Tag Archives: disability

Woman denied sickness benefit despite life-threatening condition

February 8, 2014   Carers, disability

Last updated at 14:02, Friday, 07 February 2014

A Workington woman with a life-threatening heart condition is being denied sickness benefits because of Government assessment changes.

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NOT FIT TO WORK: From left, Damien and Jeanette Johnston with Jeanette’s mother Noelene Paisley

The case of Jeanette Johnston, 29, has been taken up by Workington MP Sir Tony Cunningham.

He has pledged to write to the Government to get her benefits reinstated.

Miss Johnston will ultimately need a heart and lung transplant and has already had a kidney removed.

Despite her health problems, she has received no disability benefits since August of last year.

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Struggling families caring for disabled relatives face £1bn cuts

February 3, 2014   Carers, disability, ukcuts

The Government has been accused of dealing coldly with some of the UK’s most vulnerable families

The Government was accused on Sunday night of dealing callously with some of Britain’s most vulnerable families, as cuts to full-time carers’ benefits mean many are forced into debt and to rely on food banks.

The cumulative effect of a slew of welfare changes has been devastating for those who give up their lives to care for loved ones, experts say. The benefit changes contributing to carers being £1bn out of pocket by 2018 include: the ‘bedroom tax’, the benefit cap and fewer people being eligible for Carer’s Allowance.

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Mother suing disabled daughter’s carers after her wheelchair rolled 200ft down a hill

January 28, 2014   Carers, cerebral palsy, disability

When they forgot to put the brakes on’

By James Rush

PUBLISHED: 12:03, 28 January 2014 | UPDATED: 14:22, 28 January 2014

Penny Nadal (left) is suing a care company after her daughter Lisa Conisbee (right) suffered horrific facial injuries when her wheelchair rolled down a steep hill

Penny Nadal (left) is suing a care company after her daughter Lisa Conisbee (right) suffered horrific facial injuries when her wheelchair rolled down a steep hill

A mother is suing her disabled daughter’s carers after her wheelchair rolled 200ft down a steep hill and crashed into a main road.

Lisa Conisbee, 27, who suffers from cerebral palsy, received horrific facial injuries after her chair rolled down the hill before hitting a kerb and throwing her into the road.

Two carers had pushed her to the top of Skinners Hill, in Rushden, Northamptonshire, where they waited for a bus while out on a day trip.

It is believed the brakes on her wheelchair may not have been applied as they were waiting, allowing it to roll down the steep incline.

Her mother Penny Nadal, 53, is now taking legal action against Olympus Care Services – claiming her daughter’s carers forgot to apply the brakes to the wheelchair.

Ms Conisbee – who was left with a scar above her eye and several cuts and bruises to her face – took two months to recover after the fall on April 23 last year.

Yesterday, her teaching assistant mother said her daughter, who also suffers from spinal problems, epilepsy and partial blindness, was ‘lucky to be alive’.

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