Category Archives: disability

Disability benefit assessments 'unfair', says ex-worker

May 17, 2013   benefits, Carers, disability, ukcuts

16 May 2013 Last updated at 17:27

Disability benefit assessments ‘unfair’, says ex-worker

By Sophie Hutchinson BBC News

 The fit to work tests were introduced in 2010 and have proved controversialA doctor who worked for the private company which assesses people for disability benefits says its methods are “unfair”.

Greg Wood, a former Royal Navy doctor, resigned from Atos earlier this month, after working as an assessor for two-and-a-half years.

He told the BBC the system was “skewed against the claimant”.

But Atos Healthcare says it submits “clinically justified reports” and completely rejects Dr Wood’s claims.

Atos, which has been criticised in the past by disability campaigners and MPs, carries out work capability assessments (WCAs) on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Read More

Many were in tears!

May 16, 2013   Carers, disability

Remploy factory closures: Thousands face life without work

By Mark Ansell Face the Facts, BBC Radio 4

 The factories were established 67 years ago as part of the creation of the welfare state

Thousands of disabled people could face permanent joblessness as the final “sheltered” employment factories close.

“I just want to work. I’d do anything, I’d sweep the floors, I’d wash toilets out. I would do any job just to do my bit for the community.”

Simon Huntington worked for 17 years at the Remploy factory in Spennymoor near Darlington. Since the packaging and assembly plant shut in August last year, Simon has found it impossible to secure a new job.

“I’m scared I won’t get another job. I’ve applied for loads of jobs. Interviews come, interviews go and I never get anywhere further. It doesn’t matter what I do, no-one wants to employ me as they can see Remploy on my CV,” he says.

Read More

Why don’t they listen to what carers have to say?

May 15, 2013   Carers, disability, family, health, Older care

True integration involves the NHS, local councils and families

Families are the biggest providers of care, yet carers can find themselves cut out of decision-making and bounced between different bureaucracies

Norman Lamb and Heléna Herklots
Guardian Professional, Wednesday 15 May 2013 08.30 BST

The 6.5 million carers in the UK providing unpaid care to their loved ones outnumber all NHS and social care staff put together.

Caring is a fact of life. Whether a partner falls ill, or a parent needs support as they grow older, or a child is born with a disability – it will affect us all at some point.

At times like these, families pull together to support each other. But too often they find that the services there to support them don’t do the same.

Read More