To think there will be more cases like this one? Errol Graham, starved to death.

[BillHadersNewWife]

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-51283186

Mr. Graham had his benefits stopped and despite having genuine problems was left alone to starve.

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/the-death-of-errol-graham-man-starved-to-death-after-dwp-wrongly-stopped-his-benefits/?fbclid=IwAR2eRG_-He70F0dQ9tlHzysRvoLijGdROWhM94pn58cmDPclIxTJgVwEwwg

It's absolutely sickening and worrying.

It is estimated that 1.3 million people over the age of 65 living in the UK are suffering from, or are at risk of, malnutrition, and 93% of these are living in the community (Malnutrition Task Force, 2014). One third of the elderly people admitted to hospital are at risk of malnutrition

The number of people dying in hospital as a result of malnutrition has hit its highest level for a decade, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. Death certificates from England and Wales show that malnutrition was listed as the primary cause in a total of 66 deaths in 2016.This compares to 43 people in 2011, 55 in 2013, and 59 people in 2015 The Independent

@StoneofDestiny thank you for taking the time to find and post that data.

It's the tip of the iceberg and even CORONERS suspect a cover up on the number of deaths related to the cuts and benefit policy changes, they've been trying to get straight answers for I think around 4 years now.

I find it deeply disturbing that the bbc are choosing of all segments to cut their news depts budget over and above other depts eg sport we desperately need at least a pretence of unbiased news reporting in this country right now especially now I believe the newspapers are pretty much in the hands of what 4 billionaires I think it is?

How desperately sad that the only ones determined to get into this mans home were bailiffs - and because he was in rent arrears.

I'm thinking maybe bailiffs could be assigned to deliver food parcels to the sick and needy.

The UK's social safety net has been "deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos", a report commissioned by the UN has said

Special rapporteur on extreme poverty Philip Alston said "ideological" cuts to public services since 2010 have led to "tragic consequences".
The report comes after Prof Alston visited UK towns and cities and made preliminary findings last November

Prof Alston is an independent expert in human rights law and was appointed to the unpaid role by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2014. He spent nearly two weeks travelling in Britain and Northern Ireland and received more than 300 written submissions for his report

He concluded: "The bottom line is that much of the glue that has held British society together since the Second World War has been deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos."
The Australian professor, who is based at New York University, said government policies had led to the "systematic immiseration [economic impoverishment]" of a significant part of the UK population, meaning they had continually put people further into poverty

Some observers might conclude that the DWP had been tasked with "designing a digital and sanitised version of the 19th Century workhouse, made infamous by Charles Dickens", he said

The report cites independent experts saying that 14 million people in the UK - a fifth of the population - live in poverty, according to a new measure that takes into account costs such as housing and childcare.
In 2017, 1.5 million people experienced destitution, meaning they had less than £10 a day after housing costs, or they had to go without at least two essentials such as shelter, food, heat, light, clothing or toiletries during a one-month period

Despite official denials, Prof Alston said he had heard accounts of people choosing between heating their homes or eating, children turning up to school with empty stomachs, increased homelessness and food bank use, and "story after story" of people who had considered or attempted suicide

He said the cause was the government's "ideological" decision to dismantle the social safety net and focus on work as the solution to poverty

"UK standards of well-being have descended precipitately in a remarkably short period of time, as a result of deliberate policy choices made when many other options were available," said Prof Alston

Shame on our government.

Graphista I'm your new best friend forever. Brilliant post. I had to step away earlier myself.

The BBC hasn't been giving any decent unbiased political reporting for some time. I resent being forced to pay for it. I lost total respect when they used my very hard pressed (and court threatened) funds to make a program called Saints and Scroungers. I've yet to see a similar program with the same theme focusing on fraud committed by those in the higher echelons of society.

Right wingers on the Errol Graham thread.....................where were his family.

Right wingers on social housing threads.....................move

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3809470-To-think-people-dont-understand-the-magnitude-of-the-social-housing-crisis?pg=1

This man was found 8 months after his benefits were stopped.

If the police had forced entry when he failed to engage (which was your first suggestion) they would, as a previous poster said, have found someone in ok health apart from his MH issue which simply meant he did not want to engage with anyone

If they broke in at a later point due to non rent payment being flagged (which is how the bailiffs found him) he would have already been dead.

Either way it wouldn’t necessarily have prevented this.

Stop being naive and using this as a political point scoring opportunity. There are a small minority of people who will refuse all help and support and, unless they are sectioned, there is very little anyone can do about that.

And by the way, writing in capitals all over your posts does not make your point any more valid.

Someone with a chronic health condition as an adult isnt going to grow out of it. Even if I don't see a patient with Downs Syndrome or spina bifida or rheumatoid arthritis for five years, I can safely assume they still have the condition. At least, that is what they teach you at medical school.

