Category: ESA
Benefit Problems?
posted: 08/04/2011
People living with HIV in NW England on incapacity benefit who are told they will be reassessed, should call the support team at George House Trust for help and advice. Everyone on Incapacity Benefit will be reasssessed and moved onto another benefit - usually Employment Support Allowance, sometimes Job Seekers Allowance. This change of benefits can often be a bumpy journey.
George House Trust advisers will be able to give initial advice and further support as needed.
Alternatively people may call THTDirect 0845 12 21 200 between 10am to 10pm weekdays and from 12pm until 6pm at weekends.
Easing the stress of change
Many people are finding these assessments very stressful and complicated. Unfortunately the evidence shows that many people with HIV are wrongly refused or put in the wrong ‘stream’ of benefits and told they are fit for work. With the right advice and help this can often be prevented, and if not support and help offered with reviews and appeals. The success rate is high when people get expert advice and assistance. Many people with HIV win these appeals.
NAT and THT have produced a useful benefits advice factsheet for people with HIV
THT have more useful advice for people with HIV who are on benefits, applying for benefits or considering taking paid work which could reduce their entitlements to benefits.
It helps people find out their benefit rights and how best to apply, and deal with reviews and appeals.
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Join HIV and Benefits Survey
posted: 16/02/2011
Lots of changes (including cuts) will be happening to the welfare benefits used by many people with HIV in the coming months and years. We need evidence now about how the changing nature of HIV affects people’s ability to do a paid job.
Would you please help our friends at NAT (National AIDS Trust) by answering their short (10 question) online survey about HIV-related symptoms of people living with HIV.
Please Take part in the quick survey, here
NAT are part of a national benefits working party trying to improve the Work Capability Assessment (which is used to help decide claims for Employment Support Allowance - the new benefit for sickness and disability).
The Work Capability Assessment fails many people with HIV – it doesn’t cope well where symptoms can come and go, like with HIV. Your answers will help us and NAT make it work better for people with HIV.
Be a big help for many
Your answers will help make a major difference to many people – everyone now receiving Incapacity Benefit will have to have their own Work Capability Assessment within the next 2-3 years. Many people are having to appeal bad decisions about this and 40% of the people who appeal refusals of these claims win.
The findings of this research will help NAT speak for the needs of people living with HIV who apply for illness and disability-related benefits. In particular, it will lead to recommendations to the second annual independent review of the Work Capability Assessment.
NAT will be on the working group which will recommend changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to more accurately and fairly assess people with fluctuating conditions, such as HIV.
Anything you can add?
NAT welcome other evidence about the impact of fluctuating symptoms on the lives of people living with HIV, and particularly want to hear the experiences of people who have HIV-related symptoms who have gone through the Work Capability Assessment.
For more information about the survey or the working group, or to send case studies and other evidence, please contact Sarah Radcliffe
Please Take part in the quick survey, here
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Better Benefit ‘Work’ Tests
posted: 24/11/2010
The government has said it will overhaul its controversial medical tests to decide whether the seriously ill and disabled can claim long-term sickness benefits. An independent review found they were "impersonal, mechanistic and lacked empathy", leaving many claimants feeling unjustly treated and distressed.
The review, conducted by the academic Malcolm Harrington, an occupational health specialist, looked at whether the 'working capability assessment' was a fair system. There is mounting evidence that people with serious illnesses, like HIV, are being judged fit for work, when they are not. 40% of people who appeal, win their appeals.
Testing 94,000 people a month
The tests, first introduced in October 2008, mean 53,000 people are assessed a month for 'employment and support allowance'. The numbers being tested will balloon from next April as another 41,000 incapacity benefit recipients are re-assessed under the ‘work capability assessment’ every month.
Long-term ill and disabled somehow pass ‘work’ tests
Harrington found that the assessments, run by a French multinational, Atos Origin, which received £54m from the coalition government for the contract, failed people with mental illnesses and long-term disabilities.
‘Impossible’ 28 page form
One form which claimants needed to complete is 28 pages long and almost half the people "found the questionnaire difficult or impossible to complete".
Another problem is that people’s ability to work is measured by a computer questionnaire that uses "descriptors" - questions that are apparently unrelated to work. One example is that people are asked whether they had "loaded a dishwasher or washing machine" that day. "It does not bother to ask whether the claimant has a dishwasher or washing machine. That is the danger with computer systems and drop-down menus," said Harrington.
