Obair La
Sunday 1 May 2005, 6.10pm, STV and Grampian
Four Decades of Service in Health Sector - James MacDonald
James MacDonald, a health care officer and councillor with Highland Region, features in this week’s programme in the television series Obair La, which examines the working lives of some remarkable people residing within the Gaidhealtachd.
Born and raised in the North Uist crofting community of Baleshare, James was introduced early to the rigours of crofting life, completing chores like milking the cows and cleaning the byre before attending school each morning. But the land held little appeal for the young islander and on leaving school at fifteen he headed off to college in Inverness with an ambition to become an airline pilot.
A subsequent job interview proved to be a fateful and life-changing moment in his life when his meeting with BEA personnel was interrupted to inform him that his brother had been tragically killed in an accident back in Uist. Returning home he spent several months tending the livestock on the family croft in Baleshare before the draw of Inverness proved irresistible and he headed back once again to the Highland capital in search of work.
Submitting a job inquiry to Craig Dunain he was soon rewarded with an offer of work at the Highlands and Islands main hospital for the treatment of mental illness. James’ first impressions of Craig Dunain was that of an old, rather imposing, building housing mentally disturbed patients who made the young fresh-faced male nurse concerned for his own safety at times. But as he got to know the residents he realised that his work was valued by staff and appreciated by the patients: he was also determined not to return home a failure after just a few short months on the mainland.
The hospital later came under different management that offered new initiatives in patient care and greater scope for personal development among staff. Central to the ethos of the new regime was to dispense with long established protocols and get patients out of their beds and engaging more with the outside world. Many of the hospital’s residents hadn’t seen a shop or café for decades, and wherever possible they were encouraged and supported in returning to live and work within their own communities – a programme of change that James hails as being a tremendous step forward in the treatment and management of mental illness.
While working at the hospital James met some remarkable people, like the late Angus MacPhee who wove items of clothing from grass he cut and collected from the hospital grounds. Initially, long-term resident Angus had not been very communicative until it was realised that the gentle reclusive man from Uist would comfortably converse in his native Gaelic – a language that few Craig Dunain staff spoke. Angus MacPhee’s unique ‘grass knitting’ skills has since been widely recognised and featured in exhibitions of his work.
James believes that the closure of Craig Dunain was long overdue as the 150-year-old Victorian building had served its time; with care in the community and in one’s own home increasingly recognised as being more appropriate for the 21st century. After nearly forty years experience in nursing and the mental health sector, he has spent the past seven years providing coordinated support services for discharged patients.
“Pulling service providers together is the main challenge,” says James, “ensuring they don’t work in isolation but network regularly to include GPs, hospital consultants, nurses, social workers, physiotherapists and occupational therapists – all are directly involved in patient welfare.”
His period as a union shop steward paved the way for his later involvement in local politics. Losing out to a young Charles Kennedy in a previous general election campaign, James MacDonald went on to become an energetic councillor for Scorguie ward in Inverness. Serving on several committees and boards, he is also a frequent and much sought after commentator and interviewee on Gaelic television and radio, which he credits for helping him to remain fluent in his native language.
Denied by circumstances in realising his childhood dream to become a commercial airline pilot, James is currently learning to fly with the support of an aircraft-owning friend.
Produced by Paracas Media, edited at Studio Alba in Stornoway and funded by Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig, Obair Là will be broadcast on STV and Grampian on Sunday 1 May 2005 at 6.10pm.
For further information:
Magaidh MacKinnon, Paracas Media
Tel: 01851 810 269.
