Tag Archives: mental health
Woman told to find work is in a COMA
A mentally ill woman forced on to the Coalition’s Work Programme is in a coma – but is still being sent letters by benefits assessors.
Bipolar patient Sheila Holt, 47, was sectioned in December after being taken off Income Support. Days later she had a heart attack and fell into the coma.
This weekend, Miss Holt, of Rochdale, Gtr Manchester, was sent a letter by Atos to ask why she was not working.
Local Labour MP Simon Danczuk said: “I am in favour of welfare reform but trying to bulldoze through changes in a reckless and insensitive way is not the right way to go about it.
“This Government is causing a huge amount of damage and I have no doubt that Sheila’s story is being repeated in towns and cities up and down the country.
Loneliness and periods of crisis ‘affect many in UK
Many people feared not being able to get around easily
20 January 2014 Last updated at 01:45
By Hannah Richardson BBC News education reporter
As many as a third of British adults feel they have no-one to turn to in a crisis, a survey has suggested.Nearly three-quarters of those questioned online for the Red Cross said they had already been through a period of crisis in their lives.
And 37% thought they could suffer one again within the next five years.
The main worries for people as they get older were cited as being the loss of independence and not being able to cope on their own.
About a quarter of the 2,043 people surveyed were concerned they would not be able to get around in the same way, and would be lonely and isolated.
‘Lasting impact’
A significant minority, about one in eight, said they felt those in the UK did not suffer crises in the same way as people in other countries.
The charity, which offers help and support in the UK as well as abroad, said support for the elderly would become “more vital” with an ageing population, shrinking budgets and health and social care services “struggling to meet demand”.
Shropshire council ‘failed’ to pay carer who quit job to support wife
Shropshire Council has failed to pay £60,000 to a man forced to quit his job to care for his wife, a government watchdog has said.
The payment was one of four recommendations made by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), which criticised the authority in May for failing to properly support the man.
Now it has released a further report recommending the cash is handed over.
The BBC has asked Shropshire Council for a response.
