GP honoured for excellence by patient advocacy group

Dedicated Melbourne GP Dr Sameera Bhayat has been recognised for her care, compassion and commitment, receiving an Outstanding GP Award at the 2025 Patients Australia Gala Awards.
 
The award honours a GP who ‘exemplifies excellence in primary care, builds trust with patients, and advocates for preventive healthcare’.
 
And Dr Bhayat’s commitment to her patients and community, as well as within her profession, shone through to the esteemed judging panel.
 
Dr Bhayat said she felt honoured to receive the award from Patients Australia – a not-for-profit group that supports and advocates for patients across all stages of health and care.
 
‘It was such an honour and a privilege to be recognised for this award. It feels very overwhelming, and I’m grateful to have our work as GPs recognised from a patient perspective,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘As a GP, patients are at the heart of everything we do. It’s such a privilege to be able to share in the lives of our patients and be a consistent presence in their health journey.
 
‘Being a GP is an incredible job, because not only do we care for patients in our clinical practices, but that extends to our duty of care to our whole community.’
 
Dr Bhayat practices in Carlton North at Doctors on Nicholson, where she takes a holistic approach to care and has a special interest in women’s and children’s health as well as mental health.
 
Building trusting relationships is central to ensuring her patients feel supported and engaged with their healthcare.
 
‘It’s really important for me to build good relationships with my patients, to have shared decision making and to practice holistic healthcare in providing for the needs of my patients,’ Dr Bhayat said.
 
‘In addition to this, I also work as a medical educator for the RACGP, so I’m passionate about medical education, and I value the mentors that I have had in my journey to becoming a GP.
 
‘I really aspire to be like those amazing people in my life and be able to help to educate and inspire the next generation of GPs.’
 
Dr Bhayat’s compassionate care extends beyond the consulting room and into the community, working with refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable patients, creating safe and respectful spaces where patients can feel seen and supported.
 
‘I’m an executive member of the Australian Islamic Medical Association, and in that work, I was heavily involved with supporting refugees arriving from Gaza and setting up access for them to receive patient care, because they were coming into Australia on tourist visas where they weren’t going to have care,’ she said.
 
‘It was humbling to have the opportunity to be able to provide for, more broadly, these populations that desperately needed access to healthcare.
 
‘I am especially indebted to all the selfless healthcare workers who put their hand up to support Gazan refugees, and to have the opportunity to work in a collaborative team environment such as this continues to inspire the work that I do.’
 
Working as part of a team, whether that be in the community, the medical clinic or within the broader profession, is something Dr Bhayat appreciates.
 
‘That’s one of the beauties of general practice – how amazing it is to work with a team, with fellow general practitioners, allied health, and our specialist colleagues, all coming together to support the patients in Australia,’ she said.
 
‘I feel this award isn’t just for me, but for all the colleagues that I work with and my entire clinic staff, because we’re all a team and I wouldn’t be able to provide such high-quality patient care without them.’
 
Dr Bhayat’s award was sponsored by the RACGP and presented by Dr Sian Goodson, Chair of the RACGP Board and South Australian Faculty.
 
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