Employment and Support Allowance: Re-tests axed for chronically ill claimants

/ jaynel62

Both ‘Official’ and Social Media are buzzing this morning with the above news – at last those of us who are chronically ill will no longer have to perpetually be tested for our ESA. This is very welcome news but…until I know exactly what ‘Chronically Ill’ constitutes, what illnesses and diseases (as reported on the 8.00 am news) make up the list, I will refrain from using 3 hours energy getting excited.

Before anyone accuses me of being negative, I encourage you to think back to the claims we heard under IDS – remember  more claimants are receiving maximum, unconditional disability benefit payments, and  The Government recognise that some people will not be able to work, or prepare for work, because of a disability. Those people will receive unconditional support; just two of many.

So the sooner the we know precisely what “the criteria” is and who the “health professionals” responsible for deciding the content the better. I for one will await the speech of Damien Green on Tuesday pm, with caution

I might be pleasantly surprised??

36 thoughts on “Employment and Support Allowance: Re-tests axed for chronically ill claimants”

  1. “I might be pleasantly surprised??” Don’t bank on it Jayne and remember many still have the worry and upheavel over PIP conversion including me.

    However small progress leads to bigger progress and this reinforces my opinion that the WCA is defunct and needs scraping, that is my goal and I will not rest until it is

    Regards

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  2. It’s a start, you’re right! The UN and other pressure may have tipped it but it’s just one of the many measures that should not have been implemented in the first place. I expect the announcement will try to appear as though they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts! Pffft

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  4. Re Skepticism – a thought occurred to me.

    One of the next phases re Disability Benefits is to effectively scrap them all by merging them into Universal Credit. ESA, PIP will no longer exist anyway but become a new category within UC.

    Having read the new DWP guidelines etc, this appears to be a new attempt to whittle down those considered ‘Worthy’ but also appears to be an attempt to REFRAME disability and the public perception of it.

    Could be why the Tories are happy to be seen to be bending on this one.

    The reality could be quite the opposite.

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  5. Pingback: Employment and Support Allowance: Re-tests axed for chronically ill claimants | Lindas Blog

  7. Reblogged this on Britain Isn't Eating and commented:
    With this Tory government being taken further to the right by the coronation of Theresa May as PM, I’ll take this news with a large handful of salt and won’t hold my breath in anticipation it being good news on Tuesday afternoon from Demon Green!

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  10. The ordeal of ESA and DLA/PIP have wreaked havoc on one to many lives making illness’ worse and pushing people to taking their own lives and has got to stop! I just made the phone call to start the process of moving my daughter from DLA to PIP after receiving the dreaded brown envelope, she should be exempt from having to keep reapplying as their is no cure for Autism and all the things that go along with it and has to have round the clock care, anyone with half a brain would know what a waste of time and money it is to keep retesting under her circumstances. As for myself, I have Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis and a long list of other medical problems with limited mobility and have been told for several years to apply for DLA/PIP, which I have postponed/avoided because of how much it affects my health. As those of you who have been through it all will know and understand – it is not just a matter of all the paperwork and time, how it plays it’s toll on my disabilities and health, what I dread, ways heavily on my heart and makes me physically sick to my stomach is actually putting pen to paper and listing ALL of my illnesses and disabilities and having it all look back at me; though I know it all, on a day to day basis I work very hard to do anything but think about them or at least am able to push some of them to the back of my mind; having it all listed and in black and white hits me like I was driving at 100 mile an hour and ran into a brick wall, I know this from applying for ESA and it put me into a place I don’t want to go to again! However, after I complete my daughter’s PIP I will have to make that dreaded phone call to start the process for myself, financially I can not avoid it any longer. Sorry for the rant.

