Dame Mary Perkins Award winners

Honouring excellence in clinical performance and patient care, Specsavers Australia and New Zealand announced the recipients of its Doug Perkins Medal and Dame Mary Perkins Awards at its 2024 clinical conference.

Doug Perkins Medal for Clinical Excellence

This year's Doug Perkins Medal winners are Specsavers Blenheim in New Zealand and Specsavers Port Lincoln in Australia.

Presenting the awards, Nick Gidas, Specsavers’ head of clinical performance, said the medal is awarded to one Australian and one New Zealand store each year that consistently upholds the highest standards of clinical excellence. “We are delighted to crown Specsavers Port Lincoln and Specsavers Blenheim with this year's award, in recognition of their exceptional commitment to clinical care throughout the year,” he said.

Dame Mary Perkins Award for Outstanding Patient Care

This year’s Dame Mary Perkins Award was presented to Kevin Chen from Specsavers Mt Wellington and Sarshia Hua from Specsavers Toowong, Queensland, for their exceptional commitment to patient care, going above and beyond to make a positive difference.

The recognition of excellence with the Dame Mary Perkins Award is so important, said jury member Professor Peter van Wijngaarden from KeepSight. “It helps us to reflect on the extraordinary impacts optometrists have on the lives of the people they care for. It is a chance to celebrate outstanding members of the profession and it also serves to inspire others.”

The jury also included Dr Audrey Aumua, CEO of The Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand; Dr Sonya Bennett, Glaucoma New Zealand; and Carly Iles, CEO of Vision 2020 Australia.

Graduate and Early Career Optometry Programme winners

Recognising early career excellence, the 2024 winners of the Graduate and Early Career Optometry Excellence Awards are Sam Wang, Specsavers Rotorua (Graduate Optometry Excellence Award) and Elle Carson, Specsavers Ipswich, Queensland (Early Career Optometry Excellence Award).

Graduate and early career recognition: Elle Carson and Sam Wang