For a profession delivering more than 172 million health services to 22.6 million patients each year, additional administrative step has consequences. It means more time spent chasing forms, redesigning workflows and managing compliance, and less time available for patient care.

The impact would have been felt most sharply in the very settings where flexibility matters most: residential aged care, telehealth and care for patients who cannot easily provide a physical or electronic signature.

Ramya helped highlight the real-world consequences for GPs and practice teams caring for aged care residents, people with dementia, patients with disability, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with limited digital literacy, and rural and remote Australians.

Through sustained advocacy, Ramya has pushed for a temporary solution that recognises the realities of frontline general practice, not just the neatness of a compliance framework.

Ramya was a driving force in securing clear, WA-specific guidance on COVID community management and practice furloughing.

At a time when national frameworks did not always reflect Western Australia’s health system, she pushed for practical guidance on how mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 would be managed in the community, and how general practice would be supported to do that safely.

Her advocacy was grounded in preparedness. Before border changes and rising case numbers, Ramya argued that general practice needed to be brought into pandemic planning early, not treated as an afterthought once pressure hit hospitals and practices.

Ramya established of a WA COVID-19 GP discussion network of more than 150 members, creating a vital channel for real-time updates, peer support and practical problem-solving.

During a rapidly changing pandemic response, this network helped GPs stay connected, informed and supported while they managed uncertainty on the frontline.

It was practical leadership in action: bringing GPs together, strengthening communication and helping practices respond quickly as conditions changed.

As RACGP WA Chair, Ramya led engagement with the WA Health Minister, Chief Health Officer, senior WA Health leaders and WAPHA to ensure general practice was included in pandemic planning.

Her advocacy focused on the practical issues affecting practices every day: furloughing, RAT supply, waiting-room risk stratification, PPE access, vaccine distribution, respiratory triage, escalation pathways and appropriate remuneration for additional workload and risk.

Her message was clear: if GPs were expected to help carry the system through a pandemic, they needed to be properly resourced, respected and included in decision-making.

Ramya’s advocacy also supported structured GP involvement in the respiratory clinic model negotiated nationally and implemented at state level.

Her work reinforced the need for stronger links between general practice, primary care and hospital systems, with practical guidelines that reflected what was actually happening on the ground.

This was about making pandemic policy workable for practices — and safer for patients, staff and communities.