Catholic GP honoured for decades of rural health work

Dr Jo Scott‑Jones is this year’s recipient of the John McLeod Oration. It is one of the highest international honours in rural health.

The award was presented at the 2026 World Organisation of Family Doctors rural health conference in Wellington on April 11-12, which brought together more than 900 experts from around the world, a Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network statement said.

Originally from Liverpool in England, Dr Scott-Jones moved to New Zealand in 1992. He worked as a fulltime GP at Church Street Surgery Ōpōtiki – which he co-owns – for 25 years which was “incredibly tough”.

He has since stepped back and taken on a number of leadership and advocacy roles.

As a Catholic, he had been raised with a “vocational view of the world”.

“I definitely still see being a doctor as a vocation, it’s not just a job,” he said.

Dr Scott-Jones said he always saw himself as a doctor working in a “high-needs community”. As a rural doctor, his work has included delivering babies, looking after sick babies, manning an emergency department and attending roadside rescues, as well as having a general practice.

“It was an incredibly satisfying working life,” he said.

Dr Scott-Jones’ fulltime job is now as Pinnacle Midlands Health Network’s clinical director. He works one day per week as a GP, mainly in rural Pinnacle practices, including Tokoroa.

The Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network said Dr Scott-Jones’ award reflects his “lifelong commitment to rural communities and his belief that where you live should never determine the care you receive”.

After moving to New Zealand, he and his wife, Adrienne, added four children, one of whom died, to the two they brought with them from England.

“Having a child buried in the local cemetery does connect you with the land in a particular way,” he said.

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Ōpōtiki GP Dr Jo Scott‑Jones honoured with John McLeod Oration for work in rural health (By Megan Wilson/Rotorua Daily Post)