12 GPs dedicated to improving health outcomes recognised with Community Service Medal

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Community Service Medal recognises College members who have made significant contributions to general practice and rural hospital medicine through work in their communities.

College President Dr Luke Bradford presented this award to the deserving recipients at the College’s Fellowship and Awards ceremony in Ōtautahi Christchurch on Saturday evening (26 July).

Dr Bradford says, “Working in community medicine, GPs and rural hospital doctors have great insight into the challenges and healthcare trends that are affecting their communities. Because of this we can develop and implement effective solutions, initiatives and services that we know will make the most difference and improve health outcomes. Health is not a one-size-fits-all approach and these recipients have highlighted the innovative and successful ways they are working towards achieving health equity.”

The 2025 recipients are:

Dr Sarah Callaghan, Ngāti Porou | Tairāwhiti

Dr Callaghan’s dedication to her community includes improving access to death certificates for whānau after hours and improving access to GP-led minor surgery by removing the need for a dermatologist review.

Her work as a GP, hospice doctor and GP liaison is all about supporting the community’s access to health services. Health equity is always at the forefront of Dr Callaghan’s mind and her practice, as is her focus on service improvement. Her regular newsletters to Tairāwhiti-based primary care teams as well as pharmacy, hospital and specialist services contain updates and education about services and initiatives.

Following Cyclone Gabrielle when all usual forms of communication were down, Dr Callaghan travelled between pharmacies, general practices, hospice and hospital services in the district several times a day with hand-written updates to ensure practices were informed of the latest civil defence information and she provided feedback to the Civil Defence Emergency Management team about what was required for practices to continue their mahi.

Dr Christine Coulter | Wellington

Dr Coulter has been a GP on the Kāpiti Coast serving her community since 1993. She co-founded Team Medical in 2001 and it is now a collaborative, locally owned and corporate supported general practice and Accident and Medical Centre serving 8,500 patients and is the only after-hours care between Porirua and Palmerston North.

Dr Coulter and her team support their local Māori health service in provision and training. She is part of “Nga Pakeke O Kāpiti” and spends at least one day a month at the local Marae engaging in activities such as weaving, kapa haka and kōrero.

Within the College she is an active member, serving on the Wellington Faculty Executive and supervising and mentoring International Medical Graduates and GP registrars. She also lends her time to support the New Zealand Women in Medicine group.

Dr Brendon Eade | Te Aroha

Dr Eade, a Te Aroha based GP for over 20 years, shows service and stewardship to his community by providing care that often goes above and beyond what is normally expected of a GP, for example, his willingness to play the bagpipes at town events and fundraisers.

Clinically, he provides a full range of services including cover for the local hospital, rest homes, school clinics, skin clinics and after hours care as well as being available for his palliative care patients. His role has evolved over the years with the development of new roles such as nurse practitioners and nurse prescribers, and he now plays a pivotal role in supervising these roles within his practice.

He has been a teacher of 4th and 6th year medical students, a teacher of GP registrars and was a College Medical Educator for many years. He instills the values of quality care, putting patients first and passing on his knowledge to the next generation of the workforce.

Dr Eade has devoted many hours to the Pinnacle PHO, being on the Board for 15 years, with the last two years as Deputy Chair. He has contributed on many committees including the rural group and the Quality committee.

Dr Rachel Inder and Dr Sara Simmons, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha | Nelson/Marlborough

Four years ago, Dr Inder and Dr Simmons had a vision to improve Māori health equity by bringing a Kaupapa Māori primary care service to their region. This involved countless hours of planning and fundraising and collaboration between local iwi, NGOs, PHOs and Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

Today, Manu Ora is a highly successful, charitable Māori health organisation in Wairau. They provide quality primary care within a Kaupapa Māori model, prioritising Māori and whānau with the highest need, and offering low or no-cost healthcare in a culturally appropriate whānau-centered way.

Dr Inder, Dr Simmons and their team have developed programmes for specific groups such as Hapū Māmā, and Kahu Taurima (for whānau with young tamariki) and Manu Tāki (for mental health) whilst involving themselves in extensive navigation into housing, secondary care and even by providing kai through a pātaka kai.

At Manu Ora they work tirelessly to support the 'future of mahi' from Year 13 College students, to Nursing students, rural medical students and Māori GP trainees.

‘By Māori for Māori’ remains a strong priority and nearly 50% of their kaimahi and 80% of their Board members affiliate with Iwi locally. In 2023, Manu Ora was awarded the ‘New and Emerging Business’, ‘Community Impact Award’ and prestigious ‘Supreme Business Award’ at the Marlborough Business Excellence Awards.

Dr Jonathan Kennedy | Wellington

For the past 20 years Dr Kennedy has worked as a GP at Newtown Union Health Service (NUHS) including working on the roster at the Wellington Accident and Urgent Medical Centre and contributing GP expertise to the Wellington public health unit Regional Public Health from 2008 until 2019.

He has been a senior lecturer at the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at University of Otago in Wellington since 2016, and for eight years convened or co-convened the General Practice module for 4th year medical students for around 800 students.

Dr Kennedy’s clinical work has focused on some of the most vulnerable populations in Wellington South and in his governance role at NUHS he has been able to contribute to continuity of care for patients and the community.

Through his work at NUHS and prior experience with Médecins Sans Frontiérs, he has developed expertise in the care of refugees and new migrants. He has had national and international recognition in this area including through his work co-authoring the 2024 publication, “Refugee Health Care: A Handbook for Health and Social Care Providers,” and his role as an expert consultant on the World Health Organisation Health and Migration Programme, “Refugee and Migration Health: Global Competency Standards for Health Workers.”

