AAPT (UK) Council profiles

Ishbel Gall

Qualifications
BSc, DAPT

Trust Address
NHS Grampian, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD

Personal Statement
I have been interested in post mortem work since I was about 13 years old but Careers Advice wasn’t very helpful when I was at school. After University my degree led me into all sorts of exciting jobs including domestic, cellar person and bar manager before the University eventually felt sorry for me and took me on as a research technician. Several locust ovaries later I transferred to the Cephalopod lab where I split my time between keeping my octopus alive and analysing seal scat!

Finally my dream job was advertised in the local paper and thankfully the fully qualified APT from Pontefract didn’t attend the interview, so the “girl” had to be offered the job.

Over the years the job has changed considerably and I am now the Mortuary Manager for NHS Grampian. Based in Aberdeen the main mortuary at Foresterhill serves Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Royal Aberdeen Sick Children’s Hospital, Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and Roxburghe House Hospice. We provide a post mortem service to the entire Grampian region, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands. We are linked to Aberdeen University so as a teaching hospital a lot of our time is spent training medical staff.

I am very enthusiastic about AAPT as finally the job is being recognised as an important profession and I look forward to what can be achieved in the future.
I am responsible for looking after the forum and also trying to make sense of statistics which AAPT has collected.