Cathie originally trained as a nurse at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow in the 1980s and worked in a variety of nursing roles before moving to Perth in 1990, initially to take up post as a Clinical Nurse Manager at Perth Royal Infirmary and later as Clinical Services and Business Manager for the former Perth and Kinross NHS Trust. In 1995, she was appointed Director of Nursing, Patient
Services and Planning for Kirkcaldy NHS Trust and then Director of Service Development and Capacity Planning for the Fife NHS Board. Cathie returned to Glasgow in 2005 to take up post as the Director for the new South East Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership before moving to Orkney in 2010 as the Chief Executive of NHS Orkney, Cathie also worked at this time as Executive Director at Orkney Islands Council and lead the integration of health and social care services before the appointment of Orkney’s Chief Officer.
Cathie has an MSc in Leadership (Quality Improvement), is a GenerationQ Fellow and a member of the Q Community, whose mission is to foster continuous and sustainable improvement in health and care.