Wound care trailblazer wins 2025 Health Minister's Award

Professor Michelle Barakat-Johnson has been named the winner of the sixth annual Health Minister’s Award for Nursing Trailblazers, for the RPA Virtual Wound Care Command Centre — a nurse-led hub designed to provide prompt access to specialised wound care through advanced technology and specialist nursing support.

The centre includes AI-powered wound imaging, integrated virtual consultations, remote monitoring, and real-time collaboration between nurses, GPs, patients, carers and specialists. It is understood to be the country’s first hybrid model of specialist wound care, launched at RPA Virtual Hospital in 2023.

Barakat-Johnson, who is Professor of Wound Care and Skin Integrity at The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, was named the winner by Australia’s Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, on 24 July at the Australian College of Nursing’s (ACN) National Nursing Forum in Canberra.

“Chronic wounds have debilitating consequences for individuals, and — despite being a largely unseen health issue — are estimated to affect more than 450,000 Australians, costing over $6.6 billion in public expenditure,” said ACN’s CEO, Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz FACN.

“Professor Barakat-Johnson’s work is having a measurable affect for patients, significantly reducing wound care wait times, increasing care accessibility for urban, rural and remote communities, and consistently achieving high patient satisfaction.”