Monday 25 January 2010

the benefit system

the benefit system is an amazing and complex thing that until we need it. we assume is there to help those in need and is missuesd by some.

haveing become a member of society that now need to use this system as im to ill to work i have learnt that this is not always the case.

in the last 18 months it has takens nearly a year to get disability living allowance to help me get the care and help i need. and longer to get a blue badge as for some unkown reason the government delcared that m.e is not enough of a reason in its self for a person to need a blue badge!

while that was difficult and time consuming and stressful nothing compares with employment and support allowance which is the benifit for those of us to ill to work.

to get this benefit you have either had to make enough national insurace contributions or be on a sufficiently low income that you would require income support.

when you apply you will intitally be put in the assesment phase for 12 weeks while you wait to have a medical to determin if there is some kind of work that you can do. the medical for some unknown reason looks at what you can do not not at how ill you are or the consequences of doing that activity on you subsiquent health.

the medical will most probably be carried out bu a dr who is not english and has some difficulty with the english language as atos often contract out to dutch and german medical proffesionals. this as you would anticipate leads to a lot of misunderstanding and often a report that is pure fiction and does not relate to the individual that was interviewed.

once if you are lucky enough to get the 15 points or more that you need to be able to continue your claim you will be placed in either the work focused group aimed at getting you back to work or the support group for those who are very ill.

considering that acording to my consultant my activity levels are at 15% of normal i assumed that i was very ill and therfor would be in the suport group. but know this was not the case i was placed in the work focused group and had to attend interviews with and adviser designed to help me prepare for work. i attend as required and then take weks to recover intime for me to attend again. i now have to go through another medical after only 6 months as aprently having m.e ment i should be fit for work in 6 months!

this aprently is part of the new format fot this type of benefit you can be called for a medical any where for 6 weekly to 2 yearly depending on the drs deciosion.

as those that have m.e are aware and those that care for will know stress of any kind causes relapses and slows reovery if a recovery is obtainable.

so in there wisdom the government have designed a benifit that persicutes and stresses out those of us that are to ill to work. i wish i could say that i was one of the few that have had this experiance but from the forums i am part of and the individuals i have spoke to i have gotten away lightly as many are turned down and have no where to turn to they are left without anything.

this is beyond me as we are suposed to care for the less well of in our community but this benefit is making it difficult for that to happen. so much for a caring society.

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