Someone who uses a walking aid due to MS is unlikely to ever to never using a walking aid again. Highly unlikely. And yes my paraplegic patients are all still paralyzed years later.

Dorsetdays
I am neither making a political point or naive - or indeed writing in capitals (back to school for you).

I am not prepared to accept this mans’ death as ‘his own fault’.

You can dismiss all the facts from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and reports from the United Nations and Academics if you want, but don’t expect me to do so.

At what age did you lose your compassion?

Stone. Don’t be silly, you can clearly see who is writing in capitals every other word.

I haven’t lost my compassion. Simply stating facts...there is a limit to what we can do when someone consistently refuses to engage with every avenue of support and it’s naive to think there’s one simple solution to that problem.

And GEE, clearly I’m not referring to someone who’s paralyzed here. We’re talking about someone with MH issues, people can and do improve enough to return to work so stop being obtuse to try and make your point.

Dorsetdays

Nope - I’ve not written in capitals. (Do you know what capitals are?)

Dorsetdays ‘facts’ versus the facts of the United Nations and Joseph Rowntree Foundation? 😂😂😂😂 No choice there eh?😂😂😂😂

Stone...perhaps avail yourself of Grapista’s posts and you’ll clearly see half of it is written in capitals which is clearly what I’m referring to. At no point did I mention your name, it was a general comment. However please feel free to get your knickers in a twist over every perceived comment that you’ve wrongly assume is aimed at you 🙄

Dorsetdays let me help you....

capital letter. the form of an alphabetical letter used to begin a sentence or proper name (Ex.: A, B, C, etc. are capital letters; a, b, c, etc. are small letters)

And when ‘facts’ are based on a two week visit ‘touring’ the poorest parts of the UK speaking to less than 300 people....yes I might consider whether that is truly representative of the entire country.

Stone. Again...try reading the posts. It might help.

Is it your belief that most people with chronic and serious mental health issues like personality disorders, bipolar or schizophrenia become well enough to function as a typical person without medication? Or you mean WITH medication and other forms of treatment continuously throughout life they can get to a point where they could pursue employment and the such?

You see I wouldn't equate someone who is only well because they take medication with someone who remains well without medication.

Long term use of psychiatric drugs, particularly if you've had long standing mental health issues throughout the past 2 or 3 decades actually reduces function in a lot of people. So the fact that you be taken antipsychotics for years might be part of the reason you cannot engage sufficiently enough to hold down a job or a even a friendship. It can exacerbate dissociation. Espcially as so many people have either the wrong diagnosis or a less than optimum medication to treat them as an individual.

All in all, most of my patients with a chronic long term mental health condition opposed to a periodic or situational bout of depression or anxiety are pretty much as well as they will ever be.

‘Don’t be silly’, ‘don’t be obtuse’, ‘don’t be naive’ ......wow, you do like to finger wag and instruct a lot! You’d be better employed getting out there and researching some real facts about the state of the poor and needy in our country.

GEE. I’m not saying that many people don’t recover from illnesses and, sadly for some people, it’s lifelong. However, many people can and do improve and therefore in those cases you cannot simply rely on medical evidence from 5 years ago, assume that’s never going to change and simply write those people off onto benefits forever.

It’s why there is a requirement for DWP to make checks.

Stone. And you’d be better off actually reading the thread properly before you start spouting off at people....

Most people with chronic conditions will have good days and bad days but most will not improve enough to justify stopping the financial support they get for being disabled.

How well do you think someone with one of those chronic conditions are really going to be? Espcially without relying on medication?

Dorsetdays

You were clearly addressing your comments about capitals to me as it was me talking about forcing police entry you were responding to! But hey - just another of your mistakes you seem incapable of acknowledging.

Why would a benefits officer or random HCP who might not have any expertise in your condition know better than a doctor registered at the GP practice you attend?

One of my patients over 60 with a history of physical injuries from an accident, osteoarthritis and heart failure was deemed fit to work by a physiotherapist who declared that they assessed their heart and lungs with a stethoscope and found no issues.

This person did get their benefits reinstated at the amount is was before but it took weeks of worry and them scanning job sites for jobs they might be able to do.

This is an old lady who cannot even have the operation she desperately needs on her knee because her heart isn't strong enough.

If they had written to me, I'd have been able to tell them that this woman hasn't been able to work full time or even be a reliable volunteer since 2007.

Stone. Ummm, no you’re wrong. I made a couple of comments on that post and didn’t use your name at all so it wasn’t addressed directly at you. I further explained it wasn’t aimed at you twice after your initial response yet you’re still determined to be offended by it.

Victim mentality at its finest 🙄

Dorsetdays you demonstrate the famous quote so well......

“Insults are the last resort of insecure people with a crumbling position trying to appear confident”