Former RACGP Vice President and NSW/ACT Chair Professor Charlotte Hespe, Practice owner Dr Jessica Wright (middle) and GP registrar supervisors Dr Maggie-Kate Minogue (left) and Dr Barbara Cameron (right).
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) awarded Gundagai Medical Centre on October 10 by naming them General Practice of the Year. The College’s annual awards acknowledge GPs, registrars, GP supervisors and practice teams who make an outstanding contribution to the health and well-being of their patients.
The RACGP NSW award winners for 2025 were: GP of the Year: Dr Walid Jammal, who practises in Castle Hill in Western Sydney. GP Supervisor of the Year: Dr Solange Duveaux, who practises in Berry. GP in Training of the Year: Dr Sarah Woodford, a rural generalist registrar based in the New England/Northwest region. General Practice of the Year: Gundagai Medical Centre, with GP Dr Maggie-Kate Minogue and her team. Dr Marguerite Harb received the Eric Fisher Award, given in recognition of her strong focus on the emotional wellbeing of her patients and colleagues received the Faculty Service Award after many years of service to the College, including education, quality of care, standards and research, and 113 GPs achieved Life Membership of the College.
The RACGP said the Gundagai Medical Centre sets the standard for rural healthcare, delivering Visiting Medical Officer, or VMO, support to the local hospital, which is becoming increasingly rare in rural communities. The practice’s successful nomination reflects the deep appreciation of patients who took the time to recognise the Centre’s exceptional impact.
One patient who nominated the practice for this year’s awards said that they have been a patient since 2009 and now travel 180 kilometres to attend appointments, given the exceptionally high standard they live up to every day.
The Centre is now shortlisted for the national RACGP Awards, which will be presented at the RACGP GP25 conference in Brisbane in November. GP Dr Maggie-Kate Minogue from the practice said it was a surreal experience to win such an award.
“We’re still kind of letting it sink in. We’re very honoured to be recognised for the work that we put in and the passion that we try to bring to each work day,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard in building a really close-knit team who are all passionate about what we do and about providing a really good quality service for the community. It’s really nice that we’ve been recognised for that from the wider general practice community as well.
“We always feel very supported by the Gundagai and surrounding communities, but to get that recognition from the college level, so there’s the RACGP level, which is an amazing thing, which is great.
“It was a call on a Sunday, and I was waiting for them to ask me for my credit card number or waiting for it to be a scam. It didn’t really sink in until they announced it more widely on Wednesday.
“It is just a little bit surreal, like, oh my goodness, we come to work every day wanting the best and wanting to provide a good quality service and help our patients the best that we can, but this was a surprise. To see that that’s actually being recognised is still a little bit mindblowing.
“The award was for general practice of the year not general practitioner, it is not built just by doctors, it is built by the administrative staff, the reception staff, the nurses that we have, the allied health visitors that we get, the cleaners that come, they all contribute to building a wonderful GP practice, which it truly is something we are proud of. We’ve got an incredible community that supports us, and our owner, Dr. Jess Wright, has put in a lot of effort to make sure that we continue to strive for improvements along the way.
“Certainly all of the doctors that we’ve got at the moment are incredible people to work with, which is great, and we’ve all worked really hard to have that close-knit team here, but then also work with the community, we’ve got a good relationship with the hospital, with both the nursing homes in town, as well as the other communities in town, like the LHAC Committee, CWA and the Men’s Shed. We’ve got good working relationships with all those guys, which is really good and makes it a really wonderful town to work in.
“We wouldn’t be able to have such a good practice without the patients, and so without the support of the town of Gundagai, the practice wouldn’t be what it is today.”
Wish the team good luck as they aim for a national award.
– Jack Murray
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