For newly honoured Kerry Jackson OBE, Chief Executive of St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds, end-of-life-care must focus squarely on each patient’s individual needs.

“Our three values are Caring, Aspiring and Professional,” she says. “And I think they really come through in our depth of compassion. At the end of their lives, people’s needs are very different. It’s not a tick-box checklist. It must be tailored.”

Jackson began her accounting career in 1989 at Touche Ross & Co, later part of Deloitte, at the age of 23. When she left nine years later, she joined the Private Finance Unit at the Department of Health as a financial consultant. Jackson soon found that her role involved providing non-financial as well as financial advice.

At the same time, it gave her insights into the complex nature of private finance initiative (PFI) builds, which would come in handy in her next role.

Complex effort

After two years, Jackson accepted a short-term secondment to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to support its strategic capital team. Her six-month contract ended up lasting eight years.

“I became Director of Strategic Projects,” she says. “The biggest one I was responsible for was the Bexley Wing Oncology Centre at St James’s Hospital, which cost £250m. It was a fantastic, enormous and very complex effort.”

During the build, Jackson negotiated with both NHS and private-sector contacts to ensure the project had what it needed. Upon completion, the Bexley Wing became the new host for the facilities of Leeds Cancer Centre, with that older hospital closing.

Jackson mulled running another big build further afield but, mindful of her young children, decided to join private company Nova Healthcare, which had also set up in the Bexley Wing. Two years on, the then-Chief Executive of St Gemma’s made a compelling offer. “We went to the same church,” Jackson explains. “At one service, he came up and mentioned that he was retiring soon and asked if I wanted to apply to replace him. That was 13 years ago.”

She was 44 when I took the role. After five years, friends began to ask her when she was planning to take her next step. “But I absolutely love this job. There are always massive challenges and opportunities. I may do other jobs in retirement. But until then, I want to stay here.”

Another important factor is that Jackson’s family has a long-term affinity for St Gemma’s. “I used to do Irish dancing here as a child,” she says. “My mum taught it, and we’d bring other children along with us.” During Jackson’s tenure as Chief Executive, that personal connection deepened. “My father died here 10 years ago, and the care he, and we as a family, received was incredible.”

Meaningful mission

St Gemma’s receives a third of its funding from the NHS and the rest from charitable donations. As such, it has found a fond place in the heart of local residents as a cherished cause. That community spirit feeds into what Jackson has learned from leading the hospice.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself,” she says. “I love the variety, autonomy and speed of decision-making that comes with a smaller, community-based organisation. The slow turning of a large one can be very frustrating. But doing something that’s meaningful to you as a person helps you maintain your passion over time.”

Building authentic relationships with your community of colleagues, she says, is also a major asset. “It means you’re not afraid to seek out people who are better than you. As a leader, you don’t need to have all the answers. In fact, it’s not ideal if you think you do. From senior to junior staff, everyone here has a valuable part to play.”

Future plans

Jackson’s training as a chartered accountant has provided a bedrock of support for her whole career. She felt huge pressure at the time, having nightmares about her final exams for years after she’d qualified. However, her training gave Jackson a breadth of understanding of different business models and the elements you need to run a successful organisation.

“The training gave me an ability to look at information at a high level and spot where any problems and issues lie. Not just with financial data, but other information, too. It changes the way you think about and analyse things.”

Jackson welcomes her OBE, awarded for services to palliative and end-of-life-care, as a “huge, positive reflection” on St Gemma’s as a whole. “It means something really important to me in terms of personal recognition,” she says. “But what it says about the wider organisation – the community, people, volunteers, fundraising and all the other support we receive – is lovely as well.”

One of St Gemma’s biggest challenges going forward, she says, will be to address a growing demand. “More people are dying in the UK every year. That will continue for the next 20 years or so. As such, we will need to look at how to meet that demand while ensuring our care remains personalised.”

At the same time, St Gemma’s will seek to build on its groundbreaking status as the UK’s first-ever university teaching hospice – a role that stems from a 2012 tie-up with the University of Leeds.

Jackson says: “We’re just finalising our strategy now. We’re looking to grow our research and education programmes so our impact is wider over time – touching GPs, district nurses and other health professionals, as well as families and carers. That’s a big area for future development.”

Read more about accountants given awards in the New Year Honours.