6. Cathy Stone

Cathy Stone is a Weldmar Community Nurse Specialist, and has been at the charity for 20 years.

Cathy had previously worked in an intensive care and high dependency unit but began to think about a career in hospice care after seeing the work of the charity first hand. Her father-in-law, Bob, was admitted to the hospice in 2002. During his stay Cathy was inspired by the care given, how his symptoms were managed and how “they always had his best interests at heart.”

Cathy initially started working at the Inpatient Unit as a bank nurse “in the glorious green A-line skirts and flowery blouses!” before successfully gaining a Staff Nurse position. She then progressed to Senior Staff Nurse before joining the Community team in 2013.

Cathy finds her job interesting and challenging and that no day is the same. The patients are always at the heart of what they do and she feels it is an important part of her role to try to ensure that the team are equipped to provide the highest standard of care for the patient and their families. Cathy says that a key focus is to listen to what matters most to them. She says “It really is such a privilege to be invited into someone’s home and have them share their life history with you and to put their trust in you to help them at a time when they are often feeling at their most vulnerable. To support someone who is facing the end of their life and to be part of ensuring that they are able to live as well as they can for as long as they can is such a special thing to do.”

Weldmar means so much to Cathy, she says “personally it will hold a special place forever, for the care it gave us as a family all those years ago.”

“I feel honoured to work for Weldmar, I have seen many changes over my time here but one thing that doesn’t ever change is the passion for excellence in palliative care and the lengths that people go to to achieve this.