Mortuary 'virtual' tour

Royal Oldham Hospital

The subject around what happens when you die is something people find difficult to approach.

But with TV programmes like 'Silent Witness' the workings of a mortuary have been beemed to our front rooms.

Now though The Royal Oldham Hospital is inviting local residents and trust members to join them for a free mortuary talk and ‘virtual’ tour, to find out more about what a hospital mortuary is like.

This special Medicine for Members’ event will take place on Monday 25th February from 1pm – 3pm and will be hosted by Amanda Ogden, Cellular Pathology and Mortuary Service Manager and Michelle Hoyle, Mortuary Manager.

The talk will give people the chance to find out more about how the mortuary operates on a day to day basis and the work their team typically gets involved with.

The Mortuary at The Royal Oldham acts as the forensic mortuary for all of Greater Manchester and deals with suspicious deaths. It is also geared up to deal with fatalities in the event of a major incident in the North West region.

Amanda Eckersley, Cellular Pathology and Mortuary Service Manager, said: “The mortuary facility is a modern, state of the art facility, which was opened in 2007. This is one of the busiest mortuaries in the area. It deals with over 6000 deaths per annum and it carries out 1500 coroner’s post mortems and 400 forensic post mortems a year.”

The service also plays an important role in providing bereaved families with end of life and bereavement support following the death of a loved one.

Fiona Murphy, Associate Director of Nursing, said: “We have a highly skilled team of professionals who work really hard to ensure that patients and their families have the best end of life experience they can, every time. The team place great importance on providing a discreet, compassionate service that is always fully focused on meeting the needs of bereaved families.”

This event is a talk and virtual tour of the department. The talk will be held between 1.00pm – 3.00pm in the Seminar Room in the Pathology Department. Attendees are advised to meet the team in the foyer of the Pathology Department. The event is free and open to the public, staff and Northern Care Alliance members. It is one of a series of ‘Medicine for Members’ events arranged to give the Trust’s 12,500 public members a greater insight into their local hospital and the services it provides.