RCGPNI GP of the Year

The Royal College of General Practitioners, which represents over 1500 GPs across Northern Ireland, is proud to announce that Dr Jonathan Dillon of Banbridge Medical Practice has been awarded GP of the Year 2021.

RCGPNI’s GP of the Year Award is nominated and judged by patients, to recognise the tireless work GPs and their practice teams have done throughout this pandemic, going above and beyond to support patients.

In addition to this, across the region, GPs have been an essential part of the pandemic response and have vaccinated almost half of our population and supported new ways of working in the community to help reduce waiting lists.

Dr Jonathan Dillon, 2021 GP of the Year, commented:

“I am honoured and humbled to be awarded GP of the Year, however I was more delighted that one of my patients took time out of their busy lives to nominate me and I would like to sincerely thank them for that. I also want to thank the fantastic team at Banbridge Medical Practice for their tireless work at this challenging time. This is an Award for all of our practice team.”

“Sometimes in General Practice and particularly now, the demand is so high and there are so many barriers that it can feel like you are never making a difference. Negativity on social media is at an all-time high, but it really makes the long hours and difficult work worthwhile to know that your patients genuinely appreciate and value the care you provide. I also want to thank my parents, my wife and my three children for all their support, particularly over the last year of long hours. I could not have done it without them."

Dr Laurence Dorman, Chair of RCGP Northern Ireland, commented:

“We are delighted with the response to our annual awards this year, with more patient nominations for GP and Practice of the Year than in any other previous year. This highlights the value patients place on general practice and receiving high quality care in the community. I also want to congratulate my colleague, Dr Jonathan Dillon for being honoured as Northern Ireland’s GP of the Year. The person-centred care he provided had compassion and quality at its heart and this is a richly deserved accolade.

Further information

(For media only)

Cliona McCarney, RCGP NI Policy and Public Affairs Manager

0203 188 7726 / 07341 737033

Cliona.McCarney@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editor

The anonymised patient nomination for Dr Dillon can be found below.

“I nominate Dr Dillon of Banbridge Group Surgery. He has been my GP for almost 20 years. He is a humble, approachable, compassionate, caring and a thorough Doctor. When I suffered my first miscarriage, it was a devastating, heart-breaking and traumatic experience, only to be made worse by having to endure years of further miscarriages. This was a very difficult period in my life, it affected me both physically and mentally. The profound sadness also took its toll on my husband and our marriage. Dr Dillon provided outstanding care to me during this time, he kept me informed, consulted, hopeful, reassured, healthy and more importantly he supported me, as I navigated my loss, my grief, thoughts, feelings, pain and decisions. He will never know how significant his support helped me to achieve my lifelong dream of being a mother. I am now a proud mother - an achievement which wasn’t without risk or complication, but I always felt safe with Dr Dillon’s medical guidance and support. I am delighted to still be a patient of the excellent Dr Dillon.”