Management Council Profiles

I was invited to join the Hospice Management Council in 2003 in recognition of my interest in Cancer Medicine. At that time I worked as a Consultant in Respiratory Diseases at Ayr Hospital where I was closely associated with the work of the Oncology Unit, particularly in respect of the management of patients with lung cancer. This work brought me into close contact with medical and nursing staff engaged in specialist palliative care. I experienced, at first hand, the excellent work done by the Ayrshire Hospice mostly through its hospital palliative care team and I was delighted to accept the invitation to support the work of the Hospice in ways allied to, but not directly concerned with, my professional work.

I served on the Hospice Clinical Governance Committee from 2003, acting as its Chair from 2004 until 2008. In 2006 I established the Hospice Corporate Governance Committee, becoming its first Chair, a role in which I continue. I have been Chair of the Hospice Nomination Committee since its inception in 2008. During the course of 2007 - 2009 the Corporate Governance Committee has taken the lead on a wide-ranging project as a result of which the Council has strengthened the systems and processes concerned with ensuring its overall effectiveness, supervision and accountability. I have also taken the lead in initiating and co-ordinating a Strategic Organisational Review of hospice services, working towards the launch of a five-year Strategic Plan in April 2010.

I took over the role of Hospice Vice-Chair in 2007, retired from my NHS practice in 2008 and, having more time available to devote to the Hospice, accepted my nomination to the position of Chairman of The Ayrshire Hospice in September, 2009.

I joined Management Council in October 2007 as Company Secretary following retirement from the banking sector. I am also currently a member of both the Appeals Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee. Serving as a Director of The Ayrshire Hospice has given me an ideal opportunity to support such a worthwhile organisation which provides dedicated care and support throughout Ayrshire.

Chairman Ayrshire Hospice 2000-2009 - currently Vice Chairman

Clerk to Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire & Arran for over 20 years.

Awarded MBE in 2007 for services to the community. Organised Annual fireworks display at Ayr Racecourse for past 16 years. Past Chairman of Ayr District Round Table. Organised 2 Hospice Fun Days at Ayr Racecourse in 1990's. Director Glasgow Ayrshire Society. Local Solicitor. Married with 2 daughters.

My involvement with the Ayrshire Hospice began in the 1980s when West Sound radio contacted various local businesses to ask them to sponsor adverts to promote fundraising for the Hospice. In the years that followed I helped with the organisation of a number of Fundraising events, as and when required, by sourcing raffle prizes etc. In 1998 I was invited to join the Hospice's Management Council and became Chair of the Appeals Committee. My reason for supporting the Hospice in this way is simple - it allows me to give something back to the Ayrshire community.

Working as a Consultant Haematologist in Ayrshire for 27 years, I always had a major interest in oncology and various aspects of cancer services, including working with members of the hospital-based palliative care team. I was very privileged to be a member of the original medical committee which helped in the early development of the Ayrshire Hospice in the 1980's. I was thus delighted to be invited back in 2006 to be further involved, at a much later stage of my medical career, through Management Council.

Within Management Council I am principally involved in the Clinical Governance and Education sub-committees. In 2009 I took over the role as chair of the Clinical Governance committee working with other council members alongside the highly skilled and dedicated members of the Hospice team who specialise in this work.

I was delighted to be invited to join the Hospice Management Council. I have managed large and small teams in multinational organisations, worked at a senior level developing the skills and strategic direction of small local companies and worked in the public sector on high value and complex European funded programmes. I want to use my skills and experience to make a significant contribution to the operation of a vital local service. All of us are now touched by the need for the Hospice through the experiences of family, friends and relatives. Being a relative "newbie" to the Management Council, I am looking forward to the development of the service in the coming years and have joined one of the Strategic Organisational Review working groups.

As a member of Kilwinning Friends of the Hospice I have been involved with fundraising for the Ayrshire Hospice for more than 20 years. In January 2004 I was appointed to the Management Council and immediately became Convenor of the Friends' Groups, meeting with representatives of the Groups quarterly to update them on events organised by our Fundraising Department, to discuss their events and to share ideas for fundraising. Also I now serve on the Education and Appeals committees. From very personal experience I know the impact of a terminal illness on patients and their families, especially where there are no hospice services available. Therefore, since my retirement from teaching and lecturing, I can think of no better organisation to work for as a volunteer than the Ayrshire Hospice.

I have been a General Practitioner in Ayrshire since 1978. I have seen at first hand the work of the Hospice since its very beginning and can bear witness to the great work done to improve the care of patients with terminal illness. I have seen the support offered to patients at home and in the Hospice and to their families.

