For Shame!!! The injustice!

Jane had to go to an Appeal Tribunal to fight for a Severe Disablement Allowance which was exhausting and draining. Her Appeal was turned down because she is "only" 70% disabled, and to qualify for this benefit which is being phased out, she has to be 80% disabled.

She is gutted because she felt she was not listened to and not believed.
She had hoped to buy a new wheelchair with the S.D.A benefit as her old one isn't very good any more.

The UK government is trying to cut down its sickness benefits bill, and the media are doing a good job of portraying claimants of sickness benefits as lazy, idle, dishonest people trying to cheat the system. While it is true that a small minority are cheats, most people are no such thing. That doesn't stop everyone being tarred with the same brush though and it makes it very difficult for genuine claimants to get the allowances they need and deserve.

This is a grave injustice. It has almost become routine for sickness benefits to be refused initially, forcing people to go through a lengthy and costly Appeal process which if successful, could make the difference between being able to replace a worn out wheelchair and not being able to. Many people drop the Appeal because they feel too ill to fight for what they need, and of course that saves the Government money.

Think for a minute what a wheelchair means to a disabled person. Think for a moment how you use your legs round the house. You can go to the kitchen, bathroom, computer or anywhere else whenever you choose, without having to wait for a visitor to do it for you. Imagine needing a glass of water and being physically incapable of getting it yourself. Imagine coping with long modern hospital corridors feeling deathly ill and not being able to walk to get to your clinic.

Like many seriously ill people, Jane is entirely alone during the day. Whatever she needs has to wait for her husband to return from work at 18h30. Think of being thirsty at 11am and knowing you were going to have to wait for 7 and a half more hours before getting a drink. These sickness benefits are intended to pay for people to come in and give the sick person some "Care" and the other part of the benefit is intended to pay for Mobility needs.

I'm the first person to agree than Benefit Cheats should be dealt with sternly but the benefits are meagre at best and to the genuinely ill, can be a lifeline. Why do seriously ill people have to jump through so many hoops? Jane is devastated, humiliated and demoralised.

An injustice has been done. What makes it worse is that doctors who sign people off work are to be "named and shamed". Some people are liars and cheats but most claimants are genuinely ill. I have a friend Audrey who has severe Multiple Sclerosis. She has to be tube fed as she can't swallow, she can hardly talk, she can no longer read because her eyes are affected, she can't bath or toilet herself. MS either stays the same for a while or it gets worse. It never gets better. Yet the Benefits Agency has cut her Benefits right down to £57 per week, which pays her electricity, gas, water, TV licence, food, and phone. Out of that she is supposed to pay a Carer to come and help her every day. Its impossible! And this is a woman who worked as a Registered Nursing Sister for many years. She has paid her National Insurance contributions. Is it right that she should have to live in fear and financial want after contributing so much to society? If she can't see, eat, talk or toilet herself, how on earth is she expected to be able to work??????????????

The mind boggles!