Woman with rare disease lost crucial disability payments ‘because she has a degree’
Liz McInnes MP, in Parliament.
It’s good that these stories are coming to light at the same time as Parliament is publishing reports about the effect of PIP on disabled claimants.
My own sentiments on this case echo those of Guardian journalist Frances Ryan, who tweeted the following:
I have three degrees and I use a wheelchair. Tories, which of those two facts is relevant in deciding whether I need disability benefits? https://t.co/HXjhqtD40V
— Frances Ryan (@DrFrancesRyan) February 10, 2018
Well, Tories? Which is more relevant? The qualification or the disability?
A woman with a rare and debilitating disease had her crucial disability benefits stopped ‘because she had a degree’, MPs heard today.
At today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour MP Liz McInnes raised the case of her constituent, Natasha, who has fanconi anemia – a genetic bone marrow condition which carries a very high risk of cancer.
Ms McInnes said: “Natasha was on lifetime disability allowance, which was removed following a PIP assessment. When Natasha appealed, she was told that because she had a degree, she doesn’t need as much support.”
Of 526,000 DLA claimants reassessed for PIP up to October 2016, 21% were rejected and 23% ended up worse off financially. Others ended up better off financially under the system.
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yet these stories were being told from 2011 onwards they new the system wasnt working failing those who needed it oh they new yet on the talks go
The attitudes shown by these tories to disabled people beggar belief. It’s really time to throw them out. But, unbelievably, they’re still level pegging with Labour in the polls.
Perhaps we are just a rubbish country?
It would probably be more accurate to say that May pretended to be surprised at this disclosure.
There has been so much stupidity related to PIP assessors and also ESA assessors, but this is really outstanding.
How can the Government defend that these assessments continue.
The other major cause for concern is that these assessors, we are told, have some degree of training and work experience within the NHS, if that is so then there are some very serious issues with NHS training or the ability of the persons to understand the training they have been given.
So not only is there a major funding problem, but an even greater problem is that these assessors may well be unleashed within the NHS and then we will have an NHS with no funding and some of the staff with no ability to understand what they should have been taught.
Funding is one disaster we already have, but untrained employees is far more dangerous, for these will lead to all of us having no confidence of the NHS.
For even with the substantial lack of funding we still have confidence and trust the NHS in the main. Even though there are many instances occurring far too frequently where the best care is not being delivered.
But for the majority the NHS, even with a deficiency of resources, still maintains a good quality of care, which is the envy of the World, except the Trump.