I was happy to accept the opportunity to join the Management Council in order to help the Hospice continue its work and, in particular, to serve on the Clinical Governance Committee.

A native of Bothwell in Lanarkshire I graduated in Medicine at Glasgow University in 1955. After spending almost 3 years on the staff of Glasgow Royal Infirmary I entered general practice as a trainee in Dunblane in 1957 and subsequently worked as assistant in a practice in Uddingston before becoming a partner in practice in Alyth, Perthshire in 1959. At the end of 1965 I moved to Saltcoats as a partner in a practice in the Three Towns remaining there until my retiral in 1994.

I am a member of Ardrossan and Saltcoats Rotary Club and heard Professor Sir Tom Symington speak there in the spring of 1984 about his dream of establishing a hospice in Ayrshire. I had known Sir Tom both as a student and as a member of staff at the Royal Infirmary where he had been senior lecturer and subsequently professor of pathology prior to his going to London. A few days after the meeting I was invited by Sir Tom to become a Trustee of the hospice appeal and readily agreed.

Meetings in those days were held at Craigie College and committee meetings in members' houses. After the purchase of the hospice building in 1986 the midnight oil was burned at many a meeting in Hugh Taylor the architect's office as plans were drawn for the conversion and extension of the building to the fine property which it is today! With the opening of the hospice in 1988 the Board of Trustees became the Management Council and Trustees became Directors.

I serve on the Clinical Governance committee (originally the Medical Advisory Committee) and I am proud of my association with the Hospice for 25 years now and to have had a hand in the establishment of it as the centre of excellence which it has become today.

I've been a member of Management Council since 2008, and have really enjoyed this new role for me at a time when the Hospice Board and Management Team is undertaking an ambitious analysis of where we've come from and where we want to go, building on our success to date and identifying challenges for the future.

A Human Resource professional of over 20 years' standing, I was employed at South Ayrshire Council and its predecessor for over 18 years before taking up my current role at Sense Scotland. As Head of HR, I'm responsible for leading and directing the full range of HR functions across the organisation's Scottish operations. In the past, I've lectured on a Degree course on Employee Relations, and I'm also an external moderator for Certificate courses in Personnel and Training, ensuring that centres and students are meeting CIPD academic standards of delivery, assessment and achievement, and I have given advice to local students and members on membership and upgrading.

A Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD), I've been on the Committee of what is now the CIPD Ayrshire Geographical Group for over 15 years (currently Chair), during a period of rapid and exciting change, and get a tremendous buzz, not to mention great personal development, from organising and facilitating development events for local members and participating in Branch activities as a Committee member.

The Ayrshire Hospice has become a part of the lives of everyone in our community and my family are no different. The support and goodwill generated since its inception have been extraordinary. I was able to help raise funds in those early days, but work commitments took me away from Ayr to Aberdeen and Edinburgh. With my former employer, I worked throughout Scotland, UK and Europe, building my business and people experiences. I have returned to my home town and again, I want to help. I am an architect with a practice in Ayr. I am also a Rotarian and part of my life philosophy is to serve the community in which I live and work. Putting all these experiences together, I hope I can support the work of the Hospice. My current role within The Ayrshire Hospice is to chair the Building and Property Committee and serve on Management Council.

I am a Chartered Accountant and a partner in a busy accountancy practice based in Kilmarnock. I have been a member of Management Council since 1998. I became Treasurer of the Ayrshire Hospice in 2008 and am currently Chair of both the Staffing and Finance Committee and the Investment Committee. In addition I am a member of the Corporate Governance Committee.

I have been involved in fundraising and governance with a number of local charities and businesses for thirty years. When I saw the recent advert for new Members of Management Council at the Ayrshire Hospice I felt that it would be a very interesting and rewarding opportunity and an excellent way to use the skills that I have developed in those other organisations.

I have worked all of my career in the NHS in Scotland starting as a student nurse in Glasgow Royal Infirmary. I have worked in various clinical settings and throughout my career have nursed patients with cancer and palliative care needs both in hospital and in their own homes. I have always had a keen interest in cancer and palliative care both as a nurse providing hands on care and as a manager responsible for delivering services. I have a strong belief that patients with cancer and palliative care needs should have the best possible care in the setting of their choice.

I joined the Management Council in the hope that my broad nursing and NHS management experience would be of benefit to the Ayrshire Hospice to help develop and improve the already excellent service. I am presently Chair of the Education Committee and a member of the Clinical Governance and Finance & Staffing Committees within the hospice.