Liz Kendall calls for ‘duty to engage’ and cuts to disability benefits

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Comments

  • lizptsd
    lizptsd Online Community Member Posts: 170 Empowering

    My GP is trying her best but with the 1yr 2 weeks wait for Gastroenterolgy and despite her writing to Neurology and Orthopaedics they are still sitting on the results of an MRI scan without any explanation of the results.

    As I'm not a Doctor or a Surgeon the report is yet to be explained but the falls clinic locum said it wasn't good and showed severe degeneration of my lumbar spine. The only person who has actually taken the time to understand is the profoundly deaf lady Rebecca from disability services who has battled on our behalf and has been a star.

    The waiting lists are horrendous and my GP said that they are tied as to how much help they can provide in primary care. So you are very lucky to have the time and attention you deserve it's not the same for everyone. We have to fight for everything.

  • lizptsd
    lizptsd Online Community Member Posts: 170 Empowering

    Personally I think we are all tired of the spin in the press the position of the GPS and NHS as it's not their fault.

    We read today that there are trained nurses who can't get a job as hospitals are cutting jobs and they can only find work in care.

    Something is going very wrong. I'm dreading my review for PIP as despite having 4 degenerative conditions and my now being incontinent not able to drive and unable to leave the house and having all the diagnosis some untrained assessor will try to catch me out.

  • egister
    egister Posts: 843 Empowering

    I'm sure the DWP employs some minions to read these web pages to gauge how the disabled people are taking it. I would say, from most of the comments here, on the chin.😎

    but…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler 😉

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,658 Championing

    For the doubters…

    Yvette Cooper - former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2009 - 2010

    Rachel Reeves - former Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2013 - 2015

    Stephen Timms - (acting) former Shadow SSWP 2015 - 2015

    Debbie Abrahams - former Shadow SSWP 2016 - 2018

    Jonathan Reynolds - former Shadow SSWP 2020 - 2021

    Liz Kendall - former Shadow SSWP 2023 - 2024

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,658 Championing

    😲 I did not know that!

  • Numan
    Numan Online Community Member Posts: 39 Empowering

    He was until september 2022 i believe. So no longer involved.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,658 Championing
    edited August 2024

    Rachel Reeves - former Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2013 - 2015

    Stephen Timms - (acting) former Shadow SSWP 2015 - 2015

    These two backed Owen Smith (former Shadow SSWP 2015-2016) to get the deal done in Parliament. I watched all three debates of the Work and Welfare Reform Bill 2015. Smith then tried to dethrone Jeremy Corbyn in 2016.

    Jeremy Corbyn, now an independent MP, should not remain silent about those reforms and I hope he doesn't.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,658 Championing

    *readings* not debates

    Owen Smith had to be nudged into getting it over the line by his opposite number, SSWP Stephen Crabb, in the closing minutes of the third and final reading of the bill.

    Quite an oversight and proof of Labour's complicity in the formation of plans to cut benefits for sick and disabled claimants.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 3,658 Championing

    Far more than I ever realised have been involved over the last decade. My own Labour MP was a Shadow SSWP and repeatedly tried to palm me off with nonsense.

    It's top down, not front line staff.

  • lizptsd
    lizptsd Online Community Member Posts: 170 Empowering

    As yet I still haven't responded to my Labour MP. I keep on reading his response to the Scope manifesto that I forwarded but it's so focused on work the reform he mentioned for PIP again focused on work. In our area there is so little employment that it will be very interesting to see how the funding given to local mayor's will manifest into employment for disabled people.

    The hidden deaths is what really distresses me. Trying to cover this up is a disgrace. The Jobcentres attitude is ruthless showing no empathy.

    There is so much negativity towards this new government on so many counts that we will just have to watch this space.

  • JF7891
    JF7891 Scope Member Posts: 129 Empowering

    Hopefully some progress:

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/17/its-time-to-end-blame-culture-over-benefits-bill-says-labour-minister

    "

    Kendall suggested there would be serious reforms to jobcentres, freeing them up from monitoring benefits and linking them with the NHS to help those struggling to work for health reasons. “We have got to put jobcentres back to where they were initially meant to be, which is a public employment service,” she said. “That isn’t how they are. Their overwhelming focus is on monitoring, assessing and policing benefits. We’ve got 16,000 work coaches and we want them to do what they say on the tin.”

    She also committed to a review of universal credit, new plans to tackle economic inactivity led by local areas and mayors and a “youth guarantee” ensuring every 18-21-year-old could get training, an apprenticeship or support to find work. More details of her plans will be unveiled in a white paper in the autumn.

    "


    "

  • Jimm_Alumni
    Jimm_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,717 Championing

    While there are issues with the NHS, they have said they are working to fix the issues with the waiting lists. It's certainly better rhetoric than we've had for a long time, let's hope it isn't just words though.

  • lizptsd
    lizptsd Online Community Member Posts: 170 Empowering

    I read that the job centres were going to work with the NHS in order to get us back into work! How is that ever going to work. Like myself and I know countless others have degenerative diseases that will get worse not better. I am not a candidate for surgery on my Cervical and Lumbar spine Stenosis as it's too bad and obviously the feeling I have lost in my legs, feet and hands will not come back I'm not sure what help the NHS will be able to give to me to get me working again or cure my incontinence. My Osteoarthritis can't be cured and will only get worse.

    When I filled in the WCA form with supporting evidence luckily I didn't have to attend an assessment and I was found to have LCWRA by a UC decision maker but sadly this is not always the case.

    I hope that at some point they will realise the logistical nightmare and how ridiculous this is all is. I am still confused about what they are doing about all the healthy able bodied unemployed and why they are focusing on us. At 63 how can they expect me start a training course so close to retirement and after the two years of negativity and bullying from my last job.

  • luvpink
    luvpink Online Community Member Posts: 1,830 Championing

    Maybe a glimmer of hope for us.

    Kendal was on the news yesterday saying she will end the blame culture created by the Tories aimed at those claiming disability benefits.

    There are some references to it on google.

  • luvpink
    luvpink Online Community Member Posts: 1,830 Championing

    I may be wrong but I don't recall her saying that.

    She said that those who van work should work.

  • luvpink
    luvpink Online Community Member Posts: 1,830 Championing

    None of us know what is going to happen as they are still looking at the response to the Tory proposals.

    We may hear something when Parliament resumes in September but we may not hear anything definite until the autumn statement.

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