In 1987 my friend Caroline Thomson was asked to become a non-executive director of the paternalistic, socially conservative and intensely bureaucratic Highland Health Board. I honestly don’t think they had the slightest notion what they were letting themselves in for.
With public concern about HIV/Aids at its height, Caroline believed that social conservatism was a luxury that health boards could ill afford. She persuaded the organisation to adopt radical policies in relation to sexual health and drug misuse, much to the chagrin – and outright opposition – of many traditional and powerful elements within Highland society. A firm believer in listening to patients, she introduced meaningful consultation long before it became fashionable.
Caroline, who has been killed in a car crash aged 63, was motivated by her profound passion for people. She had charisma and warmth that drew people to her, accompanied by a fierce intellect and the ability to persuade others, often against their own predispositions.
She became chair of the board (which is now known as NHS Highland) 10 years later, and was involved in numerous national initiatives, including the development of a patient-friendly complaints procedure. Her election as chair of the Scottish NHS Confederation – twice – was an indication of the esteem in which her peers held her. In 2003 she was appointed OBE for services to health.
She was born in London, where her Irish parents, Steve and Bridie Gilvary, had settled in search of a better life for their children; her father worked in off-licences and her mother took various casual jobs. Caroline attended the Marist convent school in Fulham, then went to Letchworth grammar when her parents moved jobs. She trained at St Bartholomew’s hospital, and qualified as a state registered nurse in 1974. In the same year she married Allan Thomson. Caroline continued nursing after moving to the Highlands, where Allan’s job was based, leaving to raise their two little boys.
In the late 1970s Caroline became involved in her local playgroup and the wider playgroup movement. She was a key figure in transforming the Highland Pre-school Playgroups Association into a forward-thinking, professional organisation. It was here that she cut her teeth as an activist.
In order to ensure that the needs of children were considered in every walk of life, Caroline joined her local health council, representing the patient’s voice to the NHS. She shone and in her early 30s was offered a post as a non-executive director of the Highland Health Board (later to become NHS Highland).
When she stepped down from her NHS duties in 2004, her involvement in voluntary work intensified. She chaired or served on the boards of several important and prominent care-related organisations.
Caroline is survived by Allan, her beloved sons, Alistair and Richard, and three granddaughters, Niamh, Bel and Maya, on whom she doted.
