Listening Is Where Better Care Begins: Reflections on the Patients' Choice Awards and the Future of Weight Management

Last week, our founder, Dr Angela Kwong, was recognised as Outstanding General Practitioner at the Patients Australia Patients' Choice Awards.

For her, it was an unexpected and genuinely meaningful moment, made more so by the room she was standing in. Every finalist that night had been nominated by their own patients.

Reading their stories of continuity, trust, advocacy, and walking alongside their patients through some of the hardest times of their lives was a reminder of what general practice can be at its best.

The evening held a little extra meaning for our wider team too. Enlighten Me was also named a finalist in two further categories: Outstanding Digital Health Organisation, recognising our approach to patient-centred weight management care, and Outstanding Patient Innovation for the Enlighten Me Shake. We were quietly proud to see this work recognised alongside so many people doing thoughtful things in Australian healthcare.

In her acceptance speech, Dr Angela acknowledged the very real tensions in the current weight management landscape, and shared where she sees the future heading. This is a short reflection on that evening, the work behind it, and the vision she offered.

A Moment That Belonged To Patients

If we listen closely, patients can show us where healthcare needs to evolve.

That idea sits at the centre of how Dr Angela practises. Patient-centred care is not only about being kind to the person in front of you, although that matters. It is equally important to listen closely enough to notice exactly what is missing, and then ask how those lessons could help more people beyond a single consultation.

It is quietly fitting then that this particular award is chosen by patients. Recognition that comes from the people that you care for lands differently to many others.

What The Award Recognised

While walking to the stage, Dr Angela was introduced as a GP who built a medically supervised weight management service shaped directly by patient feedback, and who then utilised those lessons in education for other GPs.

That second part matters. Through listening to her patients, she created a podcast episode on navigating the side effects and nutritional challenges of GLP-1 therapy, which was downloaded by more than 7,000 GPs in its first month and went on to be recognised with the 2026 General Practice Education Impact Award.

The Speech: A Vision For The Future Of Weight Management

Weight management is changing rapidly and in times of change, it can feel noisy, fragmented, and even at times a little divided. Dr Angela's speech was a quiet acknowledgement for something different. Here's what she shared, in full:

"Thank you so much.

I'm genuinely honoured to receive this award tonight, and to be recognised alongside so many GPs doing extraordinary work for their patients and their communities.

I'm Dr Angela Kwong, and as has been introduced, my work as a GP has been increasingly focused on weight management, an area of healthcare that is changing very rapidly.

And in times of change, healthcare can become incredibly noisy. It can become fragmented. It can, at times, even feel divided.

But I believe this is exactly when we need to come together. Patients do not experience their health as separate professional silos. They experience one body, one life, one story, and often a very complex journey.

So whether we are dietitians, pharmacists, nurses, exercise physiologists or other allied health professionals, we are all here for the very same reason: to provide healthcare that is safe, respectful, evidence-based and centres on our patients.

To me, the future of weight management is not about one profession 'owning' the space. It is about each of us bringing our strengths, working together, and keeping that person in front of us right at the centre.

That is the type of healthcare that I hope we continue to build together. Thank you."

A Closing Thought

We are so grateful to Patients Australia for recognising this work, and to the patients, colleagues, and those who have supported Enlighten Me along the way. It is our patients' voices, above all, that have shaped what we do.

Congratulations to every nominee, finalist, and winner recognised this year. The breadth, humanity, and impact of Australian healthcare is worth celebrating, and the future of weight management is something that we get to build together.