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Daily Mail: Declared 'fit to work'... dead nine days later...

Firestormm

Senior Member
Messages
5,055
Location
Cornwall England
Warning! This can make you angry and/or scared. I'm not kidding either... :mad:
Declared 'fit to work'... dead nine days later: Double lung and heart transplant patient passed away a week after her benefits were stopped

  • Linda Wootton, 49, was on 10 prescription medications a day
  • The former council worker suffered from regular blackouts
  • But healthcare assessor Atos ruled that she was 'fit to work'
  • She was told her benefits were being stopped as she lay dying in hospital
  • Husband Peter now wants to expose the ordeal his wife went through

My comment on MEA Facebook. This one really got to me for some reason. I don't understand quite why when it is after-all just another in what has become a long-line of seemingly despicable acts:

Oh FFS. What the bloody hell is happening to my country?! You see the questions she was allegedly asked? How the hell does that apply to someone in her position? If Labour or the Liberals state they will withdraw the contract from Atos and significantly overhaul these 'reforms' and publish in their manefesto's exactly what position they will take - I will vote for them. This current situation is a disgrace.

Apologies for the 'tone'. I am frankly quite angry.
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
This is not an isolated event. There is one estimate that thirty a week are expected to die from this, though that does not tell us what the background rate is, so we don't know what the increase is. In any case its too many, ATOS is stuffing up big time, and DWP is too. This is failure at every level, right up to the Prime Minister. Its producing a lot of stress for the public servants who are doing some of this - we shouldn't presume they are necessarily OK with this. I think at least some resign. Try this site:

http://calumslist.org/

These are all confirmed deaths, published with family permission. Its the tip of the iceberg.

What is happening in the UK is in part why I am writing my book. The underlying philosophies driving it are bankrupt, and are a big part of why those with ME are in such trouble in the UK. Psychobabble needs to be stopped. Some sense and reason needs to be returned to social policy and psychiatry.
 

Firestormm

Senior Member
Messages
5,055
Location
Cornwall England

I don't think I can handle reading about any more right now, Alex. And yes, it can't be easy for some employees with a conscience although every 'scrounger' they feel they 'nail' probably helps them get through the day.

I know. A job is a job is a job. And I suppose someone has to do it. And bureaucracy is a still a barricade from which to hide behind...

Does there need to be an assessment process? Yes I believe there does. Should a private contractor carry out the medical assessment aspect? No. I don't believe they should. If not them, then who? Try a person's GP. Their Consultant etc. THE person responsible for their overall care. But the Government should make damn sure that those in the NHS have the TIME and the MONEY to do it properly.

You never know. It might help our GPs to get to know their patients. Re-introduce a little of the olde 'family-doctor' familiarity. Oh sure there will be mistakes. I don't believe any system will be perfect - but you can't mess about with people's health. On the flip-side you also can't predict the future either - but a person's specialist/GP SHOULD know what effect returning to work is likely to have on a person.... etc. etc.

Am rather knackered so will leave it there for now.
 

snowathlete

Senior Member
Messages
5,374
Location
UK
everyday new atrocities in the UK. what kind of fked up place is that

Joe public ain't gonna do anything about it though - they've become used to it and they are too busy working their asses off cause that's how it is in the UK. That for me is the more frightening aspect of it (that such attrocities are now normalized in our society).
 

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
What sadly can one expect in the ignorance of medicine/science here UK.
 
Messages
13,774
Just been sorting out some DWP stuff today. It is a bit soul destroying to be trapped in a system which treats me with such disdain.

It's definitely worse now that I'm better informed. The more I learn about the DWP, their procedures and those who work for them, the more despicable I think they are, and the harder it is for me to operate within the system.
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
When atrocities become normalized its a real problem. The US was happy with half a million dead children in Iraq ("I think the price was worth it", I think thats the figure. With torture in Gitmo. The UK with this ATOS issue. Hollywood good guys are now doing really bad things. This is not a welcome change, and if it indicates a trend then the future is bleak. Here its inhumane treatment of asylum seekers. Normalized atrocity marked the rise of Germanic nationalism ... and the Nazi party. The people can do something though, atrocities in the 50s against children in the US led in part to the civil rights movement, and a big change in US society.