Tag Archives: fit for work

‘Fit for work’ verdict on man awaiting triple heart bypass shows the Tories’ post-election purpose

As seen on Twitter: there’s many a truth told in jest.

If anyone hoped the reforming spirit claimed by Boris Johnson before the general election would last beyond the vote, they’ll be bitterly disappointed now.

The story of Konrad Zastawny (of Sheffield, before the racists start) shows that, if anything, the Tories are stepping up their persecution of people with long-term illnesses and disabilities.

The Tory-run Department for Work and Pensions has ruled that Mr Zastawny is fit for work and does not qualify for disability support – so he must survive on £80-per-week Universal Credit which does not cover his bills.

The decision has been made in spite of the fact that Mr Zastawny has coronary artery disease and is awaiting a six-hour operation, due next month.

He provided medical evidence to the DWP – and watched a civil servant scanning the paperwork, but the government department subsequently claimed it had not received the information.

It overruled a GP’s recommendation that Mr Zastawny was unwell, saying he does not have limited capacity for work but there are job roles he can do.

This is a man who is often unable to move!

The “we didn’t receive your information” dodge is a common DWP excuse.

It gives the department an excuse to say it is now reviewing Mr Zastawny’s claim in the light of “new information he has provided”.

That’s just one of the ways it gets past press scrutiny.

Source: Man waiting for triple heart bypass found fit for work and given just £80 a week – Mirror Online

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The new Tory government has imposed Nazi-style persecution of disabled people – on its very first day

Arbet macht frei: Boris Johnson’s policy for people with physical and mental disabilities is stolen from the Nazis.

This is how it’s going to be.

The Conservative government has started as it means to go on – by smashing the right of sick and disabled people to have sick notes signed by their doctors.

Claimants of sickness and disability benefits are now no longer permitted to decide for themselves whether the outcome of Work Capability Assessments should be shared with their doctor.

The DWP can now send letters to doctors, telling them not to sign patients’ sick notes if they have been found “fit for work”.

The new regulation overturns an option not to report the outcome of WCAs to GPs that was only included on the ESA50 claim form on December 5, after the Information Commissioner warned that omitting the option contravened data protection rules.

This is an example of the de-humanisation process that minorities undergo when they are to be persecuted by a malicious and despotic national government.

The Nazis took away the rights of Jews, for example.

Note that people are routinely found fit for work when their physical and/or mental health shows that they are not. This is therefore a move to override medical evidence, with only one logical purpose:

In order to inflict further and deeper harm on people who are already injured or ill.

People who voted Conservative are reminded that this is what they wanted.

It is a policy that follows the words of tinpot despot Boris Johnson earlier this year; he said working harder would help people with mental health disorders.

Fine words from a man who has never done a hard day’s work in his life!

This Writer will refrain from commenting on the crackpot Con-man’s mental condition.

Source: Tories use first day back to attack the disabled | Morning Star

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Loach heads campaigners calling for benefit assessment ban after job centre death

Pointing the finger: Ken Loach joined the call to end unfair benefit assessment interviews after the death of a man in Llanelli.

A campaign to ban benefit assessment interviews has been launched after a 65-year-old man with diabetes collapsed and died after being found ‘fit for work’.

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) has called on the DWP to halt assessments for Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance after the man died while waiting for an interview to discuss his future benefit options.

Discussing the death, This Site stated: “He would have been old enough to retire if the Conservatives had not decided to raise the retirement age for both men and women in an attempt to save a few pennies.”

I wrote: “Yes, he was obviously ill. But that doesn’t mean a thing to a Tory government… They call it a ‘positive benefit outcome’.”

Others compared the tragedy to a similar scene in left-wing film-maker Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake.

Now Mr Loach himself has spoken in favour of DPAC’s campaign.

Unconsciously paraphrasing my words, he said (according to the Morning Star): “What has happened really was disgraceful. The man was only 65 — he only had a few more months to go and he would have been retired anyway.

“Such is the brutality of it, but it’s clear that the Tories have no intention of changing their harsh system.”

And he said: “We have to vote them out — we may as well start with Iain Duncan Smith, the architect of this misery, who is as callous as he is sanctimonious.”

That is already well in hand – as you can read here.

Demanding an end to PIP and ESA assessments, DPAC activist Jennifer Jones raised the relevant point – that a man has died in a manner that could have been prevented.

It happened because a benefit assessor “lied about his fitness levels and abilities and he wasn’t given the support that his individual needs deserved”.

