Cancer patients to face back to work interviews.

[wubblybubbly]

I'm posting this because it's not in the news, totally unreported so far as I can see.

www.macmillan.org.uk/Aboutus/News/Latest_News/DWPproposestoforcechemotherapypatientstoundergostressfulbenefitchecks.aspx

Honestly, thanks to Dave and Gideon, otherwise these scrounging layabouts would be living on our handouts. Some of them are so bloody lazy they're actually dying just to avoid doing a honest day's work.

Anybody not already on the "Frothers" thread in Politics, please come along

Everybody welcome, but especially those that are good at tweeting this stuff out there, writing to MP's etc but just anybody who feels as sick as we do, and want somewhere to get it off our chests (all in one place)

I'll check that out AF, thank you.

It very much depends on the type of chemo. My retired FIL is on chemo and he does not feel too bad. He takes the tablets for two weeks and then is off them for a week. He does would not be up to say working in a heavy manual job even if he were young enough to but could do a light office job sat at a desk. My wife had a different type of chemo, one dose every two weeks, and she struggled into work just 3 days later. She should not have gone in to work as quickly in my view but she wanted to and she clearly did manage to work - again an office job but a fair amount of travel too.

Some chemo patients (like my FIL) are on a course of chemo for 6 months and during that period, for some of the time, they are fit to work. I doubt though whether many employers would be willing to put up with frequent absences over that period of time and what with zero hours contracts, where you are effectivley on call at a few hours notice that really would be difficult to work around. If you were in a steady office job with an understanding employer it might well be possible.

I suspect, for very understandable reasons, there are quiet a few chemo patients in minimum wage, manual or service industry type jobs who frankly have very little desire or motivation to put themselves out for their employer so if they are feeling sick anyway being off work and on sick pay is far preferable.

Tianc - am a member of B&W, also there's a huge contingent on moneysavingexpert of people who are sick of ATOS and the whole system.

Anyfucker, I'm not on tweeter and probably useless tbh but I would love to see protests about this kind of thing and could probably manage to take part, there's just little pockets of people everywhere who can't actually do much, what's needed is a central place for everyone to gather online and plan to do.. SOMETHING!! I don't know what though

I take comfort in the fact that hopefully my problems will be put right thru surgery next year, but until 6 months ago I had no idea of the problems disabled and sick people face and am sure the majority of other people don't know either. All they see is the Daily Fail "stories" on benefits bludgers. And believe it.

We need to get this story out there and being talked about.

Just to clarify, these assessments are not for people in employment.

People who have been retained by their employer while they are off sick, receiving employer or statutory sick pay or whatever, shouldn't be affected.

These assessments are of people receiving ESA/Incapacity Benefit, ie they've already lost their job due to illness (or weren't working when they became ill, and cancer will hardly have increased their employability).

So we're not talking about returning to the office a few days a week during better periods; we're talking job-hunting and persuading an employer to take you on whilst undergoing chemo with an unknown outcome.

Does this give some glimpse of how utterly pointless the whole exercise is?

Avadvent, Amelia Gentleman at the Guardian looks like the person to take your story to, if you're up for that.

Whether or not she did a specific piece, it could all be useful grist to the mill.

Btw, extremely glad to hear surgery may fix things: buckets of good luck, and hope your recovery goes well.

Thank you Tianc :)

Can I point out though that you can still be employed and be on/applying for ESA?

And also there's the whole DLA thing too which is another bucket of worms!!

Eh? That's a new one on me. I thought ESA was defined as an out-of-work benefit.

So is this about employers who are "keeping a position open for you" but don't actually have a contract or pay you anything?

DLA obviously different, as it's not an out-of-work benefit.

ESA is for people who are too sick to work, either they are unemployed anyway and on JSA and transfer, on IB and transfer as IB doesn't exist anymore, or for employed people who's SSP entitlement has ran out after the statutory 28 weeks.

And my comment re DLA was about the propsed changes to the assessment systems and the cahngeover to PIP. urgh. I haven't the energy to even go into that one tbh

Ah, whereas I get IB/ESA because I left a job through illness. So was never on JSA or SSP.

