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Tory U-turn on disability cuts? Nope. Posted on Facebook (may need a friend request to view) yesterday by a desperate mother:
I don’t generally do personal rants on facebook, or ask for help, but today I’m breaking all the rules……………..
My eldest daughter had her leg amputated at the age of 9, she has ongoing health issues she mobilises on crutches and never got on with a prosthesis as her amputation is well above the knee, any prosthetics prevent her from sitting in normal chairs or bending down or being able to get in any vehicle whilst wearing it, she is now a beautiful independent grown woman……..or at least she was independent, after months of various correspondence from DWP, letters of support from her GP and other health specialists, an assessment with Atos, she has now been informed from the department that she is no longer considered disabled and is no longer entitled to her motability vehicle. They are coming to collect it – this shortsighted, cruel decision will effectively render her housebound and will massively impact on her quality of life.
I enlisted the help of our local MP Sarah Wollaston during the whole correspondence process but this hasn’t helped at all, but then how and why should she help when she consistently backs all the cuts to disabled people whilst claiming obscene amounts in expenses? Of course we are going to challenge and contest the decision until the bitter end. However the vehicle will be removed from my daughter whilst any appeal is going through, this could take months and all the while she is having to live with the consequences of an unfair and unjust decision.
To say that I am furious is an understatement, fat cat, able bodied politicians are being ferried around in tax-payer funded vehicles, whilst disabled folk are being left to crawl on their bellies.
I don’t enjoy feeling helpless and powerless, and I don’t enjoy seeing my daughter upset and broken, wondering how she’s going to manage with day to day tasks, shopping, getting my granddaughter to and from college, attending doctors appointments, it’s heartbreaking.
All I can do is kick up a fuss and make a noise – please feel free to join in, email your local MP and anyone else you think may be able to help:
sarah.wollaston.mp@parliament.uk
p.s. this rant isn’t over……………….it’s only just begun
Never give up
Here is what Wollaston posted on Twitter just 2 days ago:
Compassionate? The nasty party – still as nasty as ever it seems …
Here are Dr Sarah Wollaston MP’s contact page, Facebook and Twitter accounts.
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A screenshot of the original post for the usual trolls who doubt its existence:.
Pride's Purge 
That facebook link doesn’t work.
Has the site been taken down or have you erred?
Keep up the good work.
🙂
[It may need a friend request to view] – TOM
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Reblogged this on campertess.
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I’ve written to Sarah Wollaston telling of the disgrace she is to our precious NHS and of my utter disgust in the whole situation. This government is cruel & callous. I hope the young person involved can regain her vehicle and continue her independent life. Such a heartbreakingly sad story. Pat.
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Why don’t you start a petition? I have signed many concerned with similar issues that have been successful. I commiserate with you on the unfairness of this decision and support you in your fight for justice.
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I have a friend who’s an amputee. She’s been denied PIP after being moved from DLA (just as I have) and she has various other medical issues that render her unable to work. She began a petition, but the petition site decided not to publish it. Likewise, they didn’t publish my petition about IDS. Perhaps I’ll try a new one concernng Stephen Crabb…
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I am not an expert on social security law, but in respect of a different benefit there is a list of ‘prescribed degrees of disablement’, which includes amputee percentages. Might it be possible to argue at appeal that it is contrary to natural justice that amputation is considered a disablement for one benefit, but not considered disabling for another? (I am looking at the Disability Rights Handbook ) There may also be precedents which can be cited.
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This Facebook link has ‘disappeared’. Perhaps it was never there, or maybe it was a fake. Amputation above the knee does not mean the person can only get about using a motability vehicle and can’t even sit down in a chair. That’s simply not true. There are many above-knee amputees who have completed marathons and climbed mountains, including double amputees.
[No – not disappeared. You just have to be friends with her to see it. But I would imagine with your unsupportive attitude, she won’t be accepting any friend request from you.]- TOM
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I’m not unsupportive, and I totally oppose the New Labour and Tory cuts and privatisation essential health and welfare services, but to claim that an above knee prosthesis prevents a person from sitting in a chair is simply rubbish.
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I’m friends with Daisi – not just Facebook friends, but real friends and I can assure everyone it’s 100% true.
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Jay – I would love to see your findings if you have the time – I too am an amputee (but below the knee), and have various other disabilities and illnesses plus I’m due to move in the next couple of months! This has me terrified as I too have a mobility car and would be stuck in the house without it, plus I need the care allowance part of it as well for the items that I have to buy – *really scared about all this*.
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Diane – Can you confirm that this woman is unable to sit down in a chair?
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Reblogged this on sdbast.
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Pingback: Amputee who lost leg at age of 9 told by DWP she is no longer disabled! | Pride’s Purge | kickingthecat
Reblogged this on The Bakhishli Post.
