own communities.
Dr Chambers has worked diligently for his patients in the Christchurch suburb of Barrington for over 34 years. In 1986, he joined his father, Dr Peter Chambers, at the Barrington Medical Centre, and since then, he has built an impressive reputation with his patients and colleagues.
Dr Kay Joyce, a GP at Barrington Medical Centre, who has worked with Dr Chambers for the last 17 years says he is a true family doctor, there when you need him most and never letting you down.
“Having ‘inherited’ the practice from his dad, who he worked alongside for many years, he has been a comforting constant. Patients often comment that Jonathan has looked after their parents, themselves and now their children and grandchildren. He has their respect and trust which is truly special in this evolving and uncertain world of today.”
Dr Chambers is well regarded as an excellent diagnostician and has a wide range of medical skills including maternity care, palliative care, gynaecology, and skin surgery.
College President Dr Samantha Murton says, “Many medical students and registrars have benefitted greatly from Dr Chambers’ teaching. His reputation as a highly efficient – and popular – practitioner make him a deserving recipient of this award.”
Dr Chambers has taken Barrington Community Health Centre from a small practice above a local pharmacy, to the current large multi-disciplinary practice offering a wide range of services to the community.
While Dr Chambers has recently reduced his clinical work to performing procedures, he remains a director of Barrington Community Health Centre.