The government says it is committed to a ‘fair and accurate’ work capability assessment. The distress and injustice caused by this new system needs to be publicised far and wide.
My partner died last week of kidney cancer. He was diagnosed a year ago and at Christmas was told he had about four months to live.In the spring he was summoned for a work capability assessment (by this time he had two brain tumours) and found fit for work. In addition to everything else, he became anxious about losing the small amount of money he was living on. He was asked to go in to the job centre for an interview but was too ill at the time. On May 19th he received a letter from Jobcentre plus telling him he was to be tested as having limited capability for work. The medical officer overseeing his case had advised that “death within six months is unlikely to occur due to the client’s cancer” and there would be no “substantial risk to his mental or physical wellbeing if he were found capable of work-related activity.”
He died six days later, having been unable to get out of bed for four weeks. What work were they suggesting he was capable of? He asked:”What have I paid tax and national insurance for if not help to pay the bills and feed me at a time like this?
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