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Reblogged this on Worldtruth.
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Pingback: Amputee who lost leg at age of 9 told by DWP she is no longer disabled! | Pride’s Purge | Britain Isn't Eating
I believe that Dr Wollaston was in favour of the Bedroom Tax. Is that correct? What is her view of social justice and that paradox, compassionate conservatism? The position of disabled people in today’s UK is like someone wandering in a desert with the vultures circling above, just looking for any signs of weakness.
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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-injuries-disablement-benefits-technical-guidance/industrial-injuries-disablement-benefits-technical-guidance#appendix-2-prescribed-degrees-of-disablement
Sorry to post long link. It concerns a different benefit, but can ‘disablement’ properly be a term which is applied differently to identical conditions by the same authority? An advisor would help with this
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dear Carly,thank you for your kind comment,I am able to verify that my daughter is only able to sit in chairs of a certain height when wearing a prosthesis,she is also unable to bend down or indeed get in or out of vehicles whilst wearing one,this,as you can imagine makes life very complicated to an amputee trying to live a ‘normal’ life.Due to the nature and height of her amputation,the socket required to keep the prosthesis in place is very large,solid and heavy,it is held onto the remaining part of her thigh by means of suction,when we are standing,and when we are sitting our thighs naturally change shape,the socket remains the same,this makes sitting or bending uncomfortable and unpractical.Over the years we have been to endless fittings.with prosthesis being altered and changed,it’s worth noting that the prosthetic teams at mobility clinics,(the ‘fitters and technicians) don’t work for the NHS,they work for the manufactures of the prosthetic components,so you end up with a prosthesis that has a great component for the ankle, and a great component for the knee,but they aren’t compatable to be used on the same limb,we have attended private clinics in order to find a more workable solution to this problem,but due to the nature of my daughters amputation,the same solid socket is needed in order to keep the limb in place,there is no communication between muscles on the prosthetics,so, although they work with a ‘kick through’ motion in order to walk,any other movement of the limb requires manual assistance using ones hands. suppose that until you have experienced an amputation of a lower limb first hand or have witnessed someone close to you trying to regain some sort of normal mobility using a prosthesis,then you are effectively ignorant to such matters and make wild assumptions,and generalizations , to state that other amputees have gone on to become athletes suggests that you believe all amputees to be capable of this!
Everyone is an individual and should be treated as such,not compared to others,
after all we are all different,most people reacted to this post with compassion and empathy,others didn’t appear to possess those qualities
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Dear Daisi
Thank you for your reply, which raises two primary points:
1) It seems that you are only being offered suction prosthesis attachment. This works quite well for some patients, but in my opinion it’s based more on cost than efficacy. Perhaps you’re not getting the best clinical advice. Depending on your location maybe I can suggest some alternative sources. This is partly a political point, and I’m sure many readers recognise the failure of the New Labour and Tory governments in the last >40 years in England to move towards privatisation of services and generating profit, at the expense of rational clinical policy.
2) The deformation discomfort you describe when sitting down is frequently associated with fat thickness on the stump and lower abdomen, and simply of excess body weight. I’m not sure if your daughter has a weight problem, but I confidently guess that she does. If the patient’s weight is more than can reasonably be raised using primarily the strength of one leg then the problem is obvious. It’s very common that obesity and mobility problems become a vicious circle, resulting in very real disability (including in people who have both legs), which can be massively improved by weight loss.
I wish you and your daughter good fortune in resolving your problems and achieving a happy, fulfilling and mobile life.
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Thank you for your reply,my daughters weight is not considered a problem,and as I mentioned before we have experienced the same problems when Ttending private clinics and have met many other amputees who face the same problems.
The fact remains that she experiences mobility problems and even if she had a fitting prosthesis she would be unable to walk any great distance and therefore would need the use of a vehicle,the original post is the focus on the cruel and unnecessary cuts to disabled people and to her quality of life, and to tell somebody with only 1 leg that they are no longer disabled is ludicrous,This unfair decision will effectively render her housebound and will take away her only independence
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Dear Daisi – May I ask who is the supplier and type of the prosthesis, and what is your daughter’s height and weight?
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You have my full sympathies as I am going through similar but my problems are mental and harder to prove. In my case they have not taken the evidence from health professionals into account, they have not applied the law to it’s full and have not carried out the assessment or ruling in accordance with the DWP handbook. I suggest you download these documents and use the law against them.
There has been a big furore in the press and social media about the £30 cut but I am hearing of more and more people being kicked off benefits altogether and losing much needed help. At the rate my savings are going down I estimate that in 2 years time I will be homeless.
I am taking my case to tribunal and will take it further if needs be.
Don’t give up and good luck
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thank you very much, very useful advice, thanks again
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P.S. good luck with your case,x
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