So chemo patients being forced to undergo benefit checks didn't make the papers, but a single case of benefit fraud is national news.

And as that nice Freud chap puts it, "It's cases like these that show us why welfare reform is needed."

Which is odd, because she has been caught and prosecuted without any changes to welfare system. Lying to commit fraud being already illegal.

Come join the "frothers" here

No probs if you are not tech-savvy (I am not)

There is a blog, FB and twitter feed cross referencing and linking all over the place, getting loads of hits Come join us, even if you just want to froth on the thread x

oops, the link would help here

Good, I'm glad Tories are going after cancer patients instead of those poor tax evaders.

Tianc Actually a little sceptical about that article. As a sufferer of 2 chronic illnesses it is true that you can have some very good days and some awful days.

More often than not I struggle to even get out of bed but rarely I have a very good day (normally as said in that article when the weather is warmer as my condition is also affected by weather) where I am almost normal for around half the day. Those off days don't mean I could manage to work in a job but could probably fool people that I was okay.

However it is ridiculous that this hasn't made the press.

Yes, I'm sceptical too, SM.

Being as generous as possible to the DWP and assuming this actually was fraud, they're yet again capitalising on an individual case to try to pretend a need for benefit reform ? you can bet your boots that story came from a DWP press office not a court reporter.

And at worst they're pillorying someone genuinely ill who can do lots on good days and very little on bad days. Who was set up by an ex.

I've mentioned this before, but I once chased up the BBC about a misleading benefit fraud story (implied it was fraud to receive DLA while working). The journalist kindly got back to me and said he'd considered my point but checked with the govt press office who'd fed him the story ? and they were "very happy" with his article.

Tianc I very much hope that that fraud case in the link was genuine fraud. It would be awful if someone who genuinely couldn't work was forced to.
She wouldn't even be allowed JS due to benefit fraud would she?

It's definitely time they leave people on disability benefits alone and look at true problems. There are far too many people who need help who are being left with nothing.

I have read somewhere that the fraud AND DWP error rate for disability benefits is either 5% or 0.5%, can't recall now, which makes this post a little useless! but demonstrates that against other benefit fraud AND error is very very very low.

And re: good days, bad days - I'm one of those. Last week for example, I was able to go outside nearly every day. The week before that I got out once. Over the summer I couldn't do more than literally drag myself, be dragged to the loo and back to bed for 3 weeks solid. the rest of the time I hover somewhere in between. Some days I can get about easily outside, but I still need to be dressed and washed, have all the housework done for me etc - yet nobody sees that part.
If I were investigated on a good week it gives an unfair impression of my overall abilities.

This week I've not been out so far, although it is only Tuesday of course, but with the ice down even if I felt able, I am housebound till it clears.

I really hope anybody reading this thread will think twice before judging people in future. you can never know the whole story.

Sorry, also, the days I can manage to walk I am in severe pain but sometimes have no choice if I have to go to the Physio/gp etc.
DLA is awarded on how far/long you can walk without severe discomfort. Not how long you can actually walk for.

'Tis 0.5% fraud rate for DLA, and estimated 40% underclaimed.

A great RL illustration of good days/ bad days.

For those who are saying that they or their family member was well enough during chemo to work - I am assuming that they wanted to work.

If someone feels well enough to work, they can forgo the application for the ESA benefit, and simply work.

If they don't then they should not have to go through the process.

My SIL did reasonably well on chemo, with few side effects but she was just exhausted for over a year. Some days she could barely get out of bed.

Is there anyone who would like to do a guest post for the Frothers blog on this?

Mme - who edits the blog?
Can you ask they change toomanycuts.blogspot.com/2011/12/caught-in-trap-between-esa-and-jsa.html

to reflect that ESA is NOT an out of work benefit as stated further up in this thread? If it's going to be said, it needs to be correct.

Ava
It is written by people who are dealing with the problems themselves, so we kind of all self-edit and hope that we catch any mistakes. Will ask the author of that post to have another look, thanks.