Chance to honour outstanding rural healthcare

Nominations for the 2024 National Rural and Remote Health Awards are now open.

Paying tribute to exceptional health professionals who have significantly contributed to improving healthcare in rural and remote Australia, the awards ceremony will take place in November.

RACGP Rural Chair and Vice President, Associate Professor Michael Clements, encourages members to nominate individuals, teams or organisations from within their community.
 
‘This is a wonderful group of awards that recognise all aspects of health, everything from administration, all the way through to nursing and allied health, as well as the doctors,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘It looks at the teams and at their context and locations. There always has to be a winner, but as well as the winner, there’s an awful lot of well-deserving people we can acknowledge through this process.
 
‘I’d certainly encourage everybody, whether it be a patient or a health professional, or somebody who knows somebody who is doing something remarkable in this space, to take the time to nominate.’
 
Hosted by Rural Health Pro, the National Rural and Remote Health Awards honour 10 individual categories, with the presentation taking place on 6 November at the National Press Club in Canberra, on Ngunnawal Country.
 
Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health Emma McBride and the National Rural Health Commissioner Adjunct Professor Ruth Stewart will attend the awards alongside RACGP Rural representatives.

Associate Professor Clements said the awards are an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the ‘wonderful’ work being undertaken in rural and remote health.

‘RACGP Rural was involved last year in the nominations, so I got to read through many and make some recommendations,’ he said.
 
‘And just being able to read about some of the wonderful work that’s been done, some of the innovative ideas, some of the energy and the passion, it was really great for us to be a part of them to see what’s going on in some of these communities.
 
‘But it’s even better that there’s a forum and an opportunity to acknowledge and reflect on these at the awards ceremony.’
 
RACGP Rural is again working with Rural Health Pro to support the program and provide recognition to healthcare providers and teams delivering above and beyond in their communities.

In its inaugural year, the awards received more than 200 nominations, bringing together a diverse range of healthcare providers.
 
As hundreds of applications are again expected this year, Associate Professor Clements said it is important people support the application with as much evidence as they can find.
 
‘We do want to recognise these great efforts and outcomes,’ he said.
 
‘It’s important that we do take time out to both nominate and reflect on the award winners because during the process and the awards, we actually do share stories and publish wins and successes, and it serves as a model for other communities to follow.
 
‘One of the great outcomes last year was the connections that people made that led to development, and it’s only when we share some of our successes and achievements, that others can learn from them and actually implement in their own areas as well.
 
‘So, getting involved is a great idea.’
 
The 2024 National Rural and Remote Health Awards are open until 8 July. To nominate or find details on the 10 nominations categories visit the Rural Health Pro website.
 
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