The APM Board are responsible for the day to day management of the APM’s business. The Committee maintains accountability and provides an overview, determines the conditions of membership, arranges general meetings and study days and negotiates, on behalf of the APM, with outside bodies.
Dr Amy Proffitt
President
Dr Sarah Cox
Vice President
Dr Kirsten Baron
Honorary Secretary
Professor Derek Willis
Treasurer
Dr Iain Lawrie
President Support
The APM is keen to let members know who is representing them … and what they do. Over the coming months, in our Who represents you? series, we will be sharing our role profiles – who the people are, what’s their role, what do they do for the APM and, more importantly, what do they do for you?
Who represents you?: Dr Amy Proffitt, President
Amy was elected to the role of the APM President in March 2021 having served a two-year term of office as Vice-President.
APM role
The role of the President of the APM is a busy and key role in the functioning of the organisation. There are obvious duties one would expect, such as deputising for the President at both internal and external meetings and during leave, but there are also a wide range of other responsibilities.
The President, as a member of the APM Executive Committee and a Trustee of the organisation, is also actively involved in virtually every decision affecting us. This involves dealing with many e-mails every week, as well as helping prepare agendas, review minutes, monitor action plans and take forward APM policy in all manner of ways. While this may seem burdensome, Amy always says this is what we need to do to make Palliative Medicine more visible to the public, the NHS and government.
Kirsten is the Honorary Secretary and an Officer of the Association for Palliative Medicine. She was appointed to this role in March 2019.
As a Consultant in Palliative Medicine working in Wigan, Greater Manchester, Kirsten’s time is split 50:50 between the acute Trust and the Hospice where she is responsible for in-patients, and particularly enjoys her role as Clinical Supervisor for trainees.
As a trainee herself she spent five years as Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) representative on the APM Trainees’ Committee. She relishes this aspect of her training, giving valuable insight into the role and remit of the SAC as well as the wider APM. It also helped her to develop the key skills required for committee work and the opportunity to learn from more experienced colleagues.
Having been settled in her Consultant post for a couple of years now, she was again keen to broaden her experience and become more active in the APM which makes her suited to the role of honorary secretary having exceptional organisational skills, a keen eye for detail and the natural ability to have a comprehensive overview of committee work – a characteristic ‘completer-finisher’!
In her personal life she has 3 young children so when not working she enjoys running around after them and trying to achieve the ever elusive uninterrupted sleep!
Sarah is the Vice President of the Association for Palliative Medicine. She was appointed to this role in March 2021 after serving as a member of the Board since 2019.
Sarah trained in medicine in London then specialised in Palliative Medicine being appointed to a new consultant post at Royal Trinity Hospice and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 1998. Since March 2020 she has worked in the acute sector at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital as a Palliative Medicine Consultant and as Lead Medical Examiner. She is also an honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London and an honorary consultant at Royal Hospital Chelsea (for the Chelsea Pensioners).
Achievements in leadership roles include having the RCP recognise Palliative Medicine as one of the 12 largest medical specialties with a seat on RCP Council. In her role as chair of the RMP Palliative Care Group across West London she led on standards for coordination of EOL in the community and seven day Specialist Palliative Care services. Sarah led the work of the APM Professional Standards Committee (2013-2019) including the annual FAMCARE audit.
In applying for the APM VP role, Sarah recognised that “Palliative Care has been at the centre of so much that has happened over the past year, and we have shown how much we have to contribute. We have achieved an enormous amount for such a young specialty but there is still so much we need to do.
We need to;
Sarah is a keen but average tennis player and has spent most of her down time over the past year watching trashy TV to relax.
Derek is a proud Co. Durham lad. He went to Birmingham University too many years ago and qualified with an Honours degree. Initially wanting to be a Diabetologist, Derek did a medical rotation in East Birmingham and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians. He landed up in a Junior Macmillan post and whilst doing Oncology worked in a hospice and found his niche. Having gained his General Practice qualification, Derek started on a palliative medicine rotation in the West Midlands. He found that it was the wrong time for him to go into palliative medicine full time, so became a GP in Birmingham City Centre- working in Balsall Heath and Edgbaston. He was part of the practice that looked after the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the local MOD staff. Derek also gained a Masters in Health Care Ethics at this point and was an Honorary lecturer in the Department of General Practice at the University of Birmingham. He also became a Graduate Entry Moderator and helped to write and teach the Graduate Entry Medicine Course at Birmingham University.
Derek and his family lived in New Zealand for 2 years where Derek worked at Mercy Hospice in Auckland as well as being a GP in West Auckland (where the film The Piano was filmed!) and also looked after the national basketball team, the Breakers. He enjoyed coming back to palliative care so, on returning to the UK and the homeland of Durham, Derek trained for Consultant status via the CESR route. At the same time, he gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education.
Derek is now Medical Director at Severn Hospice which serves Shropshire and mid Wales. Derek is also Visiting Professor in Palliative Medicine and Bioethics at Chester University. Derek’s interests include palliative care for adults with neuromuscular conditions for which he is helping write the national NICE guidelines, community palliative care and bioethics. For the APM,Derek was Chair of the 2012 PCC and has been on the Education committee and the Ethics Committee. He helped run the annual APM Ethics course. He is now APM Treasurer.
In his spare time Derek loves treading the board (he won a best Actor award for a play called Bouncers), knows how to ballroom dance and loves hitting the gym – though not at the same time. He is pleased to be on the exec especially at a really exciting time for the APM and its future.