The mortuary team at NUH star in a new BBC TV documentary
Award-winning broadcaster, Stacey Dooley has gone behind the scenes at the Queens Medical Centre (QMC) as part of her latest TV documentary - Stacey Dooley: Inside the Undertakers.
In the documentary, in which Stacey wants to explore exactly what happens when we die, Stacey visits the team working in the mortuary at the QMC to find out about the role and how they got into the profession.
Kate Browne has been a mortuary assistant at the NUH for three years. She features in the documentary and was asked about her role day to day. “Every day is different, you get to see what a lot of the general population would never see, and I do find it fascinating that there is always something unexpected. I get two reactions when I tell people what I do. Either wow that’s amazing or wow I could never!
“In this field of work, there will be traumatic and distressing times, it is a guaranteed part of the job. It’s important to be able to unwind and not to bring work home with you. Another emotional part of the job is helping distressed families. We deal with death every day, these people do not. They will experience grief in their own way, anger or sadness. It’s important to validate how and why they are feeling like this and take the time to listen and we hope we can bring some clarity.”
The documentary mostly follows Nottinghamshire Company – A. W. Lymn and explores how to arrange funerals, make coffins and learn about embalming.
During the documentary, the BBC says, Stacey also follows several funerals from start to finish to see how faith and secular beliefs play a role in the services.
Whilst filming at the QMC, the camera crew got to see wh
at happens when a patient is transported from the hospital to the funeral home and the care they receive. Kate said: “I was slightly nervous but the crew and Stacey were lovely, she took her time to really see how the funeral directors and our team work together. I’ll probably get second-hand embarrassment, like ‘oh do I sound like that? Oh my hair is messy!’ All my family and friends are excited and can’t wait to watch.”
The focus of the documentary is to discuss the taboo around death. When asked about this topic, Kate added: “At the end of the day, it’s something that will happen to us all and it is a natural process of life. Many people are afraid of death, hopefully the documentary can hopefully ease and bring comfort.”
Stacey Dooley: Inside the Undertakers will air on BBC One on Thursday 9th of November at 9pm.