Distinguished Fellow dies

MEDIA
RELEASE
from the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

13 January 2009

Distinguished Fellow dies

Many months ago the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners bestowed its highest honour on Dr Paratene Ngata, FRNZCGP (Dist.). By giving him Distinguished Fellowship the College was thanking him and acknowledging all the work he had done for medical students, young doctors, the College and in particular Te Akoranga a Maui, and Te ORA.

It is therefore with considerable sorrow that the College now mourns the passing of this great GP who died in Gisborne on January 12th.

When Paratene Ngata stood to korero, eyes sparkled, faces smiled, and laughter quickly followed. His great great uncle was Sir Apirana Ngata, one of the three great Māori leaders of the first half of the last century. Apirana Ngata was the first Māori to complete a degree at a New Zealand university – a BA in Political Science at Canterbury College in 1893.

In 1965 Paratene Ngata followed in the footsteps of his great great uncle, and went south, to study medicine at Otago. It was recorded in the 2004 citation for the award of an Honorary Doctorate in Laws for Paratene Ngata that it was fair to say he did not find Otago easy. Dunedin was cold. Dunedin was a long way from his people. And written three-hour medical examinations were not such a strong point.

Paratene Ngata won through however, graduating in 1970. A distinguished medical career followed. Who would have imagined, back then, they noted in 2004, that he was destined to become such an influential figure?

“What became obvious when the College travelled to the wonderful place that is Tokomaru Bay to bestow the Distinguished Fellowship was that Paratene was actually honouring the College by letting us come to his world to see his true achievement,” said Dr Jonathan Fox, President of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. “To see him on his marae, amongst his people, surrounded by his whanau and the people of the East Coast all showing their love and respect was very moving. He spoke to us with candour of the journey that he was facing.”

Dr Ngata’s contribution to medical education in New Zealand began in the 1980s, when he was asked to inject a Māori component into the training of doctors, something that was then sadly lacking. Since then, he has been a good friend to the University of Otago’s Wellington Clinical School. Every year for the last 10 years Wellington medical students visited him on the East Coast.

Awarded Fellowship of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners in 2003, he recognised the importance of delivering quality care to his people. He recruited, cajoled and drove East Coast doctors through Membership of the College and onto the educational pathway to Fellowship.

Paratene Ngata remained a GP in Tolaga Bay for more than 13 years, helping to give life to Ngati Porou Hauora, his feet remaining firmly on the ground, with his family and with his people. Standing on that solid ground, the University of Otago noted earlier last year that he had become an "inspirational figure, the leading figure in the field of Māori Health".

His inspirational leadership at so many levels, to children, to wide-eyed medical students, and to medical colleagues supported the establishment and subsequent growth of the College’s Māori Faculty Te Akoranga a Maui.

Paratene was always ready to provide leadership; yet he often tried to stay in the background and avoid the limelight; a trade mark of this humble leader.

We all know the verse from the poem “For the Fallen” written by Laurence Binyon

“They shall grow not old, as we grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them”

ENDS

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