Two dedicated doctors from Mandurah have been celebrated with prestigious national awards from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) for their outstanding commitment to patient care and the medical community.
From Semi-Retirement to Training: A Career Spectrum Honoured
The accolades highlight two very different stages of a medical career. Professor Frank Jones, a former RACGP president now in semi-retirement, was presented with the esteemed Rose-Hunt Award in November 2025. This honour is the highest accolade the college can bestow. In contrast, Dr Alex Ashenden, who is at the beginning of his journey, was named the RACGP's GP in Training of the Year in August 2025.
Both practitioners work at the Murray Medical Centre and share a profound passion for general practice. Professor Jones began his medical career nearly five decades ago and has worked across every facet of GP life, including academia, education, and hands-on patient care. He moved to Mandurah 44 years ago and has witnessed the city and its health needs transform dramatically.
"We didn't have a hospital in 1983," Professor Jones recalled, describing how he and colleagues would deliver babies and work in the emergency department in Pinjarra. "The health demographic of Mandurah has changed enormously... we've got a large retirement population here as well and their health needs are increasingly complicated."
Invest in Existing GPs, Not New Clinics: A Veteran's View
When asked about the potential for an urgent care clinic in Mandurah, Professor Jones was clear in his opposition, advocating instead for government funding to be directed to established local practices.
"The Government should fund the general practices that are already here," he stated firmly. "We've got the infrastructure... a large treatment room, a resuscitation area, suture capability, fracture-setting capability. Urgent care centres are completely subsidised... it's costing heaps of money. But they should be reinvesting the funding in established general practices like ours."
He described the current model as a political solution that, while popular with patients because it is bulk-billed, draws crucial resources away from skilled local GPs who are already equipped to handle such care.
The Next Generation: Continuity of Care and Complex Patients
For Dr Alex Ashenden, a Baldivis local who previously served as a medic in the navy, general practice offered the variety and holistic patient relationships he sought after finding it difficult to choose a single hospital specialty.
He became emotional when speaking about the impact a GP can have, sharing a recent experience. "One of my patients came in today... she thanked me and said her trajectory would be completely different if she didn't get to come and see me as her GP," he said. "That's one of the big things about being a GP, having that continuity of care."
Dr Ashenden identified the Medicare rebate system as a key challenge, particularly for managing patients with complex, multiple conditions. "With the Medicare rebate, it's great that it's been increased but there is a lack of an increase for the longer consults," he explained. "They're the consults required for complex patients... It'd be fantastic to see that the longer consults have better remuneration."
Reflecting on a memorable moment from his long career, Professor Jones shared a story from before Mandurah had its own hospital, involving wading into the estuary to reach a collapsed patient on a boat—a testament to the adaptable and community-focused nature of general practice in earlier times.
