News
Council Nominations 2018
The AAPT Council had three seats available for the 2018 AGM
And three members have been nominated and proposed (subject to ratification at the 2018 AGM)
Michelle Lancaster FAAPT
Proposed by Nicola Wright
I have been a council member for 6 years; I have always thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being able to work for and on behalf of AAPT members.
I am currently part of the education & training committee – a role I have taken very seriously. I have been involved with implementing mortuary & senior APT study days, Level 3 mentor awareness days and Level 3 diploma assessor awareness days. I have and will continue to provide quality education days for APTs as I feel APTs deserve to have a good range of CPD activities they can undertake through out the year. Also, currently involved in organising a winter pressure event which I am hoping will be well received by APTs of all levels. This will be an opportunity to discover and discuss best practice ideas which will hopefully become a new AAPT best practice document - this will then allow us all to have an APT specific “go to” document to help these exceptionally demanding winters at present.
I am also part of the professional engagement & communication committee - I try to be as active as possible in communicating news and events relating to mortuary & bereavement care. It was great to be able to “live report” from events such as “Dying Matters” to hopefully give others unable to attend ideas and inspiration too.
I always try and be an excellent advocate for APTs, sharing stories of success as far and wide as possible - I am proud to be part of such a small and amazing group of people. I keep up to date with as much current legislation as possible and am always happy to help APTs navigate the sometimes complex and contradictory legislation we have to abide by! I can be found at the end of the email or the phone and hope I can continue supporting APTs in the next 3 years.
I am working with the team from “Patient Voices” who encourage healthcare staff to share their experiences in story format, either written or spoken and am hoping to work with AAPT members to introduce something similar onto the AAPT website – a space where we can share experiences / stories and sometimes just days of interest or days that were tough… this will be a chance to give true accounts of our working lives with a view to widening the understanding of mortuary work to the general public. It will obviously be managed with sensitivity to our patients and to those bereaved – I just feel we all do so many wonderful things that yes, can be tough, but rather then be represented in the media as those “who do things wrong” we should be represented for our true selves… for our resilience and care.
It would be an honour to represent the members of AAPT for another 3 years and continue the work I am currently involved in and can promise I will always try and do my best for all members as always.
Lydia Judge-Kronis FAAPT
Proposed by Deborah Wolf
After 29 years and 5 months, (yes I am counting) I love being an APT more now than ever. I have been very privileged that I have been on council for a number of years and have had a chance to participate in changes highlighting best practice, working with other organisations such as AHCS and CBUK and generally having a voice for our members and fellow APTs.
Our role has changed significantly and finally attitudes towards our profession are changing for the better.
As those who care for the deceased we all understand the emotive situations people can find themselves in, (including us at times). It can be difficult being heard as a small team or even a lone APT in a world full of medical professionals who dip their toes into the areas of death and bereavement but don’t live it on a daily basis.
Part of being on council means other APTs know we, (as a profession), are represented at meetings where ideas are discussed and decisions are being made. These often affect services we provide, duties we are expected to carry out and other general changes in practice that impact on our mortuaries. Having an opportunity to share real working situations and solutions means others can use accurate information before they plan and introduce processes.
As an assessor seeing the new APTs work their way through the new education programme is very exciting, seeing that when all of us oldies retire the profession is being left in such capable and committed hands.
I am passionate about the job and have no difficulty speaking up (mostly in an appropriate manner) when something needs to be said. I enjoy all aspects of the role and even as a manager, make sure I am in the PM room at least once a week. I am a true believer in not asking anyone to do something I’m not prepared to do myself so try to lead by example rather than bark orders whilst sipping a coffee in the office.
I appreciate that not all of us will agree all of the time but if I am given the opportunity to sit on council again, I will continue to bring all points of view to the table for discussion, not just the ones I agree with. I often say: you can sit 10 mortuary managers in a room and all 10 will disagree and all 10 will be right in their own way. No two mortuaries are the same but as a united group, the AAPT, we can make positive changes which benefit each of us as APTs, the deceased patients in our care and the families and other professionals who we meet along the way.
Lakeisha Ward
Proposed by Jade Parmenter
I have been an APT for ten years in the NHS. I have planned and participated in the London regional AAPT networks and events, and this helped me with regards to networking amongst fellow APTs.
Over the years I had established what I felt was the most interesting field of work within my APT career - maternal deaths and paediatric pathology. I have come to the realisation that there are a large number of APTs who possibly have no interest in paediatrics or that they have never seen or know much about paediatric PMs. I also feel that there is minimal representation of paediatrics with the AAPT and I would like to be nomnated to become a Council member for this very reason.
I feel this is a good time in my career to become a Council member, having worked my way up from being a trainee APT to a manager at an NHS trust where we specialise in perinatal and paediatric pathology. I can use my resources to the best of my ability to enhance and make people more aware of what we do as APTs and our specialism in paediatrics.
I would like to now give back in any way possible and I feel this would be an ideal way to do so. The AAPT has helped me in many ways such as networking within the APT profession. It has been a really useful information source not only for APTs working in the mortuary sectir, but also for those wishing to start a career as an APT.