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    • This Dla to Pip is making me so ill I have MS A CHRONIC ILLNESS that thrives off stress I’m not sleeping, I’m feeling sick, I’m driving my husband mad with it all. it’s putting me in a dark place it’s hard enough living with a diagnosis I was 36 at the time 3 kids. I have always worked looking after the vulnerable people in there own homes and also in residential care its heart breaking to see people with diseases that are slowly deteriorating and there’s no cure at present I didn’t expect to be one of them people with an incurable disease I thought I would be able to work till retirement age look after the kids and home, pay the mortgage off have lovely holidays but IVE been stopped dead in my tracks a monster has come in to our lives an introuder that won’t go away and is making my life hell and has affected my husbands life and kids lives .i won’t bore you with the details of MS but the reality of it is it’s a disease that attacks the brain and central nervous system and not sounding to dramatic the BRAIN controls every part of you and when the main engine isn’t working right we get all sorts of problems from going to the toilet ,speech,infections,walking,balance holding things,swallowing the list is endless and when your 18 year old son has to help get you from off the toilet to bed and my daughter has to help me get dressed it’s degrading and embarrassing I have 3 children who I should of been looking out for they have been my rocks. My husband seeing me hit rock bottom when I’m wanting to pull the plug on my life it’s not right. I have help around me people that deal with the mentally ill im embarrassed by it all but them people are worth there body weight in gold I can’t praise of thank them enough .I have always been the carer now it’s me needing help my kids are older now two are working my husband does long shifts so I lie in bed for hours no energy I lie worrying about my future and now I have the extra worry of applying for PIP I’m hearing so many horror story’s people having money cut their cars taken off them these are life lines to people me included I didn’t choose this disease I haven’t done it to myself I don’t want to be this sick I WANT MY LIFE BACK
      I WANT TO FEEL WELL, GO AND DO A JOB I LOVED, BE ABLE TO WALK WITHOUT TRIPPING ,FALLING ,RUN AROUND ,GO DOWN THE BEACH ,GO SHOPPING and now I might loose the thing that helps me have that little bit of normal to my life DLA .WE SHOULDNT HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT ALL AGAIN MY DOCTOR, SURPORT NURSE ALL HELPED ME LAST TIME ONLY A FEW YEARS BACK this isn’t a illness that I’m going to get over any time soon this is for life if a cure isn’t found so why waist money to reacess people for PIP with life long illness that your only going to get worse over time it’s stress and added worry on the sick and waist of money to the government please stop this there is no need for us to go through it all again I have a brain scan to prove it what more do they need .😥

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  14. Pingback: DWP Scraps ESA Six-Monthly Reassessments For ‘Chronically Ill’ Claimants | Same Difference

  15. When it comes to the Torags, the devil is always in the detail.
    So far I see a sound bite headline that is trying to show the “Caring Conservatives” in a good light.
    Like you Jaynelinney, I will reserve celebration and judgment on this until we actually know the details.

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  18. Spare a thought for the many of ESA wrag claimants migrated from Incapacity benefit
    which i will remind you only allows for 1 years payment before being means tested on household income
    ——————–
    in practice the majority of these claimants will never be able to return to work yet will spend their entire lifes being denied full benefits
    —————–
    LES aged 61 healed by atos march 2012
    benefits reduced to £21 ESA march 2013 mainly due to a £60 ill health retirement pension from my last employer of 18 yrs TESCO
    Its possible for a twenty year old to spend the next 47 yrs being denied benefits in this group
    —————-
    Fused Spine with degenerative disc disease at all levels of the lumbar a#spine along with plate irregularity “scheuermanns ” disease
    Scheuermann’s disease is notorious for causing lower and mid-level back and neck pain, which can be severe and disabling. The sufferer may feel pain at the apex of the curve, which can be aggravated by physical activity and by periods of standing or sitting;
    this can have a significantly detrimental effect to their lives as their level of activity is curbed by their condition

    Hip “Perthes Disease
    Common symptoms include hip, knee (hip pathology can refer pain to a normal knee), or groin pain, exacerbated by hip/leg movement, especially internal hip rotation (twisting the leg toward the center of the body). The pain is moderate to severe, at times rendering the patient unable to stand. There is a reduced range of motion at the hip joint, and there is a painful or antalgic gait. There may be atrophy of thigh muscles from disuse and an inequality of leg length. In some cases, some activity can cause severe irritation or inflammation of the damaged area including standing, walking, running, kneeling, or stooping repeatedly for an extended period of time. In cases exhibiting severe femoral osteonecrosis, pain is usually a chronic, throbbing sensation exacerbated by activity
    Also have refered pain and problems with the other leg due to altered walking patterns
    Arthritis and cartlidge
    Have developed problems in both kneecaps over the last year which are not helped by any increased mobility

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  20. The DWP says that it is scraping retesting for people with severe, lifelong conditions at the same time that there has been a sharp drop in Support Group awards and a sharp increase in people placed in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). Charities report that 45% of people who put in a claim for ESA, and had Parkinson’s, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis, or Rheumatoid Arthritis, were placed in the WRAG.

