Dr Justine Lancaster awarded Distinguished Fellowship

Wellington GP Dr Justine Lancaster has been awarded Distinguished Fellowship of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

Through her role as a national clinical lead for HealthPathways, a tool that provides concise information on locally agreed pathways of care for 800 clinical conditions for the general practice workforce to use at the point of patient care, Dr Lancaster has used her knowledge as a GP, and her relationships with secondary care, allied health and health system leaders to develop and maintain a network of clinical guidance that aims to support equitable health outcomes.

A desire to share her experiences and knowledge as a specialist general practitioner and guide decisions that will positively impact on the health and safety of New Zealanders during the COVID-19 pandemic led Dr Lancaster into primary care clinical leadership roles within the Ministry of Health where she to provided leadership, clinical input, strategic advice, and a primary care perspective, into New Zealand’s COVID-19 response.

College President Dr Samantha Murton says, “Dr Lancaster’s work throughout the pandemic ensured that primary care had a voice, and our workforce was considered throughout the planning and implementation of the COVID response and vaccination rollout in which we played a significant role in right across Aotearoa.

“She is a constant and enthusiastic champion for general practice through her external roles and in her role of Chair of the College’s Wellington Faculty.”

Passionately a GP, Dr Lancaster advocates strongly for health equity and for the general practice workforce through her involvement as Deputy Chair of the NZ Women in Medicine Charitable Trust (NZWIM), GPNZ Clinical Leaders group, as a foundation member of General Practitioners Aotearoa (GPA) and a mentor for Wahine Connect.

This year, five College Fellows received Distinguished Fellowship which is awarded for outstanding service to the College or Division of Rural Hospital Medicine’s work and for making a sustained contribution to general practice, medicine, or the health and wellbeing of the community.

GP23: the Conference for General Practice is being held from 21-23 July in Auckland.