When West Dunbartonshire Council imposed the budget cuts they were required to make on the instructions of the SNP government, did they realise they were putting the lives of residents from Loch Lomondside to Old Kilpatrick in danger by their failure to cut the grass in parks and public spaces and exposing them to ticks and deadly Lyme disease?Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Morvern May-MacCallum has today made her first speech in the Scottish Parliament in which she spoke of her experience with Lyme disease and committed to campaign on behalf of people living with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, POTS, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and other chronic illnesses.
Morvern-May MacCallum said: “It is an immense privilege to stand here today. Not only because I have the honour of representing the incredible people of the Highlands and Islands, where I was born and raised, but because there was a time when my family feared I might not live to be here today.
“There are many issues I could speak about when it comes to healthcare, but today, I want to speak about something that remains largely hidden from view.
“I want to speak about chronic illness and do so through my own experience.
“As a teenager, I was bitten by a tick and infected with Lyme disease.
“What should have been a few weeks of treatment became years of medical uncertainty. I was repeatedly misdiagnosed, repeatedly denied treatment and ultimately left to fend for myself as my health deteriorated.
“I spent more than eight years largely housebound and bedbound. While my friends were studying, travelling and building their futures, I was fighting simply to survive each day. It was only through the determination and financial sacrifice of my family that I am here today. Even now, I live with a lifelong illness which affects every aspect of my day. But my story should never have been my story and nor should it become anyone else’s.
“Yet, all these years on, I constantly hear from people whose experiences mirror my own. The tragedy is that, for many patients, a few weeks of the correct antibiotics can prevent a lifetime of ill health and disability.
“Despite the NICE guidelines on Lyme disease being in place since 2018, people are still being refused treatment, prescribed inappropriate antibiotics or diagnosed far too late.
“The main reason for this is that we still don’t have an accurate blood test for this disease. Lyme disease is caused by an extraordinarily complex bacterium. But complexity should never become an excuse for neglect. More worryingly still, these failures are not only harming lives—they are costing lives.”
Scott Beattie was a gamekeeper from Ross-shire who died at Raigmore Hospital at the age of just 43 after being misdiagnosed and mistreated. What happened to Scott should never have happened. And we owe it to him, his partner and their two children to do better.
“We owe it to all those who were left with so little hope by the very system that is meant to support them that they felt their only choice to ease their own and their families’ suffering was to end their own lives.”
She added: “The issue of Lyme disease is widespread, from people being infected while out walking up Arthur’s Seat, to people’s gardens being so overrun by ticks that they are scared to let their kids play in them.
“In fact, a 2024 survey by the Lyme Resource Centre found that 80 per cent of respondents reported being infected in the Highlands and Islands. Yet public awareness remains worryingly low.
“The same survey found that 82 per cent said they, a family member, friend or colleague suspected Lyme disease before a medical professional did.
“Patients should not have to diagnose themselves. But sadly, many people living with chronic illness will recognise the experience of having to self-diagnose.
“Across Scotland, people living with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, POTS, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and many other chronic illnesses face similar struggles to get diagnosed, access support and treatment.
“While the conditions may be different, their experiences are often remarkably similar to those who have Lyme. Perhaps the most damaging experience of all, though, is not simply the illness itself. It is not being believed.
“People with chronic illness are often told: ‘It’s probably anxiety. You don’t look sick. It’s all in your head. No patient should have to hear those words.
“People with chronic illness should not have to sell their homes, spend their pensions, or take out huge loans to pay for treatment that should be provided on the NHS.
“Because behind every missed diagnosis and every waiting list statistic is a human being whose life has been torn apart.
“I remain proud of our NHS and grateful to the staff who work tirelessly within it. But supporting the NHS also means being honest about where it is failing. We need better diagnostics for all chronic illnesses. We need specialist expertise. We need greater awareness among both healthcare professionals and the public. And we need to ensure that patients are listened to when they tell us they are ill because my story should never have been my story.
“And Scott’s story should never have been his story. And there are people across Scotland today whose stories are still being written. And we have the power to change them.
“So, I ask this chamber to work together to ensure that no one in Scotland has to fight harder to be believed than they do to get well.”
When West Dunbartonshire Council imposed the ban on grass cutting following a public outcry and numerous reports that people out walking their dogs were risking Lyme disease by being bitten by ticks, arrogant councillors dismissed their protests until they finally accepted they were wrong.
Now that summer is with us, the public will notice that the grass in public spaces such as cemeteries, parks, and road verges is once again being cut.
What should never have happened here was foisted on residents by ignorant councillors and officials who seldom listen to what they are told by the electorate who vote them in and pay their salaries.
West Dunbartonshire, where grass cutting was withdrawn by the Council …
