How many sick and disabled people have to be assessed as ‘fit for work’ before we admit the system is BROKEN?

[Image: Getty].

Vox Political recently received the following from commenter Stewart Bailey, regarding the assessment system for sickness and disability benefits (he doesn’t say which one, unfortunately).

His experience provides graphic insight into the failings of the system, which allows assessors to lie about claimants’ physical and mental condition in order to gain credit for pushing them off-benefit.

Here’s his comment. I’ll highlight the contentious parts.

There’s only one reason I’m now feeling p**sed off is because after my assessment I have been declared fit for work. On the letter I received they have contradicted about 95% of what I told them, what was on the form I’ve filled out and what my mother said to them as she’d come with me as a witness.

During the physical examination they said I got onto the examination table with no problems, even though I tried 3 times to do it forward and couldn’t do it so she had to tell me to do it backwards and on my second try managed to do it, as she told me to turn round that is classed as vocal assistance under the law.

Then they claimed I could do all the exercises they give me without struggling, even though my mum could see me grimacing an biting my lip from the other side of the room but the assessor couldn’t see it from the other end of the bed????

Also apparently I managed to do something in that room I haven’t managed to do in the 7 an half months before walking in there and seem to have lost that ability again since walking back out, which is being able to put weight on my left foot.

Then I was unable to get off the table until she’d fetched my crutches but again on the report it says I managed to get off with no problems or assistance.

I have now had to claim JSA while I go through the appeals process and had to go to the jobcentre today, even my advisor couldn’t think of anything that I would be able to do with what I have wrong with me and was actually sympathetic as she said she could understand what I was going through as she’d had the same injury as me a few years ago.

It doesn’t help that I have been stuck on waiting list after waiting list while going through the treatment I’ve been getting so far and need moving forward, as if I had I could of been back at work weeks or even months ago.

It’s a real scandal that the government would rather pay these organisations to penalise the sick and disabled, even though it’s been shown that it’s [costing] the government, or rather us taxpayers, more than they’re saving off the welfare budget.

Maybe if they invested that money in the NHS instead people might actually be able to get the treatment they need when they need it.

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7 thoughts on “How many sick and disabled people have to be assessed as ‘fit for work’ before we admit the system is BROKEN?

  1. Roger

    On the bright side at least this poor soul didn’t have to apply for Universal Credit to rub salt into the wound and catapult him into an even worse world of hurt.

  2. autismandate

    How long is it going to take before gullible people wake up to the fact that the assessments are intrinsically meaningless because they are rigged to make sure the state sponsors agenda wins .As long as the disabled population go on accepting their validity like lambs to the slaughter, they will continue to be ever increasingly persecuted. It doesn’t take any academic or scientific calculation or reasoning to understand that this whole national debacle is disgusting and must stop.

  3. Justin

    lot’s more, what’s more to the point is that they have to then ask people to look at there policy to suggest things, I do review work and that was 92 pages long, would i reply to something like that, yes, page by page, so you may ask why have i not done so, because it will be a waste of my time, no one will read it, or if they do they take the parts they like out of it, which won’t be a lot and will bin the rest, i also will then wait for the letter from the dwp saying i am fit for work because i can read 92 pages type a response think clearly and use a keyboard, this is the sad twisted world of the dwp, it’s ministers, past and present, it’s advisor’s and some of the other twisted excuses for mp’s that they have, that is not without even touching on the companies, who go on tv with training programs that are recorded (ch4 Dispatches) and then when caught out carrying out bad practice act nonchantly as if it okay and no one holds them to account, uses professionals to carry out assessment, the day that a sports physiotherapist is able to carry out a mental health assessment and get it so wrong and be allowed to carry on doing it is the day that you may as well employ tory ministers with no skills or knowledge or training to become family gp’S, That is the route of the problem, somehow the dwp think they are now the NHS, with there five week wonder’s and there tick box medical they are the saviour’s of the weak the vunerable, they even have the mantra that work is good for you, it could be if it is good work, look at this for a example pushing leaflets through doors commission only, that is advertised everytime i look in the jcp, a page and a half normally (minimum wage anyone) who else used the mantra work is good for you, in another context hitler during ww2.

    this is a sad reflection of what we have, it is even more sadder when some people that use voluntary work as a form of help with there condition then find it being used against them by these so called experts at the dwp, the same bunch that label everyone scroungers, of they ever really successfully woke up from there little dreamworld of coming out with stupid statement and stupid tv programs like benefits street, they may actually realise how important volunteers are, they could also find out the hard way with volunteers just saying no, then what they going to do, well we have 700+peers, 600+ ministers , tons of advisors and summer recess coming up, job swap anyone!!!

  4. Florence

    It is obviously ESA – the WCA assessment – described in this comment. You cannot be found fit to work in the PIP assessment – just ineligible for any support.

    1. Mike Sivier Post author

      Of course you are correct.
      I’m going to ascribe my own failure to register this to fatigue – I’m campaigning to take a seat on Powys County Council at this year’s elections, while carrying on with all my other obligations in the meantime. It’s very tiring!

  5. Dez

    Another example of an ignored and sginificant sign of incapacity was not being able to put socks back on without help – selective blind spots to anything that reduces their means of declining a submission….. and possibly earning a bonus. Independent witness always a good idea

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