Dr Graham McGeoch of Governors Bay has been awarded Distinguished Fellowship of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners for his profound influence on the evolution of general practice.
Dr McGeoch has been recognised as a dedicated visionary who has developed several GP programmes including HealthPathways, a web-based service offering clinicians locally agreed information to make the right decisions together with patients, at the point of care.
Dr Samantha Murton, President of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners says, “Many GPs in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK could not imagine practicing now without the programmes that Dr McGeoch has helped develop.
“His projects are innovative and practical and maximise the limited resources of the health system for the benefit of patients,” she says.
Dr McGeoch has been a co-founder and leader on HealthPathways, Hospital HealthPathways, HealthInfo, Allied Healthways, and several innovations including electronic request management, community-referred radiology, and an acute demand management service.
He has worked with Pegasus Health, Canterbury DHB, the general practice community, and others to organise and integrate the local health system.
Distinguished Fellowship is awarded to Fellows of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners who have made sustained contributions to general practice, medicine, or the health and wellbeing of the community. Just two doctors received Distinguished Fellowship this year, Dr Chris Reid (living in the UK) and Dr McGeoch.
There are 5,500 GP members of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners of which 96 are Distinguished Fellows.