Category: Consultations

02 across a table

Posted on
He had been detained on a locked ward;
schizophrenia; complex drug problems.
The day of the assessment
he was heavily medicated,
was experiencing
auditory and visual hallucinations.
He thought he had special powers,
believed he was the Son of God.
His benefits were stopped immediately.
He had been deemed fit for work
on the basis of physical tests: the ability
to pick a pen up off the ground
or move a pint of milk
across a table.

[The Scotsman, 21/01/2012, Just not working: Why government fit-to-work tests are failing]

04 I don’t want people mourning me before I die

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She works 20 hours a week as an employment advisor
take-home pay less than 10,000 a year.
But with 400 a month in welfare payments
she is able to live alone
work
and pay for a specially modified car.
She pays for carers to come in twice a day to prepare meals,
twice-weekly visits to the physiotherapist.
The money from the Department
allows her the freedom to exist
independently.
The inexorable spread of her disease
(progressive multiple sclerosis
she was diagnosed as a teenager)
meant she would end up a ‘cabbage with a heartbeat.’
She decided long ago to take her own life at some stage:
‘I don’t want people mourning me before I die.’
In a consultation paper last December
the Department said it was paying ‘a lot more
than expected’
to disabled people.
It aims to reduce costs by a fifth.
A consultation ends this week.

[The Guardian, 14/02/2011, ‘Life not worth living’ for disabled people facing benefit cuts]

05 he didn’t know how he was going to live

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No witnesses gave evidence
at the inquest,
only the coroner read out
written statements
from the man’s doctor, the first paramedic
to attend him after he collapsed,
a police sergeant who investigated
his death, the pathologist
who carried out
his post-mortem.
The day he died
he was awaiting the results of an appeal
against being found fit for work.
He visited the jobcentre,
and was asked to climb some stairs.
Heart disease, sarcoidosis,
diabetes, cirrhosis,
depression, anxiety,
agoraphobia and high blood pressure;
he had been referred to a respiratory clinic; had been diagnosed
with Asperger’s syndrome.
He had previously lost his job because of depression;
he was falling asleep at work; serious breathing difficulties.
Despite a ‘fit note’ from his doctor
he had started a new job within a few days;
he wanted to work.
But his employer realised how unwell he was, and was worried.
He lost the job.
He told the jobcentre staff
he would have a heart attack
if he climbed the stairs.
Told he could use the lift,
he asked if someone could accompany him
because of his claustrophobia.
He was told this was not possible.
It was agreed that someone would come down
to speak to him.
After leaving the Jobcentre
he went to see a friend,
who calmed him down.
He was worried about work, about
money.
They weren’t going to give him disability benefits.
He didn’t know how he was going to live.
Hours later
he collapsed in the street
and died.

[Disability News Service, 11/08/2022, Shock after inquest ignores ‘fitness for work’ and jobcentre concerns]

06 see a doctor

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He was sent to his first assessment
when he gave up his job as a delivery man
after being referred
for tests on his heart.
His wife was with him:
‘She checked him out.
She did his blood pressure
and his heart,
said
“See a doctor
as soon as possible.”’
He was diagnosed with heart failure
but was still found fit for work.
He won his appeal
but was ordered to attend
another assessment
while he was waiting for a heart operation.
Again
found fit for work.
‘Significant disability
due to cardiovascular problems seems
unlikely.’
Five weeks later
he died of a heart attack.

[The Telegraph, 30/07/2012, Disability tests ‘sending sick and disabled back to work’]

07 the decision-maker

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The coroner concluded
at the end of the inquest:
‘The anxiety and depression
were long term problems
but the intense anxiety
was caused by his recent assessment
by the Department
as being fit for work
and his view
of the likely consequences.’
A former orthopaedic surgeon
employed by the contractor
had carried out the assessment,
concluding that he
was ‘at no significant risk
by working.’
The decision-maker
did not request
any reports or letters
from his doctor
his psychiatrist
or his clinical psychiatrist
had failed to ask him
if he had suicidal thoughts.
Six months later
he took his own life.

[Disability News Service, 02/12/2019, DWP: The Case for the Prosecution]

08 the same company

Posted on
She was thrilled when she got work
at a council children’s centre
but a routine health check
by a company contracted by the council
and the Department
found
she was not fit for work.
She was recovering from a five-year battle
with anorexia.
‘It would be inappropriate
to be offered employment
in this role.’
Strapped for cash
she applied for support
only to be judged
fit for work.
‘You do not have
any limited capacity
for work.
It has been decided
we cannot pay you’
The same company
carried out both assessments.

[Daily Mirror, 16/04/2010, Too unfit to work… too fit for benefits]

09 knocked down

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Knocked down
by a car, his right leg
was shattered.
17 days in hospital,
numerous operations.
He could put no weight at all on that leg
after the accident,
instead relied
on crutches.
When he applied for support
on the basis that he was unable
or virtually unable
to walk,
the Department
knocked him
back.
It said
he could walk
because he could go up to 200 yards
on crutches
before exhaustion set in.

