Having spent years fighting the DWP I can only agree about
how insensitive they are (see below). They find it impossible to accept an
illness that can have you rolling in bed with pain one day and able to stand up
the next. They assume you can pick which days you are ill so you can work the
other ones... I think I’ll be ill on
Wednesday this week and have Thursday and Friday as good days… If only. Mind you, even on good days I still have migraines and I fall over and burn
myself and do foolish things like that.
Obviously falling over and hurting myself would be contributing to my
own illness.
In case that last sentence is not large enough -
Dear DWP ::: YOU DISGUST ME
That's called being between a rock and a hard place, or the infamous Catch 22.
ReplyDeleteSurely there is a way to talk to these people?
ReplyDeleteOf course knowing your situation and the incredible (in the true sense of the word) attitude of the DWP I can believe anything of them. After all it's far easier to go after soft targets than it is to go after those who are part of the permanent pool of people who know every trick in the book and who have the professional help of many voluntary organisations to ensure that they never have to worry about working or going short of benefits. Or perhaps one can look at the number of people living in France and Spain on benefits from the UK and also flouting their host country's laws by working sans permit. However to 'accuse' someone with a genetic disorder causing cancer of contributing to their own illness seems at best insensitive and bizarre and at worst downright - words fail me (and that's rare).
ReplyDeleteI agree, GB. xoxo
DeleteThis is heartless and I can't comprehend how you or the lady highlighted in the link would not be taken care of by the DWP....it's outrageous.
ReplyDeleteIt's always the ones who walk the right path and do all the right things that are trampled upon by these government departments. Maybe if you had a scrupulous doctor and a few whacko pharmacists on your side, you would be laughing your way to the bank like all the other frauds who milk the system..
It amazes me how governments can do this -- give benefits to people who con the system while denying those who truly need it. It happens in the US, too, and it is so sad.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain, especially the migraines. This is why I am not an advocate of big governments. Keep it local and personal. I wish you luck.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is horrible. I have no words either.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you're having problems with the government. We in the colonies have much the same situation, but the degree of difficulty varies considerably from city to city and State to State. The Federal government is completely FUBAR and has been for years. At the State level one can still find the exemplary State employee who tries their best to ensure the needy receive all the benefits they are entitled to. At the local level it pays to have a close friend or relative who works in the bureaucracy.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes and prayers for you and yours.
That seems totally illogical (blaming the patient for her own illness). And it really makes one feel both angry and helpless every time one comes across decisions like that - not making any sense but just stated as "we have decided".
ReplyDeleteWhen my dad was in a full-care nursing home (he was senile and incontinent at the time) the Dept. of Health & Social Services actually sent me a form which asked, "If applicant is not now employed, why not?" It had me banging my head on the desk.
ReplyDeleteI wrote something myself when read this post and thought just how small the world really is one often wonders why such things are allowed to happen.
ReplyDeleteoh, the sadness of BIG governments! It seems that it's fairly worldwide in their stupidity. I am lucky that my migraines are mostly in the past, but I know your illness very well. How absurd that such an illness as the woman is enduring has to be made more painful by such idiotic people who have no insight into her condition.
ReplyDeleteOh dear Kathy, how naive you are!! They don't have doctors making these decisions - they are simply civil servants.
ReplyDeleteMind you, they do occasionally have claimants interviewed by doctors. Not, of course, specialists in the area of illness that the person has, merely out of work General Practitioners.
Absolutely disgusting. I honestly wonder what these people who work for Atos think of themselves.
ReplyDeleteThere are some really heartbreaking stories out there which I won't repeat because they are so upsetting. I am not sure where the world is heading, but it feels quite scary at times. What are we doing to each other. My optimistic nature is hoping that soon the tide will turn and that people will overcome the selfishness of a relatively small percentage of humanity. I am hoping that people will put out positive energies in order to overcome the negative state that seems to prevail.
ReplyDelete