A STROKE survivor claims he has been neglected by Fife Council after a care package ended.
Wheelchair-bound Billy Hutchison (48), who is paralysed down his left side, was given full-time care by a charity until December.
The father-of-one, who lives alone in Rosyth, is waiting to be reassessed by the local authority.
He said: “Now that the charity has gone, I’m left isolated.
“The only support I’ve got is council carers coming in the morning and at night to get me out of bed and put me back to bed.
“ Apart from that, I’ve got nothing.
“I’ve got a six-year-old son and we’ve been left high and dry.
“I don’t have a life and neither does my son, when he comes to stay with me,” he continued.
“I need support to access the community, but I’m left looking at four walls all day. To me, this is neglect.”
Mr Hutchison says that Fife Council assessed him in May last year, but he’s still waiting for a decision on a long-term care package.
He added: “I need long-term support, but they’re using short-term providers, like this, charity as a stop gap.
“Then, when I ask what’s happening, they just tell me I’m on a waiting list.”
Local MSP Helen Eadie has called on Fife Council to speed up the process.
She said: “Fife Council has had months to reassess Mr Hutchison and it is abundantly clear that he needs the kind of support that this charity was previously providing for him in partnership with the council.
“My office has raised this issue with the highest levels of the council, and yet Mr Hutchison is still waiting.
“Support needs are often more than just helping folk to get up and get to bed and people with disabilities deserve the chance to play a full role in life as much as anyone.
“I want to see some urgency injected into this situation.”
The council’s social work adult service manager, Helen Townsend, said: “The social work service is committed to ensure that Mr Hutchison’s needs are being met and we will arrange to meet with him in the near future to find out if he has other needs which are not currently being met and which the social work service is able to provide.”
pswindon@thecourier.co.uk