Rose-Hunt Award recipient ‘so proud to be a GP’

West Australian GP and former RACGP President Adjunct Associate Professor Frank Jones has been honoured with the college’s highest accolade, the Rose-Hunt Award.
 
Throughout a career spanning almost 45 years, Associate Professor Jones has worked at the highest level across the breadth of general practice, including patient care, academia, advocacy, representation, leadership and GP education.
 
He said it was humbling to be recognised by colleagues with this special award, presented at GP25 last month.
 
‘My goal has always been to provide excellent care for my patients – that’s been my main goal in life,’ Associate Professor Jones told newsGP.
 
‘I really accept the award on behalf of all working GPs. I’m so proud to be a GP and I’m just grateful on a daily basis to my patients who entrust me with their care. It’s an incredible privilege.
 
‘I’ve been a proud Fellow for a long, long time, and receiving this award and recognition by my colleagues is actually so special, because our college is kind of our tribe. It’s our professional home and family.’
 
Originally from Wales, Associate Professor Jones moved to Australia in 1981 and became an RACGP member in 1985.
 
He worked with the Royal Flying Doctor Service as a procedural GP obstetrician and has spent the last 40 years working in his hometown of Mandurah, Western Australia, at Murray Medical Centre.
 
Within the RACGP, Associate Professor Jones has been an active member of numerous boards and committees, including the RACGP Western Australian Council since 2004. He held positions of WA Faculty Deputy Chair, Chair, and is the current Provost.
 
At a national level, he served on the RACGP Board (2010–16) as WA Chair, Vice President and President in 2014.
 
Associate Professor Jones says he is particularly proud of being part of the first Vision for General Practice and a Sustainable Health System as well as establishing the Future Leaders Program at the college.
 
A dedicated examiner, supervisor and senior clinical lecturer at the University of Western Australia Medical School, he has also dedicated much of his career to education and training.
 
Reflecting on his career, Associate Professor Jones says it has been a privilege to practice ‘true cradle to grave medicine in general practice’, especially as a Rural Generalist.
 
‘I think about the job looking after my own patients in my community hospital, delivering babies, looking after emergency departments, and I think I enjoyed that more than any other part of my career – having that level of access to a local hospital,’ he says.
 
‘Although my town has changed, I was basically allowed, from a clinical point of view, to practise at the top of my skills.’
 
‘It’s been a privilege to be a GP working in my hometown for the last 40 years. And if we go down the path of maintaining our skills and [defining] our speciality, I’m incredibly optimistic for the future.
 
‘The future is bright for general practice. Yes, we have challenges, but I think the future is bright.
 
‘I’m so proud to be a GP.’
 
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RACGP awards Rose-Hunt Award