5 Aug 2025 Care

Catherine Thompson’s The Kirkwood Story

Catherine Thompson joined The Kirkwood in 2010 and spent 14 years transforming how social care supports people facing life limiting illness. From her early days on the In-Patient Unit to leading the Care Coordination Team, she helped bring compassionate, personalised support into the community. 

Catherine’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic, her role in securing trusted assessor status, and her outreach to vulnerable groups like the homeless have left a lasting impact. As she moves on to new challenges, her legacy with The Kirkwood remains one of innovation, empathy, and dedication.

After 14 years of unwavering dedication, Catherine Thompson is stepping away from her role with The Kirkwood, leaving behind not just a job well done, but a legacy of compassion, innovation, and social impact.

Catherine joined The Kirkwood in 2010, having previously worked in adult social care for Kirklees Council. “I wanted to work in Huddersfield,” she recalls. “At the time, I was based in Batley, and I saw the job advert come through. I had no idea what a hospice was, it had never impacted my life before, but something drew me to it.”

That leap of faith quickly became a calling. Catherine started as a social worker on the In-Patient Unit (IPU), where she spent her first seven years. “Those early years on the IPU really opened my eyes to the diversity and depth of palliative care. I worked with people from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures, at some of the most difficult points in their lives.”

Over time, she became a pivotal figure in shaping The Kirkwood’s social care services. “We developed the community social work role from the ground up. Before that, there was no structured social care in the community team.”

She led the creation and growth of the Care Coordination Team, starting with just three care coordinators and gradually expanding to a full team of social workers and coordinators supporting people across both the community and the In-Patient Unit.

Catherine said: “One of the things I’m most proud of is gaining trusted assessor status with the local authority. That meant we could carry out social care assessments ourselves, rather than patients having to wait on long council lists, it made a massive difference.”

She continues: “We also did a lot of work supporting people with continuing healthcare, and we built a team with an incredible depth of social care knowledge that didn’t exist before.”

Catherine has always believed in holistic care, seeing the person, not just the condition. “Palliative care isn’t just a medical need,” she says. “It affects people socially, emotionally, financially, psychologically and social work taps into all of that. It’s about the whole person, and their family too.”

This belief shaped not only her approach, but her team’s. “When we get feedback saying we supported the whole family, not just the patient, that means everything,” she says. “That’s what sets us apart from a hospital. It’s more human, more personal.”

Her leadership was particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Catherine had just taken on a new leadership role when the country went into lockdown. “We moved quickly,” she recalls. “We got the team laptops and turned them into a mobile, agile workforce. It was stressful, but I had a brilliant team, we pulled together.”

And through that adversity came lasting change. “Trusted assessor status came through during COVID. That will have a legacy beyond the pandemic.”

Catherine also pioneered work with people experiencing homelessness: “We linked with the Mission in Huddersfield and did drop-ins at Dewsbury Baptist Church. People don’t always associate hospice care with homelessness, but we proved that it’s possible, and necessary.”

She adds: “It’s about meeting people where they are and shaping our services around them, that’s one of the key strengths of social work.”

One of her proudest achievements has been elevating the role of social work with The Kirkwood: “It makes me proud that social work became so well recognised here, not just by the organisation, but by external partners too. We’ve shown that it’s not an add-on, it's essential.”

Fourteen years is a long time in any role, but for Catherine, the reasons for staying were always clear: “It’s the growth I’ve experienced, personally and professionally,” she says. 

“There’s always been opportunity, always room to develop, and I’ve always believed in the work. However I want to make it clear that it wasn’t all me that made it happen with The Kirkwood, I had a superb team of people behind me, who really worked hard every single day to do the outstanding job that they could. Yes I led the team, but in reality it was a full team effort and my colleagues should be shown and given great praise for all the work they did alongside me. Because without them we couldn’t have ultimately achieved what we have done over the past 14 years.”

She’s also played an active role outside her day job: “I ran the London Marathon for the Hospice. I’ve done fashion shows, fundraisers, taken part in events, I’ve always been passionate about what The Kirkwood stands for.”

Though the decision to leave wasn’t easy, Catherine knows it’s the right time. She said: “There are new areas of social work I want to explore, I’m ready for the next challenge, but I’ll always be grateful for what I’ve experienced here.”

Her final thoughts are simple, but powerful: “I care deeply about The Kirkwood, the people who work for it, the patients, the mission they have to care for those with life limiting illnesses. I’ll carry it with me, always.”

Thank you, Catherine, your legacy will continue to shape The Kirkwood for years to come.