Doug and Mary Perkins 2022 medal winners celebrated

September 28, 2022 Staff reporters

Specsavers Dubbo and Specsavers Dapto in Australia, plus New Zealand’s Specsavers Hornby and Specsavers Dunedin were celebrated at the Specsavers Clinical Conference 2022, taking the annual awards for clinical care and excellence. 

 

Doug Perkins medal for clinical excellence 

This year’s Doug Perkins medal winners are Yvonne O’Sullivan, Brian Thio and Claire Curtin from Specsavers Dubbo, and Lachlan Martin and Hallie McCloy from Specsavers Hornby. 

 

When presenting the awards, head of clinical performance Nick Gidas said the top 10 finalists represented the top 3% of practices in each country who had consistently demonstrated clinical excellence across all areas of practice. 

 

“We were looking for practices that are leaders in delivering exceptional patient outcomes; that demonstrate a consistently outstanding patient experience; that implement and improve store processes that deliver consistent quality eyecare; who are committed to accessible eye health and who lead a positive workplace and culture. We were thrilled to be able to crown Specsavers Dubbo and Specsavers Hornby with the award this year,” said Gidas. 

 

Dame Mary Perkins medal for patient care 

The Dame Mary Perkins medals were judged by Justine Cain, CEO of Diabetes Australia; Ian Wishart, CEO of The Fred Hollows Foundation; and Pippa Martin, general manager of Glaucoma New Zealand. 

 

The awards were presented to two optometrists who stood out for going above and beyond in customer service, clinical care, clinical leadership or teamwork to benefit patient care: Surendran Naidoo from Specsavers Dapto and Jennifer Robinson from Specsavers Dunedin. 

 

Specsavers Dapto’s nomination was centred around the story of a patient who had a pituitary tumour detected in an eye test, prompting urgent surgery to save the patient’s life. Naidoo insisted the patient complete two visual field tests and stayed in close contact with her after referral, even when the store was closed for a three-week refit. 

 

Wishart said he was honoured to be on the judging panel for this year’s Dame Mary Perkins award for outstanding patient care. “All the nominees displayed incredible service for their patients and employed the values of Professor Fred Hollows. They embodied kindness, compassion and integrity in their everyday lives. In the words of Fred himself, they truly demonstrate that ‘every eye is an eye,’ and ensure all people receive the care they deserve.” 

 

The prestigious Doug Perkins medal was introduced in 2018 and is presented annually to an Australian and a New Zealand store consistently demonstrating high standards of clinical excellence. The Dame Mary Perkins award, introduced in 2021, recognises an individual or group within a store in each country who delivered an exceptional act of patient care in the past 12 months.