[Huddersfield Examiner, 16/03/2020, Top judges to define what ‘walking’ means]

10 uncontrolled, uncontrollable or life threatening

Posted on
He quit his job in 2007
after becoming severely ill:
depression
anxiety.
He rarely left his home, refused
to talk to friends and relatives
or answer the door or phone
often spent days
in the same room.
He lived off his savings for two years
until his money ran out.
In early 2009
he finally began talking again
to his father and step-mother.
They persuaded him to apply for support.
He was assessed by a doctor employed
by a government contractor.
The doctor concluded
there was ‘no evidence
to suggest that the client’s health condition
due to their depression
is uncontrolled,
uncontrollable or life
threatening.’
He asked the Department to reconsider
as this disagreed wildly
with the opinion of his doctor
his psychiatric nurse
and his psychiatrist.
He found out
in January 2010
the Department agreed
with its earlier decision.
Although he began
the next stage of the process –
an independent appeal –
a few days later
his body was found.

[Disability News Service, 02/12/2019, DWP: The Case for the Prosecution]

43 the night before his medical

Posted on
He worked for forty years:
a miner, then a telecoms engineer.
Following a heart attack
and several strokes
his doctors ordered him to stop working.
He had claimed for three years,
ninety-one pounds a week.
He had already gone through an eight-month appeal
to keep his benefits,
but following a crackdown on ‘spongers’
he was ordered to undergo a medical test.
He died of a massive heart attack
the night before his medical
as he scoured the internet
for ways to raise cash.

[Daily Mirror, 22/05/2011, Stress of Tory benefits tests killed our dad, family claims]

44 he may have been successful

Posted on
His former wife
gave evidence at the inquest.
They had been married for twelve years,
separating in 1995,
although they still saw each other
on a regular basis.
During the first half of their marriage
he suffered a brain haemorrhage,
leaving him paralysed down one side.
She had last seen him when he called to see her
at work.
He wanted help to go through his benefit papers.
He was worried he was going to be sent back to work.
His doctor made a statement,
said they had spoken on the phone
two weeks before he was due to attend
an appeal hearing.
He had been upset
because his benefits were being stopped
after an annual assessment.
His neighbour
was sat in his front room
watching the television
when he heard a loud bang.
He went outide and saw the man, his neighbour,
slumped in a chair.
He also saw there was a gun on the floor.
He ran inside and phoned 999.
‘Had he attended the appeal
he may have been successful’
the coroner said.
‘It is evident that the matter
was concerning him greatly.’

[Gazette and Herald, 17/04/2013, Benefits withdrawal led to man’s suicide]

47 two. one

Posted on
January.
She was called in for an assessment.
She and her sister
spent two hours
on two buses
travelling to the centre
for a two minute assessment.
She was only asked one question:
did you get here by bus?
53 years old,
a former nurse.
She was left partially sighted
after an industrial accident in 1987.
She required walking sticks.
She had slipped and bulging discs
in her back and neck
after an accident at work.
Her pain was exacerbated after an unsuccessful operation in 2012.
Bones from her hand were removed
during separate surgery
after she was savaged by a dog.
Every time one of her arms was touched
she was left in agony
strong pain relief could not ease.
Did you get here by bus?
She replied
‘Yes.’
She was found fit to work.
Her benefits were stopped.
She hadn’t even had the chance
to take her coat off.
Later, she received a letter
telling her to find employment.
She lost her appeal against the decision.
In November,
thirteen days before her second appeal
she was found
on her kitchen floor.

[Daily Mirror, 26/11/2013, Sick nurse killed herself after disability benefits were cut and she was ruled ‘fit to work’ ; Daily Record, 27/11/2014, Former nurse killed herself after controversial ATOS health test ruled she was fit for work ; Bristol Post (via the Internet Archive), 25/11/2013, Bristol woman ‘killed herself after benefits were stopped’]

49 there were complications

Posted on
She had her first transplant
heart and lungs
in 1985.
She returned to her council office job. But
her body began to reject her new organs;
she had another transplant in 1989.
There were complications.
31 hours of surgery.
80 pints of blood.
Afterwards
she had no stamina.
Listless, falling
asleep, fainting.
She collapsed regularly.
Blackouts. In
and out of hospital.
2013.
Her assessent was at a test centre
eight miles from her home. Twenty minutes
answering questions. Her husband, who drove her,
was not allowed in to support her.
She was judged fit for work.
She typed her appeal
on an iPad
as she lay in hospital
with a chest infection
crying.
Criteria for ability to work include
‘You can understand simple messages
from a stranger’
and
‘You can use a keyboad or mouse
and a pen or pencil
with at least one hand.’
The Department wrote to her
two months later.
Six days later
her husband was called to the hospital.
Two days after that
they put her on palliative care.
The letter said:
‘We have decided you are not entitled to support.
You have been found to be capable of work.’
Her husband sat with her all night.
The next morning
her breathing changed.
It took half an hour
for her to die
drowned in her own body fluids.

[Daily Mirror, 26/05/2013, Linda Wootton: Double heart and lung transplant dies nine days after she has benefits stopped]

55 not compatible

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After a half-hour interview at his home
he was assessed as capable to return to work.
 
