A 60-year-old man in UK was denied disability benefits despite his arthritis being so severe his bones are already coming through his flesh.
The former church minister from Birkenhead, Wirral also faces losing his mobility car after the assessment even after the switch to Personal Independence Payment or PIP.
Independent MP Frank Field shared photos of the elderly man’s gnarled hands and said he was shocked when the man came into his constituency surgery and found it very difficult to walk.
However, he was still denied the ‘mobility element’ of PIP.
Mr. Field, the Work and Pensions Committee chief, said the 60-year-old had an underlying condition for four decades which caused rheumatoid arthritis to affect his feet and hand.
He also added that the elderly man was diagnosed with an aggressive auto-immune disease and bronchial asthma.
“My constituent has suffered with a long-term degenerative condition. There is no cure.
“The joints on his hands and feet are locked into one position. He walks with two crutches and requires regular breaks to recover after walking short distances.
“He falls regularly and is unable to brace himself during his falls.
“He was recently awarded Personal Independence Payment after a reassessment. He was awarded full care but has lost all his mobility component. This means he will lose his mobility car.”
The Personal Independence Payment pays to help with daily costs of people with disability. It comes in two parts and is worth £150 a week.
One part is for ‘daily living’ while the other is for mobility.
Mr. Field’s office said the 60-year-old was given the ‘daily living’ element but not the mobility.
“Might I meet with the minister immediately to give him a file of photographs of constituents who failed to get any mobility component, even when they have feet with the bones coming through the flesh like this one?” Mr. Field added.
“So that we can have an urgent meeting to show the procedure we all wish to see applying doesn’t actually operate currently.”
DWP minister Justin Tomlinson said: “But we do know that those who transfer from [old benefit] DLA to PIP – there are now 144,000 claimants who weren’t on enhanced mobility under DLA who now are under PIP.”
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Replaced!