Celebrating GP leadership and community service

We’re proud to celebrate Dr Brendon Eade and Dr Sarah Callaghan, who are among 12 GPs recognised with the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Community Service Medal for their outstanding contributions to community health. Congratulations to both Brendon and Sarah on this well-deserved recognition.

Excerpts received from Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

Dr Brendon Eade | Health Te Aroha GP, Waikato

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 4^th and 6^th 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 Sarah Callaghan | Ngāti Porou, Te Whatu Ora GP liaison 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.