He was very distressed.
(Rising rent arrears,
warnings from the electricity company.)
He was reluctant to ask relatives for help;
they were unaware his benefits had been removed.
Concerned about his patient’s condition,
his doctor wrote a letter
in support of his application:
‘extremely unwell
and absolutely unfit
for any work
whatsoever.
Please do not stop
or reduce his benefits.
He simply is not well enough to cope
with this extra stress.
His mental and medical condition
is extremely serious.’
It is not clear whether the letter
reached the Jobcentre.
He was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome
and obsessive compulsive disorder
in his late 20s.
He had an eating disorder
and cognitive behavioural problems.
He was sacked from his first job
because he was unable to follow instructions.
The Department’s assessment concluded
his mental state
was normal.
This triggered a decision
by the jobcentre
to stop his sickness benefits.
His housing benefits were stopped around the same time.
He was not told.
He struggled to survive
on his disability allowance.
Forty pounds a week
to live on.
His sister said
‘He would have wanted to be seen as normal.
He was desperate to get by
as normal.’
A body mass index
of between eighteen point five
and twenty-four point nine
is considered healthy
for a man.
Between April and August his
dropped
from fourteen point one
to eleven point five;
he weighed five stone eight pounds
(thirty-five kilos)
when he died.
The doctor told the inquest
his body mass index
was not compatible
with life.

The Guardian, 28/02/2014, Vulnerable man starved to death after benefits were cut]

58 we have to think this way

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In the undercover film
the trainer tells trainee assessors:
“If it’s more than
twelve or thirteen percent eligible
you will be fed back
‘your rate is too high.’
That’s what we’re being told.”
During assesments
company health professionals
award claimants points,
reflecting the apparent severity
of their condition,
with information gathered
through a set of questions
led by a computer.
“We talk about mobilising,
which means
being able to transfer
from point A
to point B
either by
walking or
walking with aids
which is
crutches
walking sticks
Zimmer frame
or wheelchair. So
if someone has
no legs
but they have
good hands
they can sit
and propel a wheelchair,
they don’t score anything.
This is one of the toughest changes.
Recently I had somebody
with prostate cancer, but
of course that’s not traditionally
treated with chemotherapy. So
I gave him no points.
I couldn’t
do anything else.
Same
with breast cancer.
The hormonal treatment doesn’t count. So
no points.
I felt very uncomfortable doing it.
I didn’t
like doing it.
But I had no way of scoring him.”
The data is typed into a computer.
Patients who score 15 points
are likely to be found eligible for support.
Patients who score below
are not.
“It’s terrible sometimes.
People having problems.
Both hips, both knees, but
good hands.
Terrible.
You know
we talk about
modern work adaptations
but we know how it looks
from the other side.
There’s no jobs
for healthy people,
normal people.
We have to think this way.
Sometimes you feel awful.
You can’t do anything
for people.
You can’t feel sorry
and give them the money
just because you feel
sorry.
You’ll go on a targeted audit.”

The Guardian, 27/07/2012, Atos assessors told to disability benefit approvals low, film suggests

59 the car he was passenger in

Posted on
The car he was passenger in
came off the road
at ninety miles per hour
and collided
with concrete and steel.
1996.
A former bodybuilder,
he was left barely able to walk.
Legs:
constant feeling
like someone digging
a knife
right into the joints.
He spends days in bed.
Struggles to complete
even simple movements.
An assessment by the company
of behalf of the Department,
conducted over one hour
in January 2012 –
“talk
listen
touch your head” –
found him
fit for work.
He said
“It’s enough to make you wonder
would it not be easier
if I killed myself?”
A spokesperson
for the Department
said
“We have made
considerable improvements
to the assessment
to make it fairer and more
effective.”

[The Northern Echo, 15/04/2013, Former bodybuilder from Willington who can barely walk contemplated suicide after nurse ruled him fit to work]

61 reasons for the necessity

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Britain in the last decade
wasn’t so much a lie
as a mistake.
When the Chancellor was giving
reasons for the necessity
of austerity
he relied heavily
on recent findings
by two Harvard economists.
They had
‘shown’
via a model built using
44 countries over
two centuries
that
when a government’s ratio of debt to GDP went over 90 per cent,
the economy shrank.
The Chancellor
drew directly on this research:
‘The latest research suggests
that once debt reaches
more than
about
90 per cent of GDP
the risk of a
large
negative
impact
on long-term growth becomes
highly significant.’
Cuts were planned.
A graduate student at Amherst College,
Thomas Herndon,
was set to check the Harvard numbers,
as a homework assignment.
He tried to replicate the findings
but couldn’t.
So he asked them for the original data,
which they (admirably)
sent.
Herndon checked the numbers
and found a mistake.
The economists
had intended to sum twenty
rows of data
but had only used fifteen.
When all twenty were included
countries with debt to GDP ratios over 90 per cent
were no longer shrinking.
But by this point
the government simply couldn’t back down.

[London Review of Books, 21/09/2023, ‘Get a rabbit’]