Rate My Professor Les Toop

Emeritus Professor Les Toop holds the position of Professor Emeritus in the Department of Primary Health Care at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Faculty of Medicine. His qualifications include MB ChB, MD (Bristol), MRCGP, and FRNZCGP. With more than 35 years of continuous clinical practice in a Christchurch general practice, he exemplifies the integration of clinical expertise and academic scholarship. Previously serving as Head of the Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice, Les Toop remains actively engaged in health system redesign, interprofessional clinical education, interdisciplinary teamwork, and clinical governance.

Les Toop's research interests focus on interprofessional clinical education and interdisciplinary teamwork, clinical variation, rational prescribing, clinical indicators, and integration and system redesign. A long-term advocate for rational, effective, and patient-centred care through strong interdisciplinary teamwork, he was instrumental in developing the Pegasus Health interdisciplinary continuing education programme, operational for over three decades across multiple centres in New Zealand. As past chair and current adviser to the Pegasus Health Charitable group of companies—one of New Zealand's largest primary health organisations—he contributes significantly to primary care leadership. He also serves on the General Practice New Zealand (GPNZ) national executive and the leadership team of the Canterbury Clinical Network. His scholarly output includes over 100 publications, with more than 3,000 citations. Notable works encompass 'Capacity crisis in general practice: Practical support to manage the load' (2024), 'Assessment of unmet secondary elective healthcare need: Itself in need of acute care in Aotearoa New Zealand' (2023, New Zealand Medical Journal), 'Developing a national primary care research network: A qualitative study of stakeholder views' (2022, Journal of Primary Health Care), 'Managing the misuse potential and risk of psychological harm from gabapentinoids in primary care in New Zealand' (2021, Journal of Primary Health Care), and post-hoc analyses of vitamin D supplementation trials examining antibiotic prescriptions and respiratory exacerbations in older adults.