Dr Patrick Phillips AM

Apart from having a successful marriage, seven children (all but one a health professional) and 12 grandchildren, the best thing I did in my life was to join up to the Diabetes Organisations in Australia.

Most of my under-graduate and post-graduate training was in Adelaide, except for two years in Oxford UK obtaining a first class honours degree in physiology and biochemistry. I became a Member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1973 and a Fellow in 1977.

In 1974 I was employed as a trainee Chemical Pathologist at SA Pathology and completed the first part of training in 1977. In 1978 I spent 12 months in the United Kingdom with six months in Sheffield with Professor Woods doing clinical research on the pharmacology of metformin and six months in Southampton with Professor George Alberti doing laboratory research.

In 1980 I decided my future lay in clinical rather than laboratory work and took a position as Consultant Endocrinologist at the Flinders Medical Centre.

In 1987 I was appointed as Director of Endocrinology at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and remained there until July 2010. In the 1980s I was invited to chair a National Diabetes Search Conference convened by Diabetes Australia. This included representatives from all over Australia involved in the states’ Diabetes Australia organisations, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the ADS, the ADA, the Dietitians’ Association and the Australian Podiatry Council. The Conference agreed that national professional guidelines were a priority and all groups subsequently provided appropriate guidelines to their colleagues. I was also invited to succeed Paul Moffitt as Chair of the Healthcare and Education Committee of Diabetes (HCEC) Australia, which included representatives from Diabetes Australia, the RACGP and the ADEA. The HCEC produced the first set of National Guidelines for Australian general practitioners, which were (and still are) updated regularly. We also produced a diabetes manual for Australians with diabetes. I was also invited to chair the committee producing the first set of NH&MRC Guidelines for Diabetes Retinopathy, Prevention and treatment.

For many years with colleagues in Diabetes Australia I was the senior editor of “Diabetes Conquest” – a three-monthly national publication distributed by State and Territory branches of Diabetes Australia.

My family have always enjoyed camping and I was involved in several weekend camps for children, teenagers, their parents and adults with diabetes. I was invited to join the Diabetes Australia Committee involved in camps and to attend the National Youth Leadership camp for teenagers with diabetes which was held in Western Australia.

Over the years I have been involved in various professional societies at a senior level and this work was recognised in 2009 through an award from the Australian Diabetes Educators’ Association and honorary life membership in the Australian Diabetes Society.

Throughout my career I have been actively involved in professional education at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels of medical, nursing and allied health professionals. We set up the first university course for diabetes educators at the Flinders University and I have been actively involved in general practitioner education over the years through extensive publications in the general practitioner literature as well as through meetings with various individual practices and seminars organised by the appropriate general practice.

While at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital I established the Diabetes Outreach programme which focused on training and maintaining the skills and capacity of country nursing, allied health professionals and general practitioners in country South Australia.

In 2004 AUSAID involved me in its programme to improve healthcare capacity in the Pacific Island nations and I visited Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu on several occasions to establish systems for diabetes care. Between 2008 and 2010 I was invited to centres in Taiwan, China and India to advise on diabetes care.

In my work at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital I established links between the diabetes service providers within the Hospital, community health centres, Royal District Nursing Society and the regional general practitioner groups.

Within the Australian Diabetes Society I was a council member in 1988 and acted as Secretary between 1990 and 1994, as well as being involved in several programme organising committees for the national ADS meetings.

My work with Diabetes Australia, the ADS, the ADEA, the National Health and Medical Research Council and AUSAID has given me the opportunity to work with peers in other units in Australia and overseas and to be involved with national and state governments in developing programs for diabetes improvements.

After I left The Queen Elizabeth Hospital I spent 10 years in private practice and I retired in 2020.

As noted above, one of the best decisions in my life was to become involved and to contribute to diabetes care in Australia.