Wheatbelt to farewell Dr Peter Maguire after 13 years of service and care

Narrogin Health Service’s senior medical officer Dr Peter Maguire will retire from his role at Narrogin District Hospital on September 1, but he won’t be hanging up the stethoscope just yet. “It’s about spending more time with my wife Helen, my family and being closer to my grandchildren,” Dr Maguire said of the decision to leave. “But I’m not fully retiring — I’ll do a bit of part time general practice in Perth.” Dr Maguire has served the Wheatbelt South for 13 years, working from 2010 to 2017 as principal GP at Earl Street Surgery before becoming NDH’s senior medical officer. “The position I took on here was new at the time,” he said. “There hadn’t been a doctor full-time on the ward and it’s been a real success, a very good thing.” One of the most rewarding aspects of the job for Dr Maguire has been working alongside a dedicated and capable team. “It’s a great team, the nurses, allied health and the doctors in ED,” he said. “It’s not always plain sailing but the ward here has been really good and I think we’ve worked well together.” Hosting regular day surgeries, a chemotherapy unit and the region’s only CT scanner, NDH provides care for patients from across the Wheatbelt South. “One of the highlights of working here has been getting to know people throughout the region,” Dr Maguire said. “We see the same people all the time and it’s nice to see them. They’re always quite appreciative that they’ve got someone they know, it’s been a real buzz. “The other thing that’s been nice has been helping to look after the medical students that come in.” Dr Maguire was appointed lead medical co-ordinator for the Rural Clinical School of WA in 2010, a role he held until 2017, and the senior medical officer position created in 2018 gave him an opportunity to provide training and supervision to many student and graduate doctors. “We’ve only had junior doctors in the hospital for the past five years — having them here is important for the development of the hospital and the workforce in the future,” he said. “The town can be very proud of the hospital here, I think it provides a very good service in difficult times when it can be hard to find doctors and nurses — the whole country is short of those people.” In 2022 Dr Maguire was named co-winner of the Rural Health West GP of the Year for his commitment to rural health in WA and his dedication to students, colleagues and patients. He was also announced as the First Honorary Life Member of Western Australian General Practice Education and Training in 2020.