She’s right – and it makes a nonsense of repeated attempts by the DWP to claim that it does provide support tailored to the needs of each benefit claimant.

So far – in this case – the DWP’s only comment has been a message of sympathy to the deceased man’s family and friends.

DPAC – and Mr Loach – have demanded an end to benefit assessment interviews, for the obvious reason that they have now been proven to do more harm than good.

But there is no way the DWP – run as it is by a Conservative government – will take such action willingly.

Labour has promised to overhaul the benefit system completely, though.

The only way to be sure this does not happen in the future is to elect a Labour government.

Source: Campaigners call for benefit assessment ban after man dies in jobcentre | Morning Star

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Elderly man – with long-term illness – dies at Job Centre after being found ‘fit for work’

Protest: This is the most appropriate image I have for the story below. It shows a protest by an artist known as VoidOne. More information is available here.

If this does say everything about why we need a change of government, I don’t know what does.

A man collapsed and died while he was waiting for an appointment to claim unemployment benefit at a Job Centre in Llanelli.

We are told he was diabetic, and must have been receiving some form of sickness or disability benefit until recently because his appointment was a consequence of being found “fit for work” after an assessment interview.

We are also told he was 65 years old, which means that he would have been old enough to retire if the Conservatives had not decided to raise the retirement age for both men and women in an attempt to save a few pennies.

Metro quotes a witness who said: “The man next to me told me that the poor guy had diabetes and had been declared fit for work by the job centre earlier in the year but he was obviously ill.”

Yes, he was obviously ill.

But that didn’t mean a thing to a Tory government that would rather see you dead if you can’t be made to work for a pittance to increase the profits of the super-rich.

That’s why so many people are refused sickness and disability benefits, even though they clearly qualify; without the money they need to support them, either their condition will kill them, or stress, or they may take their own life in despair.

It’s all the same to the Tories; they call it a “positive benefit outcome”.

There is only one way to end this barbarity – and that is to vote a Labour government back into office.

Source: Man dies at Llanelli Job Centre while claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance | Metro News

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Dying dad deemed fit to work left with just £15 a week – but has the DWP done its duty?

Darryl Nicholson: Short-changed by the government.

Has the Department for Work and Pensions really followed its safeguarding rules for people whose health could be in serious danger here?

Is Mr Nicholson receiving “fit notes” from his GP, or has the doctor been told not to issue them any more because the patient has been classified “fit for work” and the government now lies about whether those letters are still necessary?

I’d like answers to these questions but of course the DWP does not comment on individual cases.

And there are now so many individual cases that it is impossible to keep informed about them all, let alone comment on them.

A dying dad told he was fit for work by the Department for Work and Pensions was left with just £15 a week to live off after his benefits were cut.

The 47-year-old, who could only have two years left to live, has stage three emphysema. Darryl Nicholson also has bronchitis asthma, anxiety and depression.

He was receiving Employment Support Allowance (ESA) but after attending a mandatory work capability assessment the DWP deemed him fit for working.

Darryl, who tragically lost his wife to cancer, underwent a mandatory reconsideration which was rejected and he is now awaiting a tribunal.

While on ESA, Darryl received £474 per month directly into his bank account. But after being put on to Universal Credit his money has been halved, receiving just £236 per month.

After paying £48 for his phone bill, £60 per month for electric and £10.37 for gas, Darryl is left with around £15 per week for food.

Source: Dying dad deemed fit to work by DWP left with just £15 a week after benefits cut – Birmingham Live

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URGENT: Advice to ESA claimants found ‘fit for work’ on getting GP ‘fit notes’


Remember when it was revealed that the Conservative government had told doctors they no longer need to provide “fit notes” to claimants of Employment and Support Allowance who have been told they are “fit for work” after taking one of the Tories’ rigged “work capability assessments”?

This should remind you.

The advice was false, of course. Claimants need “fit notes” when they are contesting the decision, and to make sure Job Centre “advisors” cannot make unreasonable demands of them.

Frank Zola has written an article detailing advice to ESA claimants whose doctors may be inclined to follow the government’s false advice. It is valuable advice – perhaps crucial in a country where the benefit system is weighted in order to bring about the death of sick and disabled claimants by benefit deprivation.

Here’s part of it:

Caution: You may wish to seek independent support from an Advice Agency or Law Centre before acting on any of the consent based suggestions below.

When Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit claimants are required to undertake a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and found fit for work (FFW), their GP or Doctor treating them is usually sent a letter, known as an ESA65B (pdf) [1], informing the GP/Dr that they no longer need to issue ‘fit-notes’ [2] for “ESA purposes”.

Unfortunately receipt of the ESA65B letter often results in GPs refusing to continue issuing ‘fit-notes’ [3], even when they should be issued when the claimant has requested a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) of its FFW decision or appealing to an independent Tribunal against after an MR, or their health condition or disability gets significantly worse or they have a new medical condition. [4] Or when needed to ensure a Jobcentre Work ‘Coach’ cannot impose unreasonable work-related conditions on an ESA[4], Universal Credit (UC) [5] or Jobseekers Allowance (JSAc) (contribution based) [6] claimant.

If your GP/Dr did get an ESA65B letter and you are asking the DWP for a Mandatory Reconsideration or appealing to a Tribunal against the FFW decision, or your health condition or disability gets worse or you have a new medical condition or disability. You could provide a copy of or send your GP or GP practice links to ‘A short guide to the benefit system for general practitioners‘ and this letter of 5 April 2019 as they advise GPs when they should continue issuing ‘fit-notes’.

You can read the rest here. If you are among those affected by this issue, you most certainly should.

It may save your life.


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‘Fit for work’ graffiti campaigner is launching a new – legal – project. Are you in?

The campaigner responsible for this memorable piece of work –

– is back.

After painting the words “Fit for work” on Job Centres across Birmingham, with an image of the outline drawn around dead bodies in murder mysteries – who have had one leg chopped off, with a trail of blood leading to it (and being arrested for trying to paint the words on a DWP office building), the campaigner responsible is hoping to expand into a line of T-shirts, with all profits going to charity.

To fund this line, this person is selling “Fit for work” sticker packs. If you agree with the campaign, and the reasons for it, then please support it by visiting the website, here.

If you feel the need to be inspired, the page presents a pretty good case.

In it, our campaigner states: “Condemned by the UN for cuts to public services and benefits that disproportionately affect the least well-off, the conservative government is in breach of its human rights obligations.

“UCL research links health and social care spending cuts since 2010 to 120,000 excess deaths in England alone.  14 million people, over a fifth of the country are in poverty, with a record 60% of those in poverty in work, the highest figure yet recorded. The governments own research indicates that a shocking 4.1 million of those in poverty are also children.

“At a time when disability benefit claimant suicide rates have doubled to 43%, nearly half!  When the disabled and terminally ill are being declared “fit for work” in the face of overwhelming medical evidence, there is no question that this is an ideologically driven program of social cleansing. 70% of appeal cases are subsequently overturned, wasting thousands in unnecessary legal fees, as claimants are sanctioned starving or freezing to death in their own homes, DWP officials are claiming 44 million in performance related bonuses.

“When homelessness has risen by a shocking 165%, and people are freezing to death on the steps of parliament, it’s time for immediate action, not platitudes about “strong and stable leadership” or  any of the countless sound bites regurgitated in parliament or the media to avoid answering for their criminal legacy. Public opinion must make it clear that we will not accept this!

“This country has a rich history of protesting that has lead to many of the freedoms we enjoy today, and it is our collective responsibility to stand up against these gross and systemic violations of peoples fundamental rights.”

That’s why this campaigner painted that striking image on Job Centres last year – and that’s why I encourage you to visit the website and support the project.


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Another dead man has won a fit-for-work appeal against the Tory government. Think what it means

Jeff Hayward: He died fighting a false claim that he was fit for work – and his daughter still had to prove the point before a tribunal.

Let’s go out on a limb and point out the elephant in this particular room: The Conservative government knows perfectly well that people are dying from the stress of having to appeal against wrong benefit decisions. Ministers simply don’t care.

They know that the stress of fighting “fit for work” decisions is too much for people who are in poor health. Jeff Hayward is far from the first person to have a heart attack a few days before an ESA tribunal.

The 52-year-old father-of-two and grandfather had cellulitis (a painful bacterial skin infection) on his legs and was deemed unfit to work by his GP. He lost a job in which he had been employed for 25 years in November 2016.

But a Tory-employed “healthcare professional” – who may have known nothing at all about the condition – overruled the GP’s diagnosis, awarded him no points in his Employment and Support Allowance assessment and ruled that he was fit for work.

Mr Hayward was forced to go through five stages of applications and appeals, with help from Ribble Valley Citizens Advice.

The strain proved too much and he suffered a heart attack in June last year, which resulted in his death just two weeks before he was due to attend a disability benefit appeal tribunal.

