Quote:
|
Originally Posted by allieyoung666
Yeah that really annoys me 2. Paul had a really bad accident in Oct 03, we took months and months of fighting to get his industrial injuries benefit, I was told by a former Social employee, that if Paul had lost his leg [which he nearly did] we would have been rolling in it. I got upet and angry by this, as I have a neighbour next door who we have had no end of problems with, he claims he has a back injury but he walks fine without his stick. But when assement time comes out comes the walking stick and the limp. I have reported him time and time again, but nothing is ever done to this guy, he has even threatened Paul with the stick!!!!!! I am still fighting for my husband to get DLA, but he got that fed up Paul ended up going back to work and we still do not even know if he is going to have his leg as he cannot stand to well on it at all now.
|
The problem is that any way the government has tightened up the DLA regulations to cut out the scroungers, it has only resulted in those that DO need the benefit struggling.
For most of her teenage years, my sister was suffering from severe back pan. For several years, this was dismissed by our GP for various reasons (she slouched, she stood too straight were two). Eventually, we persudaded him to actually do somthing about it, and after several failed treatments (including going to a Chiropractor who nearly crippled her), the GP referred us to our local hospital, where they found a tumour at the base of her spine.
Our local hospital couldn't handle the surgery required, so they referred her to the Royal National Orthopeadic Hospital (which is apparently the top hospital in Europe for bone surgery) where they removed the tumour. A removal which involved going through the base of her spine, and replacing her "sacrum" with a titanium implant.
When she first came out of the hospital, she qualified for the top rate of DLA . She also qualified after every re-assement over the years, until a couple of years ago. The DSS sent a GP to assess her. He spent 10 minutes talking to her, didn't ask her to move in any way, and based on the questions he was asking, clearly didn't understand the operation she had been through (despite having a written statement from the consultant who performed the op).
A few days later, we got a letter saying that she was no longer entitled to DLA. She was (and still is) signed off by the RNOH, so we consulted her consultant. He wrote a letter to the DSS, and, surprise, she was entitled.
Now, my point is, that inbetween her current claim, and the previous successful claim, the government (under Tony Blair) had actually massively tightened up the claims system for DLA.
For the record: We were told, by the RNOH, that had the GP we were under at the time actually done his job properly and ordered an MRI scan when she first went to him with a problem (or at least at some point in the first two years), the local hospital could have reduced the size of the tumour through chemotherapy, and removed it without going through the spine.
While I agree there are a lot of scroungers, I don't believe most DLA claimants are scroungers. A hell of a lot aren't. It's not fair to tarnish everyone with the same brush.