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greencreeper · 14-03-2005, 01:02

The way the system works, for the disabled, is that initially after claiming you're pretty much left alone. Then the hassling starts. First off, you get a form called the "All work test". Takes about 2 hrs to complete and asks questions such as, "Can you put a hat on". If you tick the right boxes, and enough of them, you're left alone - for a while. If you're unlucky - e.g. the woman who checked your form had PMT - then you will be called for a medical, where a doctor who wouldn't be out of place in a Nazi concentration camp, sets out to prove that you can work and that there's nothing wrong with you. They have quotas - so if your medical is at the wrong time of the month, you've had it. The doctor is there to refuse benefits to as many people as possible. The theory is that those people who are entitled to benefits will appeal against the decision and most likely win. The reality is that an awful lot of sick people give up the fight and return to work - or try to - and make themselves worse.

My dad has been through the system more times than I can remember, and the forms, battles and visits to (D)SS offices were a constant feature of my childhood. He's always fought the Government and has always won. That doesn't mean that when a (D)SS envelope arrives he doesn't become depressed. His lumber spine broke and healed displaced because he didn't seek medical treatment - you didn't when he was young and in the industry he worked in. Pain is a constant feature of his life and he deals with it. He's now in his 50s and has arthritis and high blood pressure - he is still hassled by the (D)SS.

It's the system and the people who staff it that are sickest though.

14-03-2005, 01:02	#24
greencreeper Inactive Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Leeds - the dog house Age: 48 Services: Email me for a current price list Posts: 8,270	Re: The Welfare State The way the system works, for the disabled, is that initially after claiming you're pretty much left alone. Then the hassling starts. First off, you get a form called the "All work test". Takes about 2 hrs to complete and asks questions such as, "Can you put a hat on". If you tick the right boxes, and enough of them, you're left alone - for a while. If you're unlucky - e.g. the woman who checked your form had PMT - then you will be called for a medical, where a doctor who wouldn't be out of place in a Nazi concentration camp, sets out to prove that you can work and that there's nothing wrong with you. They have quotas - so if your medical is at the wrong time of the month, you've had it. The doctor is there to refuse benefits to as many people as possible. The theory is that those people who are entitled to benefits will appeal against the decision and most likely win. The reality is that an awful lot of sick people give up the fight and return to work - or try to - and make themselves worse. My dad has been through the system more times than I can remember, and the forms, battles and visits to (D)SS offices were a constant feature of my childhood. He's always fought the Government and has always won. That doesn't mean that when a (D)SS envelope arrives he doesn't become depressed. His lumber spine broke and healed displaced because he didn't seek medical treatment - you didn't when he was young and in the industry he worked in. Pain is a constant feature of his life and he deals with it. He's now in his 50s and has arthritis and high blood pressure - he is still hassled by the (D)SS. It's the system and the people who staff it that are sickest though.