Another question asks if you sit and watch TV. Say yes and they assume you can sit for long periods in a chair.
"We want to rely much more on healthcare professionals and assessments., said Harrison..
He pointed out that 40% of those found fit for work by the system appealed and won – and added that most people who appealed provided "additional medical information".
Radical change needed
Harrington called for a radical overhaul, with jobcentre staff having to take into account health records, the Atos assessments and an individual's own testimony before making a decision about whether someone on sickness benefits should be forced back into work.
At present benefits staff rarely dissented from Atos's verdict, he said, and "a lack of procedural justice can lead people to feel embittered and for some this can lead to psychological distress with affects on physical and mental health".
Champions to help
The report also recommends the appointment of lay "champions" to guide claimants through the process, and detailed explanations of why a benefit has been refused.
Welcome for review
Many working with the poor and vulnerable welcomed the report, saying it was a long overdue recognition of the system's problems. Citizens Advice said its surveys showed a 41% increase in complaints from claimants in the past year alone.
NAT, National AIDS Trust welcomed the findings and recommendations. They say ‘we fully support the call for change to ‘improve the fairness and effectiveness of the WCA’ by improving transparency, empathy and communication within the assessment process for Employment Support Allowance (ESA)’. NAT were among the 400 organisations and individuals to contribute to the independent review, based on their research report Unseen disability, Unmet needs – A review of the impact of Work Capability Assessment on people living with HIV. Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), said: ‘NAT supports the recommendations of the independent review and we were extremely pleased to see some of our concerns included in the final report.
Government to make all the changes
The government said it accepted Harrington's conclusions and would implement them in full. The work and pensions minister Chris Grayling said: "There were no targets or goals to get people off benefits. This is meant to be a fair process … we are dealing with claimants who we have had very little contact with."
Reform delay criticised
However, Harrington did criticise the government for failing to implement a key recommendation quickly enough: that of a "personalised summary of assessments in plain English" to be produced by Atos. The government could only promise that ministers "explored the feasibility of providing a summary" by the end of 2011. Given the planned expansion in the scheme next year, Harrington said, this "was just not good enough".
Charities said the "review pinpoints what is wrong with the system". Matthew Lester of the Papworth Trust, a disability charity, said the main concern now was how quickly the government would implement the report's main findings. "Even if they get the main points implemented by April that will mean another 250,000 people being assessed by a system that we already know is unfair."
NAT report
Source (adapted)
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Sick Benefit Claims
posted: 27/10/2010
Claims made yesterday by the Department for Work and Pensions that three-quarters of the people applying for the new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) are fit for work are disputed by leading charities.
The official figures were published as the Government continues its plans to reassess everyone on the old style incapacity benefit (IB), which began in Burnley this month and will cover the rest of the country from early next year.
Claims distort reality
Charities say the department is distorting reality. A high proportion of these decisions are wrong and almost 40% of people who appeal win. Citizens Advice Bureau has published three detailed reports on serious failings in the system. We know that many people with HIV are being refused wrongly and winning their appeals. We know that NAT are producing a report on the experience of people with HIV with the new benefit and system.
Citizens Advice argues that instead of improving the lives of ill and disabled people, the “deeply flawed” benefit has brought misery for thousands.
The Department recently ordered an independent review of the assessment process because of the widespread problems and complaints.
In last week’s spending review Chancellor George Osborne announced further benefit cuts: most people will only be allowed to claim ESA for a maximum of a year. It plans to cut the benefit bill by at least £18bn.
New sick benefit is 'unfit'
Scotland’s acting chief executive at Citizens Advice, Susan McPhee said: “We said last year that ESA was unfit for purpose and we see no reason to change that view. We are still seeing case after case where people are being found fit for work even though their illness or disability restricts them from any type of work. ESA isn’t working for the most vulnerable. We need to protect people in times of suffering, not cause them further hardship.”
ESA has forced thousands of vulnerable people with conditions such as cancer, schizophrenia, HIV and Parkinson’s disease back into the job market after being declared fit for work, despite medical evidence from GPs and consultants saying different.
