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Philippa died on 16 October 2019, after more than two months in a coma, and more than a month after DWP had decided to allow her PIP claim, and awarded her enhanced awards for both the daily living and mobility components. Philippa Day: Disabled woman left note implicating DWP and its PIP failings in her death A disabled woman, who apparently took her own life in despair at the way her benefits claim was being dealt with, left a note that “directly implicated” the Department for … The promise has come in a letter to the Right to […], By John Pring on 11th February 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people has been unable to explain why she and her party have stayed almost silent about a young disabled mother whose death was linked by a coroner to fatal flaws in the disability benefits system. Business Comment. She told the inquest that data protection rules meant DWP had to delete recordings that were “no longer relevant” after 14 months. But Hopkins told him: “They are not all errors as such but areas we want to improve on.”. But Hopkins said: “If somebody is saying they are going to help them through the process we assume they are going to help them through this process.”, The coroner added: “I am not sure you would expect every CPN to be in a position to be as dedicated and persistent and to find the time to follow up with that level of assertiveness and time.”. ... first reported by the Disability News Service… Her unconscious body was found by her sister and father on 8 August 2019, just days after she had been told she would need to attend an assessment centre – run by outsourcing giant Capita – for a face-to-face appointment relating to her new PIP claim. It heard last week how Philippa left an apparent suicide note blaming the way the government had dealt with her benefits, and had previously told her sister that she believed DWP was trying to kill her. The inquest ended this week, with the coroner’s judgement due to be announced on Wednesday (27 January). She […], New figures on COVID deaths of younger disabled people ‘show need for vaccine action’, Atos pays out for negligent PIP assessment after visit from debt enforcement officers, Treasury rejects delivery of last-ditch appeals for £20 uplift, Anger over disability survey’s ‘degrading’ and ‘insulting’ relationship question, DWP brands DNS ‘vexatious’ for seeking truth about impact of universal credit, Government questioned over ‘unforgivable’ failures on vaccine priority, Regulator fails to record key details from scheme sending COVID patients into care homes, ‘Why did it take disabled man’s death to lead to rail safety action?’ campaigners ask, Ministers silent after sitting on report on discrimination in politics for more than a year, The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924, Audio recording option set to be introduced for all PIP assessments, says DWP, Foxcroft defends Labour’s near-silence over death of Philippa Day, Partner of ‘distraught’ ESA claimant says DWP drove him to his death, Company implicated in benefit death of disabled mum secures ‘gold standard’ DWP award, Coffey dodges MP’s questions over death of Philippa Day, Philippa Day: Flawed PIP system led to young mum’s death, says coroner, Philippa Day: Secret DWP report reveals errors ‘that led to disabled mum’s death’, Philippa Day: Capita made changes to PIP assessments after young mum’s death, Philippa Day: DWP civil servant denies PIP ‘culture of scepticism’. Last […], By John Pring on 4th February 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been blamed for causing the death of a disabled man whose partner had warned he was too ill to undergo an upcoming benefit assessment that had left him “distraught” and “devastated”. “I have got some fantastic constituents and this is a headache that they do not need. A new documentary on disability hate crime demonstrates the need for a “wholesale change in attitudes” towards disabled … The promise has come in a letter to the Right to […] 1 2 Capita crashes, but it will survive, more's the pity. Disability News Service (DNS) reported last week how a secret DWP investigation into her death found that, because of its errors, Philippa’s total benefits had fallen from £229 a week to just £73 per week for four-and-a-half months, while Social Fund loan repayments of £12.43 per week were deducted from the £73, leaving her with little over £60 a week to live on. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. North Dakota PIP law defines serious injury as death, dismemberment, serious and permanent disfigurement, or disability beyond 60 days. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has finally agreed that all disabled people being assessed for personal independence payment (PIP) will be able to have their face-to-face assessments recorded. The specialist disabled news site Disability News Service (DNS) has been carrying out an investigation into claims of widespread dishonesty in the disability benefit system, with more than 250 … She said 31 senior safeguarding leads had been appointed by DWP and that staff were now “empowered to be more curious and inquisitive”. What’s your number?”. Oregon PIP is required in Oregon. Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations. By John Pring in Disability News Service. The admission of the changes […], Evidence from a senior DWP civil servant has helped to expose multiple flaws at the heart of the personal independence payment (PIP) benefit system that appear to have played a key role in the suicide of a young disabled mother. the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues, By John Pring on 21st January 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty. In 2015, I had to be reassessed for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the benefit that replaced DLA. And she said DWP staff had now received training “to understand their role more clearly” in when to ensure claimants receive additional support with their claim. The promise has come in a letter to the Right to Record action group, a disabled-led […] In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. This was based on evidence that Therese Coffey, secretary of state for work and pensions, gave the Work and Pensions Committee on 30 September. Support workers raise funds for learning disability service Social Care Today 11:21 17-Feb-21 The Guardian view on disability and Covid: shine a light The Guardian 18:56 16-Feb-21 Firm paid millions for disability assessments broke Covid rules with Xmas party Mirror.co.uk 16:32 14-Feb-21 Hopkins told the inquest that DWP was “striving to be a learning organisation” and to develop “holistic decision making” and to “do more to gather data and information” and to understand “vulnerabilities”, and she claimed that “improvements are constantly coming through”. Services for Persons with Disabilities. The DWP has announced that some PIP decisions will be checked to see if claimants are entitled to additional payments, dating back to 2016. He said that the time of CPNs was “precious” and that it was “not realistic” to expect a CPN to know that level of detail about the PIP system or have the time to acquire it. Disability News Service (DNS) spent months investigating allegations of dishonesty by PIP assessors in late 2016 and throughout 2017, hearing eventually from more than 250 disabled people in less than a year about how they had been unfairly deprived of their benefits. Hopkins said that six hours of mental health training that was being rolled out to every “operational” member of DWP staff would help address this. Disabled - Disability - Health - Disease - Benefits - Dwp - Pip - Esa - Dla - Disability Hate Crime - Bluebadge - Carers and much more News on Disability THOUSANDS of PIP disability claimants are being urged to appeal decisions if their claim was stopped because they didn't go to an assessment. The Department […], The work and pensions secretary has refused to answer questions from an MP about the death of a young disabled mother which was blamed by a coroner on flaws in the disability benefits system. The coroner had earlier told Hopkins that Rand had made and received 11 calls to and from DWP in a short period of time to try to persuade DWP to reinstate Philippa’s PIP. