A Cairns doctor has been honoured with a prestigious national award for significantly enhancing diabetes care for patients across Far North Queensland.
Cairns Hospital endocrinologist Dr Ashim Sinha has received the Australian Diabetes Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising more than 20 years of dedicated service to people living with diabetes across the region.
The award comes as the Cairns Diabetes Centre has become the only facility outside a metropolitan area to be named a Centre of Excellence in Diabetes Care, recognising the world-class patient care delivered by its multidisciplinary team.
Dr Sinha started working at the Centre in 2003, when the service was significantly smaller.
It has since grown to a team of 60 staff across multiple disciplines, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and health workers.
‘This makes me feel like this is not just my award, it’s just a jewel in our crown,’ Dr Sinha said.
‘We have built this centre up brick by brick and now it’s a facility to be proud of.’
Dr Sinha said his work to ensure high-level diabetes care was available across the entire Far North Queensland region - including the Torres Strait and Cape York - had contributed to him receiving the award.
He recalled ‘living out of a suitcase’ when he first commenced working in Cairns, travelling to remote corners of the region to deliver care in communities where the burden of diabetes is higher and most needed.
‘I wanted to expand the service to a hub and spoke model and take the services where diabetes is having the most impact,’ he said.
‘My philosophy was to provide the best of diabetes care, and no one should be disadvantaged by where they live.
‘You’ve also got to have consistency when you’re visiting those communities, because it takes a lot of time to get the trust of people in community.’
Dr Sinha’s now wants to extend his passion for supporting disadvantaged communities beyond Australia’s borders.
‘Having previously worked in Papua New Guinea, I am keen to further contribute through public advocacy and support diabetes care across the western Pacific region,’ he said.
‘It is estimated there are 200 million people living with diabetes across this region.’
Dr Sinha thanked his family, staff and patients for their support of his work.