Terminally ill? Stop Malingering and Get a job!

[TeaFan]

The Citizens Advice Bureau has published a report into how appalling the new Employment Support Allowance (ESA) system is. It replaced Incapacity Benefit for new claimants last year.

 

They say

 

Since ESA was introduced, CAB advisers across England and Wales have been reporting high numbers of seriously ill and disabled people being found ‘fit for work’ under the new Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Examples of CAB clients in this situation include people in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, people with severe mental illness, and some who are dealing with acute short-term health problems, such as awaiting open heart surgery..

 

Among examples of how the medical assessment gets it badly wrong, a man in his 50s with inoperable and incurable stomach and liver cancer was declared fit for work. In another case, a man was declared fit for work because he could raise his arms above his head, once.

 

The problem appears to lie in the Yes/No tick box format of the assessment. People are being forced to answer Yes or No to questions relating to their complex medical problems, which means their true situation is not reflected in the outcome of the assessment. The CAB alone has had 22,000 enquiries about ESA, which must be costing them a fortune to deal with.

 

69% of people taking the new assessment are being deemed fit for work, which means they are being put on Job Seeker's Allowance, which is less money. This is presumably the point of ESA; to save money. Not to find out whether people are actually able to work or not.

 

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/press_20100323

[Berberis]

What do you expect from a government that couldn’t find its backside with both hands?

 

New Labour ... New Failure!

[TeaFan]

Had this thread been about someone caught fiddling benefit, it would probably have had about 200 replies so far. I think the people in this country are in denial about the disability benefits system. They've swallowed the media propaganda that a large percentage of claimants are swinging it, and don't want to acknowledge that genuinely ill and disabled people are getting treated dreadfully by the government.

[tezza86]

Had this thread been about someone caught fiddling benefit, it would probably have had about 200 replies so far. I think the people in this country are in denial about the disability benefits system. They've swallowed the media propaganda that a large percentage of claimants are swinging it, and don't want to acknowledge that genuinely ill and disabled people are getting treated dreadfully by the government.

 

completely agree people seem to tar everyone on benefits with the same brush as the few who are swindling the system. i think its disgusting someone with incurable cancer is declared fit for work, for one they are most likely on treatment to prolong there life which would more than likely have their side affects which can be quite bad and varied.

[TeaFan]

completely agree people seem to tar everyone on benefits with the same brush as the few who are swindling the system. i think its disgusting someone with incurable cancer is declared fit for work, for one they are most likely on treatment to prolong there life which would more than likely have their side affects which can be quite bad and varied.

 

People have also had their ESA stopped because they were too ill to get to the medical. It makes my frigging blood boil. What next, touring hospices telling people to shake a leg?

[tezza86]

thats disgusting. I know when my time comes around theyre probably going to say this to me as i suffer from something called fibromyalgia, depression anxiety and discoid lupus and because the first and latter illnesses aren't very well known it will cause problems.

[Greybeard]

It's pathetic - but what do you expect when Nulabor go stealing Tory policies ?

 

Over the years I've come to the conclusion that lots of people on this forum just assume anyone on IB is a 'scrounger'.

 

Cancer, MS and many other disabling diseases are a lottery and we each of us have a ticket, if or when our number will be drawn out of the hat is just a matter of luck.

 

I believe it is still the case that anyone diagnosed with terminal or incurable cancer automatically qualifies for the highest rate of DLA - I wonder how the govt. are going to deal with that and disqualify them from receipt of ESA ?

[HeadingNorth]

I believe it is still the case that anyone diagnosed with terminal or incurable cancer automatically qualifies for the highest rate of DLA - I wonder how the govt. are going to deal with that and disqualify them from receipt of ESA ?

 

 

If I understand the rules correctly, it's not merely that your case is terminal that gives you a free pass, but it's having a life expectancy of six months or less. If the doctor thinks you'll be dead before next Christmas, you don't have to go through all the hoops, they just give you the DLA and have done.

 

Having said which, it's theoretically possible (I don't know if it ever happens) to qualify for Disability Living Allowance, but still be judged capable of work. A man with no legs can still do a sedentary office job, for instance; would the ESA rules require him to go look for one, or would he be treated as unfit for work altogether? And - more to the point of this discussion - which should he be treated as?

[medusa]

I've actually stopped trying to justify my position and my Incapacity Benefit and DLA to others because of the overwhelming assumption that I'm telling lies about my illness and disabilities, even though I've been awarded the DLA indefinitely and provided evidence and medical opinion sufficient to be awarded that.

 

It's bad enough that the disability benefits application process is as adversarial as it is, but it's none of anybody else's business and it's tiring and demoralising to be constantly challenged and treated like a liar as if I owe everybody an apology for not being able to work.

[purdyamos]

I can't remember who it was who said that the best way of judging the quality of a civilisation is how it treats the most vulnerable. I believe our culture now is cruel and callous. Old age is seen as not making enough effort at staying young, illness is seen as some kind of character flaw or *brought on yourself*, the sick are expected to fend for themselves in a 'community' that doesn't exist (and certainly doesn't care), and are then blamed for failing to look after themselves properly in a near-vacuum of adequate care provision. We've reached the stage where compassion is genuinely seen as a bad thing. Contempt comes as standard. It's the logical conclusion of years of entrenched me-me-me. Teafan's report doesn't surprise me in the least and neither does the lack of response. Quite simply, for a huge proportion of the UK now, people don't give a stuff. because they know it's never going to happen to them.