I highly recommend.....

Thanks, grannyactivist, I have just downloaded this film to watch later.

I have commented on this in the other thread in which you brought this up ga and I do think it is an excellent film. The basic assumption that you are a scrounger till proven otherwise is at the heart of the system and is soul-destroying for decent people.

One benefit (Attendance Allowance) that I have filled in hundreds of forms for requires someone to repeat over and over again the disabilities and problems that they have in the minutest detail. Many of those I worked with had acquired brain injuries and their lives had been wrecked - so writing that over and over again resulted in such unhappiness and misery. It is a system without a heart.

I used to take the form away, fill it on from my knowledge of the person, then give it to them to sign. I have had to do this form for my OH; we got the benefit of course because I knew the right words to use and how the system works, but my OH was in bits having to emphasise his shortcomings and losses.

It was much better and cost effective when your GP or consultant simply signed to say you qualified.

I watched this some time ago. It's very good.

I've watched the first 15 minutes or so of the film and then was interrupted and will go back to it.

My husband had a heart attack the day he was supposed to start a new (contract) job. (You can imagine the fright that gave us both). His work entails physical effort, up ladders and so on. He had emergency surgery and subsequently attended cardiac rehab and check-ups as required. In addition, he devised a rehab programme for himself (that included digging in the garden).

His employers were supportive and kept his job open and he started work 3 weeks later (against - what he felt was very restrictive - medical advice) in a phased return to work and he is still there today, 10 years on at 65 and in very good health.

I'm only posting this as an alternative scenario to what I've seen in the film so far (not making any judgements) so I am sure I will find the film interesting.

Grannyknot - I'm so glad your husband's situation had a happy outcome.

I shall be interested in hearing your view after you've watched the rest of the film.

Which tv channel was it on ?

I can't stand watching it. About 2 years ago I was helping out in a Church providing hot meals. It was grim back then.

Grannyknot my OH had two heart attacks 7 years ago and was back at work within two weeks..its not what I would recommend but he's always been self employed HIS name was the photographer that had been contrcted and he felt he had to do the job.
Its a stressful job at the best of times and I and the rest of the family were sick with worry.
We've never ,in our lives,claimed any benefits for anything but if I were in that position again and thought benefits could keep us afloat until he was really fit enough to work I wouldn't hesitate to apply for them.
I see no shame in people who need help asking for it,there is more shame on the folk who wriggle out of giving the help when its needed .
My daughter has multiple health problems and had major issues when trying to claim pip,she wasn't after cash ...she wanted a blue badge and to get that she had to get certain benefits.Eventually she got it and that badge has made ehr life so much easier .

I saw this when it first came out and found it heartbreaking because this is the reality for quite a few in our society through no fault of their own. Thankfully Universal credit rollout has been put on hold for the moment and hopefully they will find a better way of delivering it so that claimants are not deprived of money initially, running up debts and having to access food banks.

I tried to get AA last year after having had a mini stroke a few months previous. The dizziness/ imbalance did cause me distress because it meant that I couldn't venture far and wasn't steady enough to try and continue as normal. I was scared of falling if I had to go to the local shop for anything.

Weekly shopping meant a taxi to and from the supermarket and this went on for the good part of 6 months last year. An expense I could have done without but I had no choice. I just didn't feel safe.

However, I was actually turned down for even short-term financial help ( as I only wished for the help while I was unsteady and more or less housebound ) because I was able to cook for myself------so I won't be going down that road again because it made me feel a complete idiot.

That was all the thanks I got for having worked all my life ! Ah well c'est la vie.

Paddyann

Two heart attacks, that must have been awful.

're my husband going back to work, I wasn't worried because he is sensible and I trusted his judgment and that he wouldn't overdo it.

How frustrating not to get Attendance Allowance EllenV after the marathon form filling! I have filled in many, including for my parents, and they are so lengthy and repetitive, and many elderly people don't want to stress how difficult they find things, so will underplay it and can be refused. Unless terminally ill, incapacity has to have lasted for at least 6 months, so it can be a struggle after a stroke for example.

I wish the forms were available for the public to see what's actually involved. The PIP form took me weeks to complete on behalf of a man with a learning disability. When it came to the declaration at the end that he HAD to sign saying he understood the form, I wrote an addendum to the effect that he had NOT understood it, but did know that without his signature the form would not be processed. Grrr!

thanks for the reference to I Daniel Blake, ga. thanks for posting on your work with claimants Luckygirl. one of the only bits of good news in recent days has been that UC is to be delayed. it should be stopped. simple. introduce a benefits system that supports claimants rather than killing them or driving them into some awful psychological, poverty stricken place. whats the point of making people homeless ?

In a topic about this film, when it was in cinemas, a GN poster said they found it boring and weren't moved by the plights of the characters as it was only a story.
I was

I've watched the whole film now.

It seems the system for claiming benefits is impenetrable, although clearly some people do manage to access it.

It is not the only system in the UK that is like that, there are plenty of other examples of obtuse, multi-layered, "coded" ways of doing things, e.g. gas and electricity supply, the rail ticketing system, the education system, social care, mental health service provision ...

Someone wrote on here that it is a system without heart (having watched the film, I agree). The question is, when last did it have heart?

I think the problem is widespread, systemic and societal.

Not that any of this helps the Daniel Blakes of this world.

Good post Grannyknot I agree, bureaucracy can appear heartless at times.

This Tory government has made the bureaucracy a lot more heartless than it ever was.

We will never know what the Lib Dems would actually do of course since they will never form a Government.....convenient for them.

There was a big different between the coalition government when some good LibDem policies were enacted and dreadful Tory policies prevented, and the disastrous unfettered Tory government we have had since 2015.

Thank goodness the government have at long last taken on board the terrible tales of hardship caused by the ill thought rollout of Universal Credit, and are now doing a U turn. This hopefully means that claimants will not have the long wait for money which drove them into rent arrears and to food banks, and Ms Rudd Seems to be dealing with this more sympathetically than her predecessor. Not difficult I have to say!