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New Staff - Kathy Pinkney - Deputy Clinical Services Manager

I have worked as a nurse in Durham since leaving school in 1974. I commenced my nurse training in Durham completing this in 1977. After a couple of years working in the local hospital  I decided that the community environment was where I wanted to work and I obtained a post as a District Nurse, completing my District Nurse training in 1981. After 11 years I decided a change was in order and subsequently held a variety of posts including Liaison Nurse, managing patient discharges from the hospital to the community, Nurse Specialist for the elderly and team leader for a Rehabilitation team, Clinical leader Physical disabilities, and a period in management with responsibility for a variety of community staff before returning to District Nursing in 1999.

 Since the beginning of 2009 I have worked in Willow Burn as a bank nurse and it didn’t take me long to realise that this was the place that I wanted to work, the perfect job that I had been searching for years for, and to work with such a supportive dedicated group of people. When I was successful in obtaining the post of Deputy Clinical Service’s manager I felt so privileged to be a part of this wonderful team delivering first class palliative care services to the local population.

I have always lived locally and I am from a mining family, my father and both grandfathers working all of their lives in the Durham coal mines. I currently live a few miles from the hospice in a farm house and converted dairy, with my husband, grown up son and an abandoned Jack Russell terrier called Sam who joined our family a few years ago.  I spend hours of my spare time walking with the family (and Sam), appreciating the wonderful countryside that is Derwentside and County Durham.  When I am not walking or working, I enjoy baking and reading novels in the crime and history genres. I have a great interest in WW1 and WW2 history and over many years I have collected a variety of memorabilia with which I can bore anyone who shows even the politest interest and even those who don’t! 

I  am so happy to be a part of Willow Burn and feel that since coming here I am content in my career at last.