IDS - work is good for your health

Yes luckygirl I met some wonderful people who I begged to apply for help but who refused to. The lives some people lead and quietly put up with beggars belief sometimes. The tabloids aren't interested in them though.

But the tabloids love to report about people who have suffered under the system too - the diabetic man who was found dead in his house (mentioned in another thread) was widely reported at the time and the fact that his benefits were cut was blamed. So too many others, a story is a story to the tabloids.

I guess it is the "poor but proud" that are of no interest.

Can I ask if any of you have actually been to a medical assessment with a person you know well? We had a young man living with us who had been diagnosed as having mental issues - he was in receipt of disability payments. When the time came for another medical assessment he asked me to go with him. The person who went in and saw the doctor was not the person I saw every day at all - he was able to give a very convincing performance- his whole personna changed and so did his body language - i was not asked any questions. The doctor had never seen him before.
This man did have bad dreams and woke up hitting the walls etc occasionally but most of the time he was fine - he was a very clever manipulative person who knew exactly how to work the system. He was a very accomplished liar and knew how he could get away with owing the bank money etc and have his debts wiped off.
I have great sympathy with people who are ill whether it is mentally or physically - and if it is a person who has worked for years and then become ill I feel there should be no question of them being in fear of having much needed income stopped, and the same for people who have been disabled et from childhood.
Many people who have some disability would like to have a suitable and maybe part time job and be able to work with others with all the associated benefits of friendship etc but others are just not able to do this. It is only a person who has contact over a period of time who is really able to judge the situation - and one who has gained the confidence of the claimant and knows the real score who can make a judgement - looking at a form or a screen is not the answer to making life affecting decisions.
It is about time that people sitting in high places looked at finding another source of getting money from the populace rather than targeting vulnerable people.

I have no problem with a few cheats receiving money if it means the vulnerable will not endure more cut backs ,

Trouble with that Annie is that we have no idea of how many cheats there are and that in itself is unfair to the vulnerable - if they could be sorted out then many needy honest people could maybe be given at least what they are getting now and not worry about it being cut or even get a bit more.

I agree Welshwife, but they seem unable to weed out the cheats so they are going to make the vulnerable suffer

Unfortunately weeding out the cheats is very hard as they can be very plausible, and the process itself causes pain for the vulnerable. The whole publicity surrounding the process has led to people making assumptions about "benefits scroungers" and getting their number out of proportion.

I think that scroungers are inevitable and that we as a nation should try and weed this out but accept that a certain amount is inevitable.

Anniebach I very rarely take exception to what is said to me, I am too old to worry, but at no time did I ever accuse anyone of deceiving anyone at any time about any mental illness. I hold my ground over those who choose not to work, and those who would really love to have a job to go to, but because of a disability - of whatever kind - are unable. These people I will defend as well as I can, and help where I am needed. I have spent a great many years doing just that, I acknowledge, however there is very little I can contribute now, but that does not prevent me from expressing my opinion regarding the people who, without any disability, choose not to work.

Citizen's Advice got so fed up of people being accused of benefit fraud that it set up a blog about real stories.

blogs.citizensadvice.org.uk/blog/was-it-fit-for-work-for-you/

Luckygirl, that is why I said I have no problem with a few cheats receiving money, I don't want them to but accept there has always been and always will be cheats so better they receive money and the vast majority genuine benefit claimants are not subjected to further cuts , life is difficult enough with disabilities without extra stress , and I am really angry with the constant 'benefit cheat, tag which just humiliates the vulnerable

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104436/signatures/new

A petition to bring IDS before the House of Commons and question him about his false statistics.
It's trending now, since today's article.

I agree, Annie. Far too many people think that because there are a few cheats, nobody should get the benefit of the doubt.
The biggest cheats in my mind are the ones who do not pay their taxes properly. If they did we would not need to be bombarded with articles about benefit cheats.
I cannot remember how often one or other of us has said on here that the amount of money owed by the government to benefit claimants far exceeds the amount taken by fraud. There, I've said it again, and doubtless will have to go on .......

I'm with you Annie - a friend rang half way through my post so I did not manage to finish it!

It's the easiest thing to fake - mental illness. Like Welshlife I know those who deliberately put it on. One I remember clearly was my ex-Headteacher's wife who left teaching due to 'stress' but never even considered getting another less stressful job. Our Nursery Nurse (as TAs were called in those days) was spitting feathers as this HT kept cutting her hours while his wife was on a nice little stay-at-home earner.

She must have had to be assessed occasionally because every few years we'd be told that Mrs HT was having palpitations or nighmares or whatever. Happily these symptoms were very short term and she was able to attend staff dinners, school quizzes and other social functions throughout the year.

Any she wasn't the only one I knew who was conning the system.

What really annoys me is that these cheats are taking money which should go to those in genuine need, the vulnerable who really do need support. It's no use saying these cheats are few and far between, they are everywhere.

What is the alternative?

That's a very good question WW.

As it's very difficult for those who do the assessing to know the genuinely ill from the cheats, I suppose those of us who know what's going on ought to inform the DWP (or whatever the relevant agency is)

Trouble with that is no one likes to do the informing do they?

And then it would need to be checked out.

There is no alternative that I can think of , wish the government would concern themselves with tax dodgers , I think Jen is right

Tax dodgers, benefit cheats, all as bad as each other.

I agree Anya, but it's those on benefits who are being hounded

I'm more than happy to have the tax dodgers and corporate cheats hounded too Annie

But they are not hounded Anya, people on benefits make better tv viewing on the tat channels than tax dodgers , better press articles , do thr governments plan to wipe out the welfare state is being helped

The government has the figures for tax fraud and the amount not paid out in benefits that should be.
Has anyone noticed IDS being quoted in the papers, asking everyone to check their entitlement? I haven't but I'm sure someone will tell me if I've missed an article in the DM or the Times.

I agree that paying a few cheats is preferable to depriving the sick and vulnerable of their benefits. I wonder about the people who are posting about faking mental illness. I have friends who have mental health problems. Some of them are working some are not. Some cope with day to day life better than others. Some are receiving counselling/medication and other treatments. The ones who are coping with life may sometimes seem OK but I wouldn't say they are faking. They have good and bad periods and they still need support.

So true trisha , and many feel under pressure to appear cheery in public but dissolve when they can escape the pressure .

What makes this latest vile scheme of IDS even more brutal is to do it at the same time as cut backs in mental health services