Stewart Smith

Interim National President

I grew up in Christchurch where I met my wife. We have two daughters who are both at high school now, and keeping us very busy. I am a Medical Laboratory Scientist working in Canterbury at the Hospital Laboratory. My specialty is Immunology and I find the challenge stimulating even though it is more than 20 years since I qualified. I enjoy the challenges of the job and am strongly motivated to ensure that medical laboratory workers in diagnostic laboratories are valued for our work and that Medical Laboratory Science has a bright future in NZ.

Dr Kevin Ellyett

National Vice President

Dr Deborah Powell

National Secretary

Deborah holds the overall management responsibility for the office with a particular interest in Collective Employment Negotiations and Personal Grievances. She represents health practitioners in claim situations with both employers and individuals. She holds a BSc from Victoria University and a Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery from University of Auckland.

Pam Aitken

National Treasurer

My name is Pam Aitken. I am married with 2 kids. I trained at Unitec back when the course campus was in Point Chevalier in Auckland. I was in the class of 2000, and graduated in November 2002. At that time, we had to remain as students throughout the summer holidays until the MRTB received all our paperwork from Unitec, and then we got back-paid since it was clear we passed and were qualified. I worked all of one midnight shift before being asked to join the theatre roster, which consisted on evening shifts and oncall afterward for DCCM/ICU new admissions, and the odd acute theatre case. I worked in this environment for approximately 2 years before I was offered a training position in CT. It was around this time that I was seconded into helping out as a delegate for ADHB. I had no idea what a steep learning curve I was about to participate in! I have been through the worst of times (strike action and 2nd wave vs 1st wave – finally a MECA) and I have been part of the good times, which has seen true progression of our terms and conditions. I have experienced positive collaboration through our workstreams and MRTAC and our union delegate training conference days held biannually. I trained in angiography in 2007 and became dual-modality trained – I was super flexible! In amongst all this my partner and I had our 2 kids, and after another 7 years and some stabs at post-grad training I was offered the role of temporary Clinical Specialist for Emergency Radiology (I was looking to secure less evenings and less oncall). This fitted in perfectly with my need to regain my life/work balance – I had a young family! My current role is to provide support and teaching – mostly for our students, but for qualified staff also. We went DR at the end of 2015 and I had to ensure all staff were trained/orientated to the new equipment. We also got a Cone Beam OPG machine for which I have created protocols and training checklists to ensure staff feel comfortable and confident. Like most ED departments, we are at the mercy of the public: patients present to ED and get triaged, nurse specialists request x-rays, and we have to ensure justification for each and every examination requested — no easy feat. Doctors/nurses don’t/can’t wait for private x-rays to be sent, asking for joint above and below the actual injury! You name it, we experience it, and challenge it EVERY DAY! I pride myself on trying to instil a level of confidence in our young MRTs – yet my underlying message is communication and collaboration. We MRTs know our side of the frustrations, but I cannot imagine what the doctors go through!

Vacant

President, Dietitians

Vacant

President, Biomedical Engineers

Mark Ashburner

President, Medical Physicists

Fintan Marshall

President, Anaesthetic Techs

Rajeev Kumar

President, Clinical Physiologists

Janelle Frith

President, CSSD

Deborah Hynes

President, Dental Therapists

I am a Dental Therapist employed by the Auckland Regional Dental Service. I am based in West Auckland. Here the facilities that we practice in include Hub Clinics, Diagnostic Vans, and Transportable Dental Units. I have been a member of APEX for many years, and a delegate for six years.

Bryan Raill

President, Medical Laboratory Workers

Hi I’m Bryan Raill, somewhat of a fixture on the National Executive (since 1994). I was born in the place where cheese and rugby were invented – Taranaki. I was a little bit of a later starter as a MLS, becoming a trainee at age 30 after varied working experiences: fisherman, barman/wine steward, dishwasher, pie-maker, scrub-cutter, and construction worker in the Think Big projects. I’m now in my 26th year in our profession, employed at CMDHB as a section head in Biochemistry. The pace of technical change and advance, as well as a great team, keeps the job interesting and challenging – and enjoyable. My work-life balance is enhanced by living free of the motorway and being able to go home for lunch in Auckland. Family, a teenage son, reading and a recent obsession with the history of my ancestors are some vices. My role on the Executive in maintaining, protecting and advancing our conditions is immensely rewarding – the quality and potential of the new MLS graduates and MLTs including phlebotomists that are attracted to our laboratories flows directly from all of the challenges and sheer hard work in bargaining.

Sheena Hewitt

President, MRTs

Sheena qualified as an MRT in 1985 from the Christchurch School of Radiography. She then worked for two years at Kaitaia before moving to Hawkes Bay where she has worked for the HBDHB ever since. She is the DSA/Cardiac Cath Lab Team Leader and divides her time between there and general. Sheena has been an APEX delegate since 1998.

