Cairns Hospital endocrinologist Dr Ashim Sinha has received the Australian Diabetes Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award for more than two decades of work in diabetes care across Far North Queensland.
Dr Sinha began working at the Cairns Diabetes Centre in 2003, when the service was considerably smaller. It has since grown into a multidisciplinary team of about 60 staff, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and health workers.
The Cairns Diabetes Centre has also been named a Centre of Excellence in Diabetes Care, making it the only such centre outside a metropolitan area in Australia, according to the health service.
Dr Sinha said the award reflected the work of the wider team that had developed the service over the years.
“This makes me feel like this is not just my award, it’s just a jewel in our crown,” he said.
“We have built this centre up brick by brick and now it’s a facility to be proud of.”
A key focus of Dr Sinha’s work has been improving access to diabetes care for people living in remote parts of Far North Queensland, including Cape York and the Torres Strait.
When he first started working in Cairns, he travelled extensively across the region to provide care, describing the experience as “living out of a suitcase”.
He said he wanted to develop a hub-and-spoke model that could take specialist services to communities where diabetes has a greater impact.
“My philosophy was to provide the best of diabetes care, and no one should be disadvantaged by where they live,” Dr Sinha said.
He also highlighted the importance of building lasting relationships with remote communities, particularly when health services are delivered through regular visits.
“You’ve also got to have consistency when you’re visiting those communities, because it takes a lot of time to get the trust of people in community,” he said.
The expansion of the Cairns service has involved bringing together professionals from different areas of healthcare, allowing patients to access a broader range of support through the centre.
Dr Sinha said his interest in improving diabetes care now extends beyond Australia. Having previously worked in Papua New Guinea, he hopes to contribute to diabetes care and public advocacy across the western Pacific region.
“It is estimated there are 200 million people living with diabetes across this region,” he said.
Dr Sinha credited his family, colleagues, staff and patients for supporting his work and contributing to the development of diabetes services across Far North Queensland.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognises his more than 20 years of work in the region and comes as the Cairns Diabetes Centre continues to provide specialist diabetes services to communities across northern Queensland.
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