Our Team

Dr Heather McNamee

MBChB MRCGP (UK) FRACGP DFFP

Born in Belfast – qualified from Edinburgh University in 1989. Completed GP training and Family Planning Diploma in 1996 and emigrated to Australia shortly afterwards.

Established and managed Healthy Women, a private Women’s Health GP clinic in Brisbane from 2000-2005. Joined Cairns Sexual Health Service in 2005 and became an S100 HIV prescriber in 2007.

For many years Dr McNamee was the GP at Youthlink, a support service for homeless and at risk youth. She maintains a special interest in the health of young people.

Dr McNamee continues to work part time at Cairns Sexual Health Service and has an active role in sexual health education for healthcare providers and the general community.

She established Cairns Doctors in 2013 to provide the people of Cairns with high quality, up to date sexual, reproductive and preventative healthcare.

Dr Kay Haig

MBBS FAChSHM

Doctor Kay Haig graduated in 1980 and came north to Cairns to The Cairns Base Hospital as an intern. She fell in love with the tropics and is still here.

Doctor Haig worked at Family Planning Cairns for 26 years and Sexual Health for 15 years. She was invited to join the College of Sexual Health Physicians in 1997 because of her extensive experience with sexual and reproductive health.

Doctor Haig feels passionate about all aspects of sexual health and believes we should all be able to enjoy the most intimate part of our lives.

Dr Nisha Manoheran

BMED Sc, MBBS, DRANZCOG and FRACGP

Dr Manoheran grew up in Penang, Malaysia. She completed a basic science degree (BMed Sc) in Kuala Lumpur.

Dr Manoheran moved to Australia for her medical degree and graduated from the University of Queensland in 2010.

Subsequently, Dr Manoheran worked primarily in Mackay where she underwent training for the DRANSCOG (Diploma of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) in 2012. She greatly enjoys working in the women’s health area and caring for patients from a variety of backgrounds.

Dr Manoheran also completed a certificate to become a Yoga Teacher, partly to remind herself about what is important in health and well-being. This helps to keep things in perspective.

Dr Manoheran gained a Fellowship in General Practice which allows her to help people with a variety of conditions, while still spending time on her interests in preventative medicine and women’s health.

Dr Matthew Warbuton

MBChB MRCGP FRACGP

Dr Warburton was born in England but migrated to Australia when he was 5 and spent his primary school years in Victoria.

He returned to England in 1988 with his family where he spent his secondary school and university years. He graduated from Birmingham University in 2001 and then completed GP training in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England in 2007.

Dr Warburton then returned to Australia with his wife, Karen, in 2008. After 2 years in Victoria, he moved to Cairns in 2010 and has been a GP for the Cairns community since then.
As well as being a family physician (GP), he has particular interests in diabetes and chronic disease, skin cancer medicine and clinical leadership and medical education.

Dr Warburton is a member of both the UK and the Australian Royal College of General Practitioners.

When he isn’t working enjoys playing the piano, reading, running; and of course, Doctor Who!

Mrs Karen Warburton

RN (Dip HE) Masters of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) Cert Diabetes Primary Care

Karen was born in Malaysia and moved to England aged 18 to study nursing.

She graduated from the University of Wolverhampton in 1999 and worked for 7 years in a urology hospital ward.

She met Dr Warburton in 2002 and they married in 2006. Together they moved to Australia in 2008 (along with their 3 cats) and then later to Cairns in 2010.

She initially worked as a Chronic Disease Nurse in Cairns whilst studying a Master of Nursing at Flinders University in Adelaide.

In 2012 she graduated as a Nurse Practitioner and has worked in general practice alongside Dr Warburton since then.

As a nurse practitioner Karen can investigate, diagnose, treat and manage most conditions and works collaboratively and effectively with the medical practitioners in Cairns Doctors.

She has greatly increased her scope of practice (her skills, knowledge and abilities) but her passions and emphasis remain in chronic disease and diabetes.

When she isn’t working, Karen is passionate about her three fur babies (the cats) and enjoys travelling and eating out in Cairns’ best eateries.

Margaret Schilling

Nurse

Margaret completed her nursing training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and her midwifery training at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne. She then enjoyed many years of midwifery nursing while also travelling extensively and working in South Africa and the UK.

Returning to Adelaide she completed her Family Planning and Child Health training before moving to Cairns in 1990.

In Cairns, she has worked at the Cairns Hospital, Cairns Private Hospital, Cairns Community Health Centre, Blue Nursing Service and the Cairns Day Surgery. More recently she worked at Queensland Fertility Group for 16 years gaining extensive experience in fertility treatment.

Women’s health is a particular interest, however, Margaret enjoys every aspect of her work at Cairns Doctors, especially the friendly and understanding team approach to all patients.