Vacant

President, Occupational Therapists

Nathan Ibbott

President, Perfusionists

Vacant

President, Pharmacists

Nikki Laker

President, Physiotherapists

Hi, I’m Nikki. I have been the physiotherapy president since the formation of the division within APEX. I live in Hamilton and work as a physiotherapist at Waikato Hospital on the paediatric wards. I work part time Wednesday to Fridays and enjoy the rest of my time as a Mum to my awesome son.

Annmaree Kingi

Interim President, Psychologists

Annmaree works as a Clinical Psychologist at Canterbury in the forensic setting. She has been an active member since 2012, involved in the MECA by supporting the then delegate. She was asked to become a delegate a few years later after being very involved in opposition to the attempt to make it mandatory for psychologists to be involved in physical restraints with patients. This was successfully challenged at mediation, and Annmaree became a delegate. Annmaree Kingi is now the interim President for the Psychologists' division.

Nadia Smith

President, Radiation Therapists

Vanessa Galloway

President, Sonographers

I have been a qualified sonographer for 17 years at both Auckland DHB and now at Counties Manukau. I became an APEX delegate in the early 2000s, and have been on the National Executive for the last four years. I’m actively involved in sonographer bargaining within the Auckland region; we’ve experienced some good results with bargaining for sonographers, including improvements to weekend rates and CME provisions.

Heather Campbell

President, Social Workers

I've lived in Whangarei for the past 25 years. Originally from Upper Hutt, I trained as an upholsterer and worked in this trade on and off for nearly 30 years. With a strong sense of what is right and fair, I retrained as a social worker where I initially worked in the community and now work on the medical wards at the Whangarei Hospital.  The chaos of work is offset by living out of town on a small three acre property.

Denise Tairua

Advocate

Denise has more than ten years experience working for the union and a wealth of experience in advocating for Allied Scientific and Technical workforces. Coming from a  Medical laboratory background, Denise was first a union delegate before joining the APEX team full time. Whilst maintaining a particular passion for Medical laboratory Workers, she has more recently turned her focus to Pharmacy, Dietitians and Clinical Physiology.

Melissa Dobbyn

Advocate

Melissa has been in a part time role with CNS since 2006. She currently handles RDA member issues and doctors’ run reviews. We attribute Melissa’s excellent organisational and communication skills to her previous work in the fashion industry, and to her two gorgeous daughters.

Samantha Mcleod

Administration

Sam joined the team in late 2010 in a part time role. She currently handles accounts and insurance administration. Sam previously worked as a Treasurer for Plunket since leaving full time work as an Accountant to have 2 lovely boys. Sam is also the secretary for the NZRDA Education Trust.

Abbey Trewavas

Advocate

Abbey first joined us as an Associate in 2018 after completing a conjoint LLB/BA at the University of Waikato, she is now an advocate with a passion for industrial relations and employment law. Over the years, Abbey has negotiated collective agreements in both the public and private sector, with her portfolio now including Medical Laboratory Workers, Physiotherapists, Sterile Service Technicians and Dental Therapists to name a few. Abbey specialises in pay equity and jointly leads the conjoint Pay Equity claim for Allied, Scientific and Technical workers in the public sector.

Omar Hamed

Advocate

Omar joined us in 2016 and has over twelve years' experience as a union advocate. He has an interest in health and safety, rostering and workforce development and works with members across the psychologist, radiation therapist, biomedical technician and trades, and laboratory divisions. He has an MA in History and an LLB.

Bill Manning

Legal Counsel

Bill Manning is a barrister based in Auckland. He has had more than 20 years experience in civil litigation. He has worked with Deborah and the RDA on employment and industrial matters since the early 90s. For the last few months or so he has been a member of our medico-legal team representing RMOs and other health professionals facing investigation or disciplinary processes. When not working for us, he seems to spend an inordinate amount of time swimming, cycling and running; none of which can be terribly healthy.

Divya Varghese

Membership Officer

Holly Whittfield

Associate Advocate

Holly entered the union advocacy world in early 2022 after completing a Bachelor of Applied Management and gaining experience in HR in the kiwifruit industry. Having worked in hospitality during her university years, Holly is no stranger to poor working conditions. Her time in HR further expanded the need for employee advocacy, especially as Covid continues to challenge workplaces. Rest and meal breaks, and safer hours remain two of her crucial ER focus points.

Sammy Heimsath

Associate Advocate

Kauri Williams

Associate Advocate

Jo Ingham

Advocate

Beth Vale

Administration

Natalia D’Souza

Policy Advisor

Sarah Barker

Advocate