M.E / C.F.S - what benifits are out there???

becky004

This thread isn't the first thread he has attacked a claimant on. On another thread he tells someone to lose weight and get a job. He has surmised that she is overweight and being fraudulent and is unneccesarily insulting someone when he hasn't a clue of her circumstances. I find it offensive, we are not here to judge as we don't know the circumstances.

intel

Free and also very good from what I hear. http://www.cccs.co.uk/

krisskross

If you need several lots of prescription medicines it is much cheaper to buy a prepayment certificate. We used to get one every 3 months for my husband.

CindyC_2

look up the benefits for yourself - qualifying conditions, etc. @ https://www.dwp.gov.uk

jojoward79

Then CindyC, you should really understand how you feel when you make that first step - when you reach out for help from others. And you should understand how painfull it is to receive comments about abusing the system when all you wanted was a little help. I find it unfortunate that you feel you need to end your helpful comments with a personal rant. Thank you however, for the info on DLA.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I'm posting this in the hope that it helps.
ME and CFS are both debilitating fluctuating illnesses. Some people self diagnose which makes things more difficult. It's vital to obtain a diagnosis from a doctor, gp or consultant, and to plan with them a program of treatment as this is the individual's only objective evidence that they have the illness.
Difficulties arise when someone says they are

sometimes not even being able to leave the bed to use the bathroom

, because they may have to be prepared to explain at a DWP medical examination what they do when they want to use the bathroom and can't leave their bed. Another point is that some people with ME or CFS might say they can't get out of bed for days on end and don't even have the energy to turn over in bed; if this happens pressure sores start to develop within a matter of days and they would provide the evidence the person was incapable of movement as they had described.
If the government gets its policy through parliament on working a different way with people on IB then evidence - diagnosis, treatment etc will become extremely important in the decision about whether an individual is capable of work or not.
Best wishes to everyone worried about ME and CFS.

hjb123

I have CFS and find it very annoying and setbacking (I know thats not a word but I cant think of the correct word!) when people knock genuine claimants. There are some people out there who are genuinely well enough to work and are just milking the system for what they can get and others who are too ill too work who are being put through alot as they are being made to suffer for the people who are putting it on!

Its just a pity there is always people who will take advantage when there are people who genuinely need it!

H

Ted_Hutchinson

The actual DWP statistics for Disability Benefit Fraud are miniscule compared with the hype that surrounds them. If it actually were the case that many disabled people were swinging the lead then the DWP wouldn't have reduced the spot check visits.
When they were using home visits to spot the frauds they found the opposite of what maris crane claims. Given an unannounced home visit in which a DLA trained Decision Maker visited the claimant at home over 70% of claims were left the same as accurate but 20% had to be raised as the claimant had understated their need and the actual award was too low. Only 10% of awards were considered too high but of these very very few were considered sufficiently wrong to be ended. Almost without exception those on the highest rate of both elements were unchanged so that it became pointless to visit these claimants at all.
With regard to IB fraud this is less than 0.5% and again the spot checks confirmed this.

Because there are so many ill and disabled people it's inevitable that there will be examples of people appearing not to fit the criteria but appearances can be deceptive. In order to build up strength it is necessary to exercise regularly outdoors. (In order to maximise vitamin d3 synthesis from sunlight) if claimants are prevented from exercising outdoors owing to the misplaced paranoia over fraud claims the situation for them, the NHS and the DWP will simply get worse. We must encourage all disabled people to make the best of their current health prospects and stirring up the paranoia without reference to the facts is simply going to frighten the genuine claimants out of making any efforts to improve their health.

With regard to the means testing of DLA, this would be a disaster as it would encourage people to seek care and support from the NHS and reduce their chances of leading active lives and contributing to society. The costs to the NHS of full time care for a child are horrendous. It is far better and cheaper to pay DLA+Carer's to 100 parents than to take one child into care. These people are in fact saving the nation billions of £'s
The major fraudster when it comes to benefit fraud claims is Mr BLIAR
if you look at the Summary of statistics you will see how this is done.
They use the number of claimants rather than the number who are paid the benefit.
If they used the number who are actually GETTING PAID IB the picture would be different, instead of showing a more or less straight line graph it would show a downward trend as there are now nearly 1million who are claiming NI credits only and are NOT BENEFICIARIES of the IB system. They simple figure on the lists because they are too ill to work and have too much pension to be paid IB. As the Post War Baby Boomers move off the lists the figures will continue to decline. By the time Blair's back to work programme comes to an end the figures will indeed be lower. He knows this as well as anyone, he has backed a winner because he knows and those with any little grey cells will be able to work out, we will have more pensioners. If more babies are born in one year or over a 5-year period then 60-65 years later there will be more pensioners. In the last 5 years of working life more people become broken down by illness, disability and stress than at any other time so these are naturally the peak years for IB CLAIMANTS but the LOWEST FIGURES EVER for IB BENEFICIARIES.

It is unfortunate but true that 40% of the population have only a primary level reading ability. It is sad but true than many of these also have similarly !!!!!! levels of intelligence. It's a pity that these people are allowed to voice their ill informed opinions on a forum, which is designed to help and support those who are making benefit claims. Discussion of Benefit related issues can be done in the Discussion Forum where it will not appear to be directed at any particular individual or perhaps even better at the ARMS where rubbish can be discussed ad nausea.

becky004

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

It's vital to obtain a diagnosis from a doctor, gp or consultant, and to plan with them a program of treatment as this is the individual's only objective evidence that they have the illness.

Fortunately things have moved on since I was diagnosed in 1994, my GP didn't believe M.E. existed and I thought I was going mad! Every week for four months she insisted on doing a pregnancy test as she said that was causing my symptoms, even though I was too ill to do what was necessary to become pregnant!
I was eventually diagnosed after she sent me for an ultrasound scan to confirm my non-exsistent pregnancy. Fortunately there were no sonographers available and the consultant scanned me (no baby, what a surprise!), he listed my symptoms, diagnosed me and referred me to a specialist I only had 20%-30% muscle tone in my limbs.
Saw another GP who believed ME existed and never looked back although it was a year before I was well enough to return to work.

becky004

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

It is unfortunate but true that 40% of the population have only a primary level reading ability. It is sad but true than many of these also have similarly !!!!!! levels of intelligence. It's a pity that these people are allowed to voice their ill informed opinions on a forum, which is designed to help and support those who are making benefit claims. Discussion of Benefit related issues can be done in the Discussion Forum where it will not appear to be directed at any particular individual or perhaps even better at the ARMS where rubbish can be discussed ad nausea.

VERY eloquently put. I LOVE IT :T