Passing of a former colleague

Written by Lynne Gordon, former Ayrshire Hospice member of staff and friend of Margaret.

It is with great sadness I share the news of the sudden death of a former and highly regarded colleague of the Ayrshire Hospice. Margaret Cassidy died on 20^th February at Crosshouse hospital with her close family by her side.

Margaret had a long and distinguished career in the nursing profession. In 1980 she moved from her home town of Ayr at the tender age of 17 to Glasgow to commence her general nurse training at Stobhill Hospital. Her first Staff Nurse posts were in renal medicine and as part of a diabetic team.  She qualified as a Registered Midwife, working in Glasgow before commencing her District Nurse training where her love for caring for patients in their own home became the focus of her nursing career.

As a qualified District Nursing Sister Margaret worked in the Ayrshire town of Dalmellington and surrounding villages. Sister Cassidy was a “Well kent face” a highly regarded member of the community. A special time which she remembered with great fondness. Further study and the successful completion of a postgraduate certificate in palliative led her to the Ayrshire Hospice.

She began at the Ayrshire Hospice as a member of the Specialist Palliative Care team (SPCN) in 1999, caring for patients and their families in their own homes across Ayrshire. A kind, caring and knowledgeable nurse who was held in the utmost regard by patients, carers and partnering professionals in the community.

Her leadership skills shone through when she became SPCN team leader, expanding further when teams merged and she became the Manager of Community and Day Services. She led the team on the redesign and review of how community and day services were delivered. This included a redesign of the day services environment to ensure it offered a modern, welcoming space conducive to individualised, person centred care.

She led an inspired new project on referral allocation by introducing triage, aiming to ensure that patients were seen promptly by the most appropriate member of the hospice team. This was a truly innovative development at the time, and this project was presented at many conferences where other hospices were able to learn from this dynamic and innovative new approach. She was also an active member of the Day Services Organisation for specialist palliative care professionals helping to coordinate and organise day services conferences across the UK. 

Margaret took early retirement early in 2019 after a 20 year career at the Ayrshire Hospice. She influenced, supported and motivated many nurses throughout her career. As the sad news of her death has been shared tributes from colleagues have been many.  A calm, kind and experienced nurse, she had a gift for truly listening and guiding. Her wise counsel has been recounted by many.  The clip clopping of her heels as she hurried along the corridor is remembered with great fondness.

Patients and their families remained at the heart of everything that Margaret did throughout her career, she was passionate about making today matter for every person that crossed her path. A true professional, many colleagues have said the most professional nurse they have ever had the pleasure to work alongside. 

Our thoughts are with her family Peter, Kim, Evan and Leon. A shining beacon of light, beautiful inside and out, taken too soon.

Good bye our dear friend.   

Margaret’s funeral will take place on Friday 13th March at 1:30pm in Holmsford Bridge Crematorium, Dreghorn, followed by tea at Highgrove House Hotel, Troon