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  21. Hope that you don’t mind my um ‘ranty’ comment 🙂

    For PTSD the DWP have always ignored *their own* ‘WCA Evidence Based Medicine Protocols’
    They were published after someone did a FOI request here –
    (scroll down to near the bottom, click on “Show all attachments”)
    https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lima_evidence_based_medicine_ebm
    The direct quote from page 15 of their – Adjustment Disorders and PTSD.pdf states…

    “…Treatment appears to accelerate recovery time although the long-term chronicity remains about 40% with or without treatment.
    The slow recovery times show that, for purposes of disability assessment, **two-year** reassessments, up to a **6-year maximum**, are indicated.
    Disability assessments performed at intervals of less than 2 years are unlikely to show much change, and after a 6-year interval, those chronically disabled are likely to remain so.”

    From today’s story –

    >”Green said the change was being made because it was pointless
    >to repeatedly test claimants who are not going to get better.”
    Misconduct in Public Office –
    http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/misconduct_in_public_office/
    “Examples of behaviour that have in the past fallen within the offence include:
    WILFUL EXCESS OF OFFICIAL AUTHORITY
    ‘MALICIOUS’ EXERCISES OF OFFICIAL AUTHORITY
    wilful neglect of a public duty;
    intentional infliction of bodily harm, imprisonment, or
    OTHER INJURY UPON A PERSON
    FRAUDS AND DECEITS”
    “It carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.”
    So… WHERE ARE THE POLICE???
    .
    >”constant reassessment is pointless and which does increase
    >their stress and anxiety levels.”
    Abuse of Vulnerable Adults –

    Click to access No_secrets__guidance_on_developing_and_implementing_multi-agency_policies_and_procedures_to_protect_vulnerable_adults_from_abuse.pdf

    .
    >”Green said it would be a retrograde move to scrap the tests for all
    >ESA claimants, because for the “vast majority of people, work
    >actually helps them”.
    Assessed by CRIMINAL ABUSERS???… WHERE ARE THE POLICE???
    .
    .
    I saw Labours Debbie Abrahams on C4 news actually use the word “Deaths” today.
    Why only now???
    https://samedifference1.com/2016/09/28/debbie-abrahams-mp-tells-conference-labour-would-scrap-the-wca/
    Homicide: Murder and Manslaughter
    http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/h_to_k/homicide_murder_and_manslaughter/
    So what are the Labour parties Police and Crime Commissioners, Local and Regional Governments, Unison Cops and Unison Social Workers and Unison NHS and MPs
    Doing about all those “Deaths”???

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    • You make some excellent points here so anytime you want to rant please do so. In fairness though I have to say that Debbie Abrahams has been talking about the issues (including the deaths) for years, particularly on the W&P Select Committee, she’s gone head to head (and won) with IDS on countless times. x

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  22. well hello there well i have anxity depresson and emphsima mentle probs from it i went for meds test thay turned me down when i was reading some stuff said i did not say half stuff said i said or asked to say put leg up arm out so on did not even happen or been asked to+stopped my clame aday before even went to place thats telling me in worfds we are takeing you of esa even before been for full med thats well fishy to me in words dont care we takeing you off it no matter what we dont care one bit im waiting for tribunal on tuesday now 5months later thay took me on off clame 6times now one even before med closed my clame not on thay lie and dont care make us out to be liers

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      • thank you for info i did not know the jobcenter could be done for fraud it be my words against theres but iv all papers letters thay have sent texts so cant say did not send to me just have wait see what the tribunnal service makes of it all as set photo copys of all letters rong dates so on if thay read any of it that is will thay do any think about it like write to them say a wait min whats all this iv seen about soing so know there in rong or stick up forthem? about it try to desmiss it all?

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    • Hi Adam,

      Yes, anyone can be done for fraud.
      Google – The Fraud Act 2006 (click on the one that links to the legislation dot gov site)

      Three main types of Fraud there –

      Fraud by false representation
      (Lying, or using info that they know “might be” untrue)

      Fraud by failing to disclose information
      (eg. Ignoring Subject Access Requests or Pretending to be a medical doctor (Medical Act) when they might not even be a nurse)

      Fraud by abuse of position
      (‘dishonesty’ and ‘omissions’)

      —

      Also checkout my link in my comment above for – ‘Misconduct in Public Office’
      ‘MALICIOUS’ EXERCISES OF OFFICIAL AUTHORITY
      FRAUDS AND DECEITS” etc
      (up to life in prison for that)

      —

      And ‘Abuse of Vulnerable Adults’ above. (Their crimes certainly count)

      —

      There’s plenty more… but it looks like Jayne Linney censored my reply to her reply… probably because I pointed out all the Labour parties “wilful neglect of a public duty”… Or that a lot of Atos/Maximus quacks are members of Unison (a union that donates £millions to Labour).

      So I’ll put up this comment without links, hopefully you’ll get the info.

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