I founded NatMed in 1999 in order to deliver the community in Perth truly outstanding health care. What I see in practice is that the medicine wheel is broken. Poor communication with patients and poor team work amongst health providers is rife. It is my hope that the community will benefit from NatMed via the experience of truly integrated health care. After 21 years experience in our Perth community we have developed a network of health providers across a wide range of service areas from urologists and other specialists to general practitioners, dentists and cranio-sacral therapists. I am currently working to develop a new model for medical service delivery using a networked communication platform for coordinating patient care. It is currently under the banner IHG or the Integrated Health Group. It will mean a change in the appropriation of service provision by insurers which is the current trend. The trend is pushing a profit entered medical model based on price competition. I want to see a move back to a patient centric model based on best practice outcomes which is what you all had when you grew up with your family doctor.
“For me, one of the main benefits of choosing the naturopathic path over a traditional medical path is that I feel much more in control of my own recovery. Deb has shared her extensive knowledge and expertise with me and as such I have learnt a great deal about my condition which in turn has empowered me to take responsibility for my own healing.” – Sharon Elliot, February 2017
I never intended to get into this crazy area called Naturopathy. In my mind it was snake charmer territory and better left alone or to those beloved camper-vanning hippies. My first area of study was Anthropology at UWA. This led me to a wild journey in 1986 into the Great Victoria dessert to attend the first Pitjantjatjara dance festival open to non-Aboriginals. The journey helped build my character because it was both beautiful and challenging but it also changed my destiny. I became ill and physically weakened as a result of the duress of the journey and poor nutrition in the dessert (emu, kangaroo, witchetty grubs and no plants). My adrenals plummeted and I winded up with chronic fatigue.
When I returned to Perth, I went to doctors to see what was wrong with me and all my tests came back normal. Frustrated, I turned to natural medicine and began what has now been a 24 year journey. NatMed has been born out of that journey in the hope that others won’t have to do it the hard way like I had to. It has been born out of a vision to improve the lives of those I come into contact with and to deliver my life’s mission: helping my self and others heal into an integrated wholeness of body, mind and spirit so that we can make this world a better place for all.
“Deb’s approach is holistic and encompasses support on every level of your being to bring about healing and recovery. One of the most important things she said to me was ‘When you have an autoimmune condition, you need a team to manage it’. Consequently she referred me to various other practitioners, including acupuncture, chiropractic and kinesiology and I’m happy to report, I have had very positive results with all.” – Sharon Elliot
If I don’t have the answers I will at least know someone who will.
I believe in an integrated, best practice medicine model and advocate for the use of both natural and general medical practice approaches. We have strong alliances with general practitioners and specialist medical practitioners.
I love what I do and I love my extended family of patients. Please email or call me with any query about your care at my practice.
“Deb has been a blessing in my journey to get back my health and wellbeing. She is very approachable, extremely thorough, will work in conjunction with your Doctor and explains the health issues and the treatment in detail. I have been happy with my outcome and would not hesitate in recommending her to anyone who is looking for an alternative approach to achieve good health.” – Marie Pritchard