To be really cross about the proposed cuts?

[Byjimminy]

And feel really effing sorry for those with genuine anxiety and depression - it is disabling!

Already seeing threads in MH with people despairing in anticipation of cuts. As if mental health services haven't already been decimated beyond recognition already. GP appointments as rare as hen's teeth, CAMHS and access to decent therapy is next to non-existent, the conservatiives slashed all the support workers and sure start centres and we've had the worst pandemic in decades (centuries?) - long covid is thing too! And now people are just self diagnosing/making up mental health issues? How the hell anyone believes anyone manages to claim PIP without a proper diagnosis is insanity itself.

I completely agree with this article: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/wes-streeting-overdiagnosis-mental-health-adhd-b2716618.html

I know there will be umpteen threads on this already, but maybe some others like me just want to let stuff out in frustration and have a fresh place to say it. To think this is a labour government making these decisions BEFORE putting the services in place to actually help and treat people is beyond comprehension.

None of these examples tagged moved.
My cousin did though as a previous post.

Commuter Coaches from where I live were with National Express
so yes
A bit of research shows they easily take wheelchairs

I think what a lot of people don't realise is that it's not just extra costs people incur with disabilities. Quite often, even the simplest things for most people can take twice as long, and it all adds up, especially when working as well. I have a friend with several manageable conditions, none of which in isolation you'd consider particularly disabling, but altogether take an inordinate amount of extra time, with various treatment and appointments, and things taking longer (sourcing specialist clothing for example in this case) etc. Fortunately he has a supportive wife and between them they can manage with him working part-time, but I imagine it would be very different if he was on his own.

The shortage is in bus stops where the wheelchair lift can be deployed. Even a major coach company like National Express who you screen shotted with a blurb about having room for 1 wheelchair per bus only has 82 bus stops in the entire UK that are wheelchair accessible, of which 10 are in London.

The point is. They exist.
So people can get to far away jobs. People can commute.
They just have to put some homework in to work out the best way to do that.

I never said they didn’t exist, I said it was hard to find.
You’re the one saying it’s “easy” to commute long distances as a wheelchair user. It’s not easy.

Yes, and a quite laughable suggestion if you live in a rural area and have to get a normal bus to the accessible coach stop. Absolute lottery for the timings to work out!

(I worked hard not to give that post a passive aggressive private laugh emoji ).

Rural areas are often cheaper to live than city centres, yet it is the cities that are often better equipped for those with disabilities. So again, you can't win!

That homework is an extra barrier to work for someone who is disabled and uses a wheelchair to get about.

Also, if the OP is only qualified to do minimum wage work, she's likely to be not a single penny better off and very possibly significantly worse off going to work. Let's say she has to travel two hours (with all the faffing about) each way to get to work, then she does a miserable hard job for eight hours, so 12 hours out of her day, hard slog, for almost zero extra money.
Nobody in their right mind would do this when they could be at home with a whole world of free time.

Well, sure, but isn't that the whole point of the reform? That people don't have the choice to stay at home on the same money any more?

Yes, so what you have to do is make work pay because at the moment it doesn't and people are better off on sickness benefits.

Surely it's always better to go to work and know you earned your own money, than to sit at home all day not working and knowing your money comes courtesy of other people working?

I've seen people say they would be no better off working, than they are on benefits.....that's the problem. They need to shift that mindset. They should strive to earn their own money and have that the goal so that society can continue to afford to pay for those who absolutely cannot work for genuine reasons.

Someone on UC for sickness reasons is not on more than someone who is working.
The amounts are on the gov website.

Toes this take into consideration tax - I don’t think benefits are taxed but pay is once over the personal allowance.

I work in the NHS as bank staff. Got informed last week that my pay is decreasing by around 8%.

The NHS is held up by bank staff! I want to quit and I feel so de-moralised.

And someone who has a disability often has to work harder and longer than others, both at home and in work to achieve the same as an able bodied person. It isn't a level playing field to begin with. Someone with mental health issues has to work exceptionally hard to overcome them - and this takes time and effort. So much so the NHS cannot generally afford to offer the professional time it can take for therapies to be effective, so people have to self fund. Often people have a whole heap of unlearning of unhelpful thought patterns, before they can learn ways to cope or overcome them. Physical difficulties can mean day to day activities most of us can do in a blink without thinking take longer, with more concentration, and need more frequent breaks. There are only so many hours in a day.

It's the pisstakers we need to be honing down on, not those with genuine issues not of their making, without the services they need to be able to lead fulfilling lives. Just cutting pip is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Assessment, diagnosis and treatment need to come first. Otherwise we'll increase the health issues of those who are genuine.

Agree.
So perhaps move out of areas with accessibility issues that aren’t suitable.

Which is basically what most people do anyway. If there’s no work people move to where there is.
No point living in the Highlands and Islands if there’s no work for you, just move

No one’s saying it’s easy.
That should never be a barrier or suitable excuse to not work it out though.

That’s why it’s imperative to make work pay

Reduce benefits
Or / and Increase pay

Either way. Being on benefits should not be a way of life. It should be an absolute last resort

Once we calculate the cost of travel, work clothes, if you have kids summer schools and after school clubs for many it just isn’t.

No one has the right to an easy life at the cost of tax payers.
Life isn’t easy. Its hard work

ps. I didn’t say commuting is easy. It isn’t for anyone.

Kids are optional. Being disabled isnt.

We aren’t talking about being disabled. You said benefits weren’t as much as pay from working.
I pointed out once you take into account the cost of actually working they often are.

The disability issue is irrelevant ….. no gotcha here I’m afraid.

Again have a look at what someone actually gets if they are unable to work. It is about £800pm.
When I worked, I had uniform provided and walked there. No extra cost in my case. So no gotcha here either.

Plus rent.
Plus free school meals
Money off or no council tax
No prescription charges
Free glasses and tests
im sure there’s more I don’t know all the ££ benefits of being on benefits

The list goes on.

Lots of jobs don’t have uniforms.
Most people don’t live within walking distance of a job