Citizens Advice Bureau evidence shows that the system isn’t working
For new ESA claims from October 2008 to February 2010, the department for Work and Pensions says that the three quarters of claims that were refused and unsuccessful were made up of:
- Support Group (people who cannot work now or in the foreseeable future and need unconditional support) – the department nonetheless decided 6% were fit for work
- Work Related Activity Group (people who cannot work now but with the right help could work in the foreseeable future) – the department nonetheless decided 15% were fit for work
- Fit for Work - the department decided 39% of ordinary ESA claimants were fit for work and refused the claim for ESA. People can appeal and claim Job Seekers Allowance.
- Claim closed before assessment complete, or assessment still in process: 39%
The department is fiddling the figures to say that claims where the assessment is still in progress are among the three quarters of the claims that were refused or abandoned. Any claim still being assessed hasn't been decided yet, it is not refused, abandoned or unsuccessful. Undecided claims could be almost 39% of the 75% that the department's press release claims 'are being found fit for work after undergoing the Work Capability Assessment or stop their claim before they complete their medical assessment'. The true figure for claims that failed might be as low as 36%.
Whatever the rate of refused claims, almost 40% of people who appeal the decision, win. That is a dreadful rate of expensive administrative failure.
Reviewing the system
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said:
" I am determined that we get the medical assessment right, which is why Professor Malcolm Harrington is undertaking an independent review in consultation with a number of charities representing disabled people and those with mental health issues. I am more than happy to take onboard any serious suggestions for changing the assessment as I want it to be as near to perfect as we can be. This is not about pushing the sick and disabled into jobs but giving those that can work the help to do so and those that can't more, not less, support."
Churches: Don’t blame the poor
Meanwhile, three of Britain's churches accused the chancellor, George Osborne, of exaggerating the scale of benefit fraud in last week's spending review speech, pointing out that official figures were lower than the £5bn claimed by Osborne. The president of the Methodist Conference, Alison Tomlin, said: "Exaggerating benefit fraud points the finger of blame at the poor. Let us be clear this recession was not caused by the poor, those on benefits, or even benefit cheats."
Sources
Guardian Scottish Herald
Department for Work and Pensions Press Release
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Work Incapacity Tests – Have Your Say
posted: 09/08/2010
You can have your say in an independent review of how people’s fitness for work is checked by a medical, when claiming benefits for being too ill or disabled to work. People who claim Employment and Support Allowance have medical assessments as part of their claim. These are called ‘Work Capability Assessments’. The fairness of these is now being checked. We know many people with HIV are having serious problems with these.
Also people in Burnley who are on Incapacity Benefit are being put through these medicals as part of a national pilot. Beginning in February, everyone else on Incapacity Benefit will have to have one of these medicals. Many people living with HIV claim these two benefits.
Problems lead to review
The fairness of these medical assessments is being checked by an independent national review, led by Professor Malcolm Harrington, who is an occupational health expert. He will produce a report by the end of the year on whether the assessments are fair and transparent.
Have your say
You can have your say, based on your experience by Friday 10 September.
They ask a number of questions, but you don’t even need to answer these – simply say what happened to you, and whether you think the system works for people with HIV, or you could give plain and simple answers to questions 2, 3 4, and 6. Most of the questions are aimed at benefits experts.
Email your comments
or post your comments to WCA Independent Review Team, Floor 6, Section B, Caxton House, Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA.
What benefits and disability experts think
Disability charities say the current assessments tests are inflexible, and fail to take into account how long-term conditions (like HIV) can vary from day to day, or from week to week. George House Trust knows there are serious problems with the way these incapacity assessments are done and that people with HIV face a high rate of wrong refusals.
Atos Healthcare (who have the government contract for doing Employment Support Allowance assessments) appear to refuse to record basic HIV information like people’s CD4 count, admit their own ignorance about HIV and unwillingness to learn about HIV, don’t refer people with HIV to doctors for a full medical assessment as they should do, refuse to consider the ‘exceptional circumstances’ rules (regulations 29 and 35), and ignore medical reports from HIV doctors.
The advisers at Manchester Advice who specialise in HIV have won appeals before they can even say a word. Independent Tribunals have shown they are disturbed and surprised that plain evidence of obvious incapacity for work due to HIV is ignored, and at the failure to follow the rules.
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