As we set up in Nancy’s office at the leafy Newburn Road Surgery an instant warmth and positivity is felt as we begin our talk. Like a familiar friend, as she is seen by so many of her patients, we are off and away.
Dr Nancy Burge graduated from University College, London in 1982 before commencing work in her home town of Brighton, later moving with her family to Scotland. Home for the next 17 years was the picturesque Isle of Skye. As well as working as a GP in several rural practices, Nancy and her husband Nigel ended up becoming the main drive behind a local Gaelic choir which became their side-by-side labour of love for many years.
As an opera buff from way back, Nancy loves to frequent theatres in Perth and often compares the opera standard we see here to some of the many incredible seasons at the prestigious Glyndebourne Opera House in England. “We’re very lucky with the quality of singers we see here both local and international”. Nancy also enjoys attending the Fringe Festival in Perth each year for the diverse offerings of performances, and loves seeing the burlesque and drag shows.
Nancy has made it paramount that she actively promotes her accessibility as a practitioner to the LGBTQI community and understands how important it is for people to feel accepted and secure with their chosen medical professional.
Passionate about getting to know her patients to give them their best ongoing care, Nancy is also a provider of Voluntary Assisted Dying. Having always believed this should be a choice open to all, she undertook the training as soon as VAD became legal in WA.
In her downtime, Nancy loves getting away to our great southwest region, taking the 4WD with her husband to remote beaches and forest escapes. Her most recent trip saw Nancy conquer the same 65 metre climb she had done 20 years ago, to the top of the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree in Pemberton, to which she thanks her new found love of yoga for getting her safely up and down once again!
Drawn to ongoing learning and finding new challenges, Nancy has no intention of slowing down anytime soon, finding the work she carries out each day to be so very rewarding.
