help for girl in need

[SusieOwl4]

A friend has a very seriously ill baby on life support - and at the same time she has been called in for an interview for providing ID and change over to UC . She has explained the situation but basically she has been told tough - attend or don't get your benefits . She is at an hospital in another town she cannot get home as she has no money and she does not have her ID with her - but they still wont budge . any idea what her rights are or who she can turn to ?

sorry , not actually a friend - otherwise I would help her out this is a relative of my DIL who is trying to help her . Baby is very seriously ill .

I would tell DIL's relative not to hand over any cash. I think the person is trying to scam her into giving her money!

Why is she having to switch to UC, is she currently getting any benefits? If it is her first baby and she is needing to claim UC to get the child element, then it can wait a while. Or if she is desperate she may be able to get a DWP visiting officer to come to the hospital . Most hospitals would have a childrens social worker available when a child is seriously ill and they should be able to help point her in the right direction to get help.
She needs to speak to the Nurses and ask to be referred.

DIL drives to hospital, gets house keys and goes to relatives house to retrieve ID.
Or pays for an uber from hospital and back.
Or enlists help of other relatives.

Thank you for your comments . DIL can’t help unfortunately due to her own circumstances but she is going to try and phone citizens advice . Thanks for the comment about hospital helping . Apparently she is on benefits already but this will include a possible 3 hour appointment as well and she does not want to leave baby . It’s a complicated case as the mother literally has no money at the moment , I was just trying to find out if was reasonable to ask for a postponement in the circumstances. I understand some people try to avoid these things but she really does not want to leave the baby .