Dr Monica Liva, Villages of Malie Samoa and Vaiea Niue | Auckland

Dr Liva is a Samoan and Niuean GP who has lived and worked in Mangere for over 30 years. She is the GP lead in the Manuka Team at Turuki Healthcare which utilises the Muka model of health – adapted from the Nuka model of primary care from the indigenous peoples of Alaska, to improve access and health outcomes. This approach focuses on community health care, the importance of family and continuity of care.

Her work ensures that some of New Zealand’s most underserved communities receive compassionate, effective and culturally safe healthcare.

She served as Chair of the College’s Pacific Chapter for three years and dedicated countless hours on governance, education and advocacy, as well as implementing initiatives that support Pacific registrars and Fellows.

Dr Shelley Louw | Christchurch

Dr Louw has been a GP in Christchurch for over 30 years. She has continued to upskill herself throughout her career in academic general practice, musculoskeletal medicine and more recently in skin cancer medicine where she is trained in dermoscopy - a process allowing direct microscopic examination of the skin to look for signs of skin cancer.

She has worked tirelessly for her community most notably through the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes, in which she lost her practice building, and the Christchurch Mosque attacks in 2017.

Dr Sam Mayhew | Auckland

Dr Mayhew is a GP whose holistic, inclusive and multi-disciplinary approach to care epitomises what it means to be a part of this workforce.

Over the past decade Dr Mayhew has proudly represented New Zealand as a GP and sports doctor at global sporting events including the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, Birmingham Commonwealth Games, and the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Commonwealth Games.

He has also provided medical care for the Warriors organisation, the Breakers, Tall Blacks, Surf Lifesaving NZ, Triathlon NZ, is currently one of the two Kiwi doctors for the New Zealand International Rugby League team, and Medical Director for Golf NZ’s High Performance Programme.

Beyond his contributions to sport, Dr Mayhew continues to focus his skills on skin cancer detection and treatment. He is in his second-year volunteering as an elected GP representative on the Executive Committee of the Melanoma New Zealand Network where he provides a primary care voice and is helping to drive improved education, standards of care, and health equity.

He is also committed to mentoring and developing the next generation of GPs and for many years has welcomed GP registrars into his clinic and into the elite sporting environments, teaching them how general practice underpins sports medicine. He believes lessons are best learned in real-world settings and general practice is the key pillar to the healthcare model.

Dr Maia Melbourne-Wilcox, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou | Auckland

Dr Melbourne-Wilcox is being recognised for her extensive contributions to the College and its members through her work in the General Practice Education Programme (GPEP) Hauora Māori curriculum development, education and registrar support.

Dr Melbourne-Wilcox helped lead the development of the College’s Hauora Māori GPEP curriculum and since then has been the lead Hauora Māori Medical Educator for the delivery of Te Ahunga, the College’s orientation, welcome and main Hauora Māori education event across GPEP, since its inception. She has also helped with the implementation of cultural safety across the College’s wider GPEP training and assessment programme.

Dr Melbourne-Wilcox has served as the College’s Pou Whirinaki for the last four years, where she has provided comprehensive and personalised clinical and pastoral support to an unprecedented number of Māori registrars.

Her advocacy and focus on systemic improvements helped lift achievements across the programme and create a more supportive environment for Māori registrars. Dr Melbourne-Wilcox’s mahi has supported the development of more culturally safe practice and helped strengthen the wider GP workforce’s responsiveness and improved ability to work with Māori communities with the overall aim to improve Māori health outcomes.

Dr Raewyn Paku, Ngāti Kahungungu ki Te Wairoa | Hawkes Bay

Dr Paku has contributed significantly to her community as an advocate, leader, teacher and strategic thinker. She focuses on achieving equitable outcomes for Māori, workforce development and a cohesive clinical environment.

She has spent 10 years working as a GP in Heretaunga in the Hawkes Bay for a Māori health provider, Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, with four of those 10 years as the Clinical Lead. She has dedicated her career to improving Hauora Māori and to serving her community.

Additionally, she has taken on the roles of Lead Medical Educator for the College in the Hawkes Bay and Gisborne regions. Despite the challenges being faced by the health sector and primary care Dr Paku continues to put the future of the workforce as a main priority.

Dr Paku expertly applies her knowledge of Māori models of care to create solutions that are embedded with aroha, manaakitanga, and the maintenance of tino rangatiratanga.

Dr Juliet Tay | Auckland

For the past four years, Dr Tay has been running ‘Te Iti Pounamu Hauora’ medical clinic. Supported by The Cause Collective, this free mobile health clinic provides care for the underserved, marginalised and unenrolled members of the South Auckland community.

Dr Tay and the team work alongside a multitude of organisations to target and support these individuals, and they improve equity by addressing and breaking down barriers to accessing healthcare.

Te Iti Pounamu Hauora’s model of care is innovative and creative as it challenges the way primary healthcare is delivered. From the person going through the justice system to another experiencing acute housing deprivation, Dr Tay and the team provide a safe space and timely care when and where it is needed. Many of the patients to the bus have never seen a GP or enrolled with a clinic.

The team also welcome and train medical students, nurse practitioner candidates, nursing students and GP registrars in the bus. These trainees highly value their time here and observing the social challenges facing the community and patients leaves a deep and lasting impression on them.