Dave Humphries has worked as a mortuary technician for 10 of his 30 years with NSW Health. His skills and dedication have not gone unnoticed!

He was one of six award win­ners at a recent Rotary Pride of Work­man­ship Awards event held at Katoomba.

Dave says he’s proud to have worked for NSW Health Pathol­o­gy for 10 years, and before then 23 years for Nepean Blue Moun­tains Local Health District.

He was nom­i­nat­ed by local funer­al direc­tors Tom and Louise Brown­john who described Dave as a plea­sure to deal with, prais­ing his excel­lent work eth­ic, effi­cien­cy and pleas­ant nature.

So, what is involved in being a mor­tu­ary tech­ni­cian at Nepean Hospital?

“A typ­i­cal day for me involves man­ag­ing the admis­sions and dis­charge of peo­ple who have passed away at Nepean Hos­pi­tal,” Dave explains.

“I help guide and sup­port griev­ing fam­i­ly mem­bers through the process and arrange­ments for their loved ones, as well as sup­port­ing our social work­ers through the view­ing ser­vice we pro­vide for families.

The role also involves work­ing along­side med­ical staff and funer­al direc­tors, ensur­ing the required paper­work is com­plete and that patients who have died are looked after in a time­ly and car­ing manner.

“There is so much I like about my career, but I get the most sat­is­fac­tion in know­ing that the patients in my care have been treat­ed with the dig­ni­ty and respect they deserve,” Dave said.

“I feel hon­oured and proud to have received this award, to know peo­ple who have encoun­tered me over the years have been greet­ed with kind­ness, care and dedication.”

NSW Health Pathology’s Nepean Lab­o­ra­to­ry Man­ag­er Stephen Park­er said Dave’s expe­ri­ence and skills have made him an inte­gral part of the team at Nepean.

“We are so thrilled that Dave’s work has been recog­nised in this way,” Stephen said.

“His atten­tion to detail and abil­i­ty to help fam­i­lies through an extreme­ly dif­fi­cult time is appre­ci­at­ed by every­one at here at Nepean.”

(Pho­to L‑R: Stephen Park­er, Nepean lab­o­ra­to­ry man­ag­er, Tom and Louise Brown­john, Dave Humphries (hold­ing his award) and Stephanie Humphries.)

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