When will the DWP or more especially the Government realise the suffering they are causing by the stringent rules they have created within the benefit system.
To do nothing of note, which they are effectively doing is not caring, but uncaring.
Uncaring is the impression they are giving and the longer they stay in thier current mode the more uncaring they appear to be, which may be the reality.
If the DWP was a competent Government department none of these problems would be occurring, but competence is the main word in all this.
For this department has shown over many years how incompetent they are.
Where an appeal is in process or there is the probability of an appeal this letter to GPs should not be sent and a competent and responsible organisation would comply with this.
But we have to look at the agenda and this appears to be to cause as many problems as they can do to people claiming benefits.
Any reasonable, competent and responsible organisation should not have to have it pointed out to them that these letters should not be issued and that GPs still need to send the ‘fit note’.
But that is the point the DWP are not a reasonable, competent and responsible organisation. and wish to cause as much harm as they can to benefit claimants, even to the point of the death of the claimant.
I have raised such concerns with a Local DWP manager, who assures me that home assessment can be arranged and also assessments with Independent Advocates can be present. Was I being lied to or are DWP assessors not aware of what can be arranged. Or do DWP assessors really care?
Yet another DWP atrocity, but what is happening to all these assessors who appear to be unable to conduct assessments correctly.
How can a person who is unable to do basic simple maths be assessed by the assessor, who said she could work out a complex budget.
Are theses assessor still assessing, been or being retrained or have they been dismissed.
A DWP spokesperson said: “Universal Credit staff give tailored support to people with learning disabilities and all our assessors have significant clinical experience.” How with all the evidence can a DWP spokesperson say this?
The DWP, certainly have some explaining to do.
All assessments should be suspended, until every DWP assessor is questioned about any assessments they have incorrectly completed.
If this is not done we can only assume that these assessors are incorrectly assessing with the complete full support of the DWP.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has finally agreed to pay compensation to two disabled men who saw their benefits drastically reduced when they were forced onto the new universal credit.
The high court had ruled in June that DWP unlawfully discriminated against the two men, known as TP and AR for legal reasons, under the European Convention on Human Rights.
But DWP forced their lawyers to another court hearing to prove the losses they experienced.
An agreement announced this week meant the full hearing did not need to take place, with each of the men now set to receive thousands of pounds in compensation.
But DWP is still appealing the finding of discrimination.
TP had been forced to move to an area where universal credit had been rolled out so he could access specialist healthcare, following a diagnosis of end stage non-Hodgkin Lymphoma cancer.
AR had also had to move to a universal credit “full service” area, in his case because the imposition of the bedroom tax meant his previous home was unaffordable.
Before moving, both men had received the severe disability premium (SDP) and enhanced disability premium (EDP) on top of employment and support allowance.
SDP and EDP are aimed at meeting the additional care needs of disabled people with high support needs who live alone with no carer, but these premiums are being scrapped under universal credit.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) claims it has no record of whether it showed vital documents linking its “fitness for work” test with the deaths of benefit claimants to the expert it hired to review the assessment.
Even though DWP possesses the documents, it is claiming it holds no information in its records on whether they were passed to Dr Paul Litchfield.
Litchfield published the final two independent reviews of the work capability assessment (WCA) in December 2013 and November 2014, but neither of his reviews mentioned the documents linking the WCA and the deaths of claimants.
The documents include at least seven internal “peer reviews” – reports written by civil servants following the deaths of benefit claimants – that mention the WCA, and two “prevention of future deaths reports” written by coroners.
The existence of the documents was only revealed by Disability News Service (DNS) in the years after Litchfield’s final report was published.
If they were not shown to Litchfield, the suspicion will mount that DWP and its ministers took deliberate steps to cover up evidence of the fatal impact of the assessment on sick and disabled people.
Last month, DNS submitted a freedom of information request to DWP, asking whether it provided Litchfield with copies of the peer reviews and the two prevention of future deaths reports.
In its response, DWP says only: “This information is not held”.
The coroners’ letters followed the deaths of two men with mental health conditions in 2010 and 2013 and each warned of further such deaths if changes were not made to the WCA.
The call for evidence for Litchfield’s second review was issued on 10 June 2014, five months after coroner Mary Hassell had written to DWP following an inquest into the death of Michael O’Sullivan, who had had significant, long-term mental health problems.
Source: DWP ‘has no record’ of whether it showed WCA death documents to reviewer | DisabledGo News and Blog
Again one more, how far do we have to go as the assessments are ‘not fit for purpose’ and neither are the persons making these ridiculous decisions.
The rollout of Universal Credit needs to be stopped until sensible decisions are being made, which at this rate will be never.
As I have said before this Government and the DWP will not rest until every claimant is dead, due to the stresses being caused by these ridiculous decisions.
The Scottish government has announced the extension of a scheme to support disabled people to live independently. It’s in stark contrast to the actions of the UK government. Actions which the UN has previously said amount to “grave” and “systematic” violations of disabled people’s human rights.
Nicola Sturgeon’s government has said it will be permanently extending the blue badge parking scheme in Scotland to cover the “carers and relatives” of people who “pose a risk to themselves or others in traffic”. This would cover people living with conditions such as dementia, autism, and Down’s syndrome. The move has come off the back of a pilot scheme launched in April 2016.
Currently in England [pdf], people generally only get a blue badge if they have difficulty walking more than 50m, or if they have other issues with physically getting around. But as Scotland’s Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said:
It’s so important that people with disabilities, including cognitive impairments, can live a life of equal opportunities.
He said of the pilot scheme and the working group involved with the blue badge reforms:
Source: Nicola Sturgeon just shamed the UK government with some great news for disabled people | The Canary
With the DWP and their co-assassins Atos and Capita continuing to reassess claimants with regressive conditions just promotes how stupid and ignorant these assassinators are in their understanding of health conditions from which no one will recover only get progressively worse.
A reassessment would only be relevant should it be undertaken to assess needs for more support and help and not as it appears to be to reduce the extensive care packages already in existence.
If these death producing organisations are truly looking to reduce the whole financial outlay for welfare benefits, then the only sensible way forward would be to not reassess, unless a more extensive care package is being considered.
As they are not doing, then the only conclusion that can be put forward is that they are attempting to save money by creating conditions for these claimants to die more quickly than their health conditions would suggest.
In other words it is Governmental Assassination.
by Sonyo Zofia
A blog for carers of mental health
Thoughts on life... by Donald B. Wilson
By Sandra Js Photography - Make the rest of your life the best of your life.
Counselling for Individuals, Young People and Children
Affiliated to the national Equality Trust
Making Research Real
Voice, Empower, Influence.
from Joe Halewood
We Provide The Facts, You Make The Decisions
Domestic Abuse Survivor 🤍🦋
Your Independent Left Wing pro NHS Media Source
Chris Sterry expressing views and thoughts on disability issues and other interests.
Working Together through Co-production
News, politics, insights, inside information from the left
61chrissterry 