Anyone who has seen I, Daniel Blake will be familiar with that situation (although in the film the death happened on the day of the tribunal).

Perhaps the Conservative MPs who run the system thought that Mr Hayward’s case would be quietly closed after his death, meaning they would have secured a man’s death – sorry, “positive benefit outcome” without any drawbacks to themselves.

If so, they were wrong.

Congratulations are due to daughter Holly Hayward, who took up his case after Jeff passed away.

She ensured that the case went before a tribunal, regardless of her father’s death.

Crucially, the “fit for work” decision was overturned on the basis of the same evidence on which it was originally made.

So it may be said that Mr Hayward was put through the stress of no less than 19 months in the appeal process, leading to the heart attack that killed him, for no reason at all.

No reason, that is…

Apart from the amusement of a homicidal government that considers money to be more important than human life.


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Theresa May’s snub to grieving mum shows Tories are engineering benefit-related deaths – and they don’t care

Theresa May: She couldn’t care less.

You know what I’m going to say about this.

The Department for Work and Pensions is adamant that we must not claim any causal effect between its decisions and any downturn in benefit claimants’ health – including death.

But that doesn’t work in this case.

Jodey Whiting was found ‘fit for work’ in the face of a wealth of evidence showing the opposite to be the case.

For a start, she had missed a work capability assessment because she had been in hospital undergoing treatment for a brain cyst – and pneumonia.

She had been taking 23 tablets a day, and morphine twice daily, for conditions including scoliosis and bipolar disorder.

She was clearly unfit for work.

But the Department for Work and Pensions’ decision-maker refused to reschedule the assessment and found Ms Whiting ‘fit for work’ instead. The DWP then rubber-stamped a refusal of her request for mandatory reconsideration.

She contacted Citizens’ Advice – and an attempt to secure a new work capability assessment was put in motion – but Ms Whiting took her own life days later.

The ‘fit for work’ decision was rescinded only a couple of weeks after her death.

Job done, you see. The Tories could afford to admit they were wrong because their victim had died and would not burden the benefit books any more. That is how they work.

And now they can’t even be bothered to fake sorrow for the death. Mrs May’s correspondence team failed to offer condolences and her spokesperson refused even to comment on the matter.

The lack of any decent human consideration, coupled with the callousness inherent in the way they treated the deceased woman, damns the Tories.

A disabled woman whose daughter took her own life after being wrongly found “fit for work” has vowed to continue her fight for justice, despite the prime minister’s office brushing off her request for a meeting.

Joy Dove wrote in July to ask for a meeting with Theresa May to discuss the tragic death of her daughter Jodey Whiting in February 2017, and the thousands of other disabled victims of the government’s “wrong decisions”.

But the prime minister’s correspondence team dismissed her letter and replied just days later to say that a meeting would not be possible because of “the tremendous pressures of her diary”.

The letter failed to even mention Jodey Whiting or her death or express any condolences.

Source: WCA tragedy woman’s mum vows to fight on for justice despite No 10 letter snub

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Benefits restored to disabled gran who tried suicide after being told she was fit for work

The Department for Work and Pensions office in London.

A happy ending for a change – the DWP really is losing its touch.

Normally, we would be reading about benefits being restored only after the claimant has already died.

It is possible that the gran in this story was lucky because she had an MP who wasn’t a Conservative.

Of course she’s not out of the woods yet. The DWP has said she’ll be reassessed in two years, but the Department will undoubtedly do everything in its power to bring that date forward.

A disabled gran who tried to kill herself after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) claimed she was ‘fit for work’ has finally had her benefits reinstated, after an SNP MP highlighted her case in Parliament.

The 60-year-old gran of six, who we’ve decided not to identify, was deemed well enough to work after being assessed for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) by the private firm Maximus on behalf of the DWP.

She also struggles with arthritis and has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a long-term and chronic condition that causes pain all over her body.

Her case was brought to the attention of Parliament by SNP MP Alison Thewliss, who has welcomed the U-turn, after first being reported by the Daily Record.

The disabled Gran attempted suicide by taking pills shortly after receiving a letter from the DWP informing her that she had found ‘fit for work’, following assessment by Maximus, and that her benefits would be slashed.

The family has now been informed that the disabled gran’s ESA will be reinstated and that she will not face reassessment for at least two years.

Source: Disabled gran who attempted suicide after being found ‘fit for work’ has her benefits reinstated


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The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook