Ōpōtiki GP Dr Jo Scott‑Jones honoured with John McLeod Oration for work in rural health

Ōpōtiki GP Dr Jo Scott‑Jones is this year’s recipient of the John McLeod Oration - one of the highest international honours in rural health. Photo / Supplied

Dr Jo Scott‑Jones has known he wanted to be a doctor since he was 4.

“I never wanted to do anything else until I got to medical school when I wanted to drop out and become an actor,” he told the Bay of Plenty Times.

In his fifth year of study, he “saw sense” and “started to pass some exams”, he said.

Originally from Liverpool in England, he and his wife Adrienne Scott-Jones moved to New Zealand with their two children 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.

“I feel quite blessed in my career now that I’ve got ... a very varied working life.”

His decades of contribution to rural health have been recognised by being 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 at the weekend, which brought together more than 900 experts from around the world, a Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network statement said.

Scott‑Jones said it was “a great honour” to receive the award.

When he found out a few months ago, “I was a bit stunned and initially thought ... I think they’re picking the wrong person”.

An ‘incredibly satisfying’ career

Scott-Jones said he would spend a lot of time after school at the local hospital, where his father worked as a nurse.

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.”

Scott-Jones said he always saw himself as a doctor working in a “high-needs community”.

Upon moving to New Zealand, he initially worked in Kawerau and did a few locums for an Ōpōtiki GP.

“You realised ... it’s an incredibly high-needs community, you’re doing really valuable work ...

“As a rural doctor ... I was able to use all of the skills that I’d learned as a junior doctor.”

This included delivering babies, looking after sick babies, manning the emergency department and attending roadside rescues, as well as having a general practice.

“It was an incredibly satisfying working life.”

The family also loved the New Zealand lifestyle, where their children could play at the beach.

After moving to New Zealand, he and Adrienne had four more children, one of whom died.

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

His five children now live in Wellington and overseas. He has two grandchildren and another “on the way”.

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.

His leadership and advocacy roles include co-leading the rural health national clinical network, a member of the Minister of Health’s primary care advisory group, and board member of the New Zealand Physician Associate Society.

Scott-Jones said these were important roles for “moving the key issues forward for rural communities”.

This included workforce retention, recruitment and expansion, workload, and working conditions.

Scott-Jones said living in a smaller, “less well-resourced” community had “quite a big impact” on people’s health outcomes

“Your role is not just to address the ... presenting problem but to try and actually deal with the systematic issues that are impacting that.”

Scott-Jones said he travelled between the family home in Ōhope Beach and their Hamilton apartment, where a lot of his work was.

In his spare time, he enjoyed diving, surfing, kayaking and bushwalking.

A ‘lifelong commitment’ to rural health

A Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network statement said Scott‑Jones had combined frontline clinical practice with national and international leadership.

He was widely respected for his advocacy for equitable, culturally safe care and for strengthening the rural health workforce in Aotearoa.

Scott-Jones had held key leadership roles including inaugural chair of the Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand and chair of the rural general practice network.

He was also a distinguished fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and a fellow of the World Organisation of Family Doctors.

The organisation welcomed Scott-Jones’ selection as this year’s recipient of the John McLeod Oration.

“This honour reflects Jo’s lifelong commitment to rural communities and his belief that where you live should never determine the care you receive.”

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.