Stephen Smith, the emaciated man deemed fit for work has died.

[Mister M]

39 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

The UN official who did a short whistle stop tour to selected areas, and quoting figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation - which have been found to be heavily biased over what poverty actually is, and has been discussed extensively on here.

 

That doesn't mean to say that ministers aren't in denial; or that the treatment of disabled people by the DWP and whichever private company contracted is disgusting; or that the extent of the hardship suffered is casually dismissed by those who have a vested interest in downplaying its extent or significance; or that the experiences of the people who the UN official met aren't real.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Mister M

[Cyclone]

On 23/04/2019 at 12:28, hauxwell said:

I would like to know what  medical qualifications the person has who said he was fit for work.  They should be held accountable and sacked from the job.

 

 

They don't hold any do they?  The assessors get about 5 weeks of training and that's it.

On 23/04/2019 at 16:37, alchresearch said:

The problem is that ministers are toothless figureheads of the civil service departments they're drafted into for a short period (between reshuffles or elections).

 

So, Labour or Tory front end, you've still got the same civil service back end.

 

Yes Minister may have been a comedy show, but there's so much truth in it that it's frightening.  I speak from personal experience.

No, this isn't the problem.  These changes were introduced by the government, not by the civil service.  The CS is simply doing what they've been told they have to do.

[hauxwell]

 That’s awful, I thought they had to be a nurse, occupational therapists or doctor.

 

[tinfoilhat]

1 hour ago, hauxwell said:

 That’s awful, I thought they had to be a nurse, occupational therapists or doctor.

 

You don't need to be any of those things to fill in a form. 

 

I did read that you can answer all the questions positively and be "fit for work" while literally being in hospital. I don't know the accuracy of that though.

[Mister M]

I'm surprised there hasn't been some kind of Royal Commission or independent enquiry given the staggering number of fatalities, misery and caused by the DWP / ATOS /MAXIMUS. 

I can't begin to list all of everything that has happened under Iain Duncan Smith & Esther McVey's reign. It's appalling. Deliberate lies & misinformation to Parliament & smearing of benefit claimants. Just know that Stephen Smith isn't the only victim.

I'm aware that the system of WCA was started under Labour, and that should be condemned without question.

 

[Cyclone]

11 hours ago, hauxwell said:

 That’s awful, I thought they had to be a nurse, occupational therapists or doctor.

 

No, and what's more they will contradict the medical evidence, so you can have a host of skilled professional medical staff saying you're not fit for work, but someone with 5 weeks training will say that you are on the basis of answering a few questions and with no thought for anything else (in fact they're probably not allowed to consider anything else or they'll be sacked).

You can't really blame these people, they're the product of the system, not the cause of it.  Blame the current governmental reforms and thus the current government.

[taxman]

An internal DWP report has said that they followed policy in this case.

[Mister M]

1 minute ago, taxman said:

An internal DWP report has said that they followed policy in this case.

In a way that makes his death even more shocking; and proof that government policies need to radically change. Unfortunately Rudd's response about 'safeguarding' in inadequate though expected

[Cyclone]

Wow.  They appear to be claiming that they did little wrong, despite having denied ill health benefits to someone who shortly after died of ill health.

[Voice of reason]

This case is absolutely disgusting, and it looks like the report is just a bodged over nonesense.

 

In principle the fitness to work thing is a good idea. BUT it has to be enforced sensibly. You shouldn't have Joe Bloggs dwp staff overruling medical advice.

In the private sector, an employer can get independent medical checks to verify a workers sick note. Similar principles should apply here.

But even then, this isn't  a case of a gp signing a guy off with a cough. He had numerous severe illnesses and was in hospital. Where the hell is common sense in all of this?