by Bill Heaney
A local school teacher, who was left paralysed after a fall while on holiday in Spain, is to have his care package brutally cut by the Health and Social Care committee attached to West Dunbartonshire Council.
Charlie McGarvey from Renton says the impact of local authority budget cuts will decimate his currently 24/7 care provision.
Mr McGarvey, pictured right, taught at Our Lady and St Patrick’s secondary in Dumbarton where, with fellow teacher, the late, Gregory Bell, was one of the most successful coaches in Scottish schools football – Charlie was also a scout for Celtic FC.
But he suffered a fall while on holiday, which left him Quadriplegic.
He relies on nightly visits from the ‘turning team’ to help manage his condition and ease his pain, alongside carers who look after him four times a day.
But budget cuts imposed by the SNP government on social care across Scotland, mean West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership wants to axe the overnight provision, leaving the 71-year-old unable to move for up to 12 hours.
He has been advised that the overnight visits will end in March – despite protest and advice from his specialist spinal consultant that frequent turning in bed is an essential part of his care.
Charlie fears that as well as pain, the lack of overnight care will lead to an impact on his skin and could lead to serious complications in his condition.
He said: “I was an English teacher for 42 years and I paid a lot of money in tax, but now that I am looking to get something back, they make cuts and it is taken away from you.”
Charles still works as a scout for Glasgow football club Celtic at weekends, but fears that role may also be impacted if he is made less mobile by the impact of the withdrawal of part of his care.
He added: “West Dunbartonshire Council needs to save money and they are doing that by destroying what is an excellent service.
“The carers put me to bed at 9pm and then at around 3am I get turned. But they are doing away with the turning team.
“My social workers say I had agreed to this, but that is nonsense. They are trying to fix something that isn’t broken.”
Charles also shared his concerns over the impact of care cuts on other vulnerable people, saying: “I am still compos mentis and my daughter is a lawyer, and very helpful with writing things for me, but there are a lot of vulnerable people who are not able to speak out and probably don’t even know what is going on.
“I am going to end up with my backside being marked and not sleeping right. Anyone else is able to move around in their sleep – you cannot lie all night in one position.
“This situation is also having an effect on the carers themselves; they are under a lot stress and have made it clear they are opposed to the review and what is happening to the Augmented Care team.”
Charlie was confined to a wheelchair to get around after he suffered a fall in Gran Canaria in 2018 – a holiday he had gone on to celebrate his wife Winifred’s birthday.
He suffered a broken neck and ended up in hospital in the Spanish resort for two weeks.
Since the accident, he has had to have his home extensively adapted and now relies on round-the-clock care.
The pensioner told how the impact of the cuts has been like a “bereavement process” and said the time since the news broke has been a “hellish experience”.
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie, also Scottish Labour’s Health and Social Care spokesperson, led a Scottish Labour debate in Holyrood this week over social care funding. (See elsewhere on The Democrat for more details).
She said: “Sadly, since his accident, Mr McGarvey’s care needs haven’t changed. What has changed is the relentless drive for cost-cutting in social care.
“It is a crisis that has been a long time coming – and it is one of the SNP Scottish Government’s making. The Scottish Government should stop cutting health and social care partnerships budget and start helping them to deliver.”
Top of page: Teacher Charlie McGarvey, extreme right back row,and Greg Bell with one of the successful St Patrick’s High School teams they coached, including the Celtic and former Scotland goalkeeping coach Stevie Woods, centre front row.