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009. She was giving evidence at the inquest into the death of 27-year-old Philippa Day, from Nottingham. U R the VOICE Disability News. The promise has come in a letter to the Right to […] Foxcroft … Hopkins was also asked by the coroner to explain why a recording of a key conversation between a DWP telephone agent and a CPN calling on behalf of Philippa Day had been deleted. The DWP says… The DWP told Disability News Service:. Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. These programs are offered through different state … UK Politics. He told Hopkins: “The only thing that got in the way of her receiving the benefits she was entitled to was the processing of her claim.”. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a benefit that helps with the extra costs of a long-term health condition or disability. DWP 'tells assessors to discriminate against mental health conditions' The roller-skating star who beat disability stigma. Barrister Sam Jacobs, from Doughty Street chambers, representing the Day family, asked Hopkins why DWP procedures in place at the time meant it was left to the community psychiatric nurse (CPN) supporting Philippa at the time – Tessa Rand – to have to “forage” through 98 pages of DWP guidance to find out how to challenge DWP’s decision to remove her benefits after her initial claim form was lost. I remember panicking about getting … “One of the aspects is using positive language and empathy.”. 4:44. Evidence from a senior DWP civil servant has helped to expose multiple flaws at the heart of the personal independence payment (PIP) benefit system that appear to have played a key role in the suicide of a young disabled mother. Inspectors say they found an "unacceptable service" with "elements of patient abuse". The inquest had heard earlier that the call handler had offered no reassurance or acknowledgement of her distress, and had made no attempt to “escalate” any concerns about her wellbeing to senior colleagues. Our priority has always been to ensure disabled people get the support they’re entitled to. She said DWP had not been aware of the inquest until July 2020 – nine months after Philippa died – and by then the call had been deleted. Pennsylvania provides many services for people who may need help in their day-to-day lives. The inquest heard how multiple errors were made by those working in the PIP system, suggesting that serious flaws in DWP’s PIP processes played a part in Philippa’s death. Evidence from a senior DWP civil servant has helped to expose multiple flaws at the heart of the personal independence payment (PIP) benefit system that appear to have played a key role in the suicide of a young disabled mother. It is […], A private sector contractor has been announced by the government as a “gold standard” employer of disabled people, just as a coroner was implicating the company in the decision of a young disabled mum to take her own life. The promise has come in a letter to the Right to Record […] Hopkins admitted there had been “bits we could have done better” and that changes made since by DWP would have ensured that Philippa and those supporting her were kept better informed. New Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures were released on Friday that show 351,000 former DLA claimants lost out on PIP since 2013 - and another 306,000 saw it … Disability News Service: "The PIP Files: Nearly one in three Capita assessments were flawed, reports reveal" Discussion in 'Work, Finances and Disability Insurance' started by … Protected characteristics currently include age, disability, race and sexuality. The announcement that DWP has awarded Capita PIP membership of the highest level of its much-criticised disability employment scheme came as a coroner was ordering the company to take urgent action to prevent further deaths of PIP claimants. Now the failure to receive the completed PIP claim form would not result in her payments being halted without further checks, she said. But Disability News Service (DNS) has now confirmed with ONS that other data released last month** shows that younger disabled people were at an even higher risk of dying from COVID-19, in comparison with non-disabled people in the same age group. The department did not finally update its systems with her date of death until 9 June 2020. Hopkins said: “I have not seen scepticism, certainly from the people that work in my department.”. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has finally agreed that all disabled people being assessed for personal independence payment (PIP) will be able to have their face-to-face assessments recorded. Jacobs asked Hopkins to accept that she would not expect a CPN to “have the time to find their way through the guidance that is available”. Atos, which failed to defend the case, originally ignored the […], By John Pring on 18th February 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has finally agreed that all disabled people being assessed for personal independence payment (PIP) will be able to have their face-to-face assessments recorded. BBC News Disability. PIP is a non-means tested benefit and is not affected by earnings, other income or savings. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has finally agreed that all disabled people being assessed for personal independence payment (PIP) will be able to have their face-to-face assessments recorded. Video 4 minutes 44 seconds Mangnall has told Disability News Service (DNS) that he wants to ask further questions of ministers if he can secure more evidence to show that the process should be improved, because he believes it is currently “letting the side down”. The latest breaking news, ... Government welfare experts slam ministers for PIP disability changes. Jacobs also asked about the evidence given by a former DWP telephone agent, who had taken a call on 11 June 2019 from Philippa, who described how she was “literally starving and cold”, “genuinely can’t survive like this for much longer”, was “in so much debt”, “literally cannot leave the house”, and needed “a reason to live”. Personal Independence Payment (abbreviated to PIP and usually pronounced as one word) is a welfare benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help adults with the extra costs of living with a long-term health condition or a disability.. He pointed to “nine different mistakes” made by the department in dealing with her case “where the system might have let down Philippa in her claim”, and which were highlighted in a secret DWP report – known as an internal process review (IPR) – into her death (see separate story). The coroner told Hopkins that the errors in the system “caused somebody fully entitled to benefits to lose it” when “