Reassessment

[poliphilo]

All these months we've been looking askance at every brown envelope that came our way in case it contained the summons to a medical reassessment by Atos- the French company that's been tasked by government with the job of winnowing the ranks of the disabled. This morning, for example, a very official looking brown envelope showed up and Ailz said, "Here it is"- and it turned out to be an entirely innocuous notice from the DWP. The summons from Atos was lying underneath it. In a white envelope.

The interview- in Manchester- was set for a date in the near future when we plan to be down here. Ailz rang up straight away and got it pushed back a week. I was surprised at the flexibility.

We have a good case. Well of course we have; Ailz has been on benefits for something like 20 years. But that's no guarantee for the future. One hears stories that would be comic if they weren't horrible- of the moribund and totally incapable being told to take up their beds and walk. There have been suicides. And deaths hurried along by anxiety and despair.

We aren't as vulnerable as many. If they stop our money we have fall-back plans.

What this development does is focus our minds on the rather untidy- and uneconomical- situation we're in at the moment- caring for my mother in Kent whilst maintaining a house we have no current use for in Manchester.  I have an attachment to the old house, but that's just sentiment- and rather gauzy sentiment at that (I stopped missing "home" a good while back)- and selling up seems more and more like the sensible option.

Comments

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

A wheelchair using friend of mine who has an incurable degenerative condition and who, on a good day, can get out of bed to her chair unaided (about one day in ten) and relies entirely on hubby for help had been told by these clowns that she's fit for work.

Er, who is going to employ her in these ableist, ageist, sexist days?

Another case recently saw a mentally disabled woman in a persistent vegetative state being declared fit for work.

Grrrr! Roll on the revolution.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's a money-saving scam. God forfend that any but the weakest and poorest should bear the weight of government cuts.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

A nurse who worked for them said that if a client was physically able to show up for the appointment (even with significant aid), that counted against them.

If they didn't show up, that was reason to reject them. If they managed to fill out the paperwork, that counted against them. If they failed to complete the paperwork, that was reason to reject them.

If they were able to coherently explain why they were unable to work, that counted against them. If they could not coherently explain why they were unable to work, that was reason to reject them.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Yup!

As they said in another well known revolution:

A bas les aristos! Les aristos a la lanterne!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The ruling elite- worldwide- are showing a disregard for the poor and disadvantaged they may eventually come to regret.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

It does seem to be me that the rich and powerful elite do not care about the poor and disadvantaged and in the end, like a tormented dog, they will bite back and the sooner it happens the better. Enough of this gravy train for them. Viva La Revolución!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Every action has its reaction.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I know the system as it exists now has wronged a lot of people...may it go well for Ailz.

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

What she said.

(Also: what davesmusictank said.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

I know I should probably say something very positive right now, but I can only think of Ray - 18 years on disability from his fall off the scaffolding which resulted in 3 crushed disks in his spine and two smashed up feet and because he could lift an empty cardboard box above his shoulders and carry it a few metres, he's been declared healed.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We're not getting our hopes up...

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

I hope it goes as well as it can. Even knowing you have contingency plans, it has to be incredibly stressful...

Plunging people whose lives are already full of worry and struggle into an endless bureaucratic nightmare is utterly unforgivable. This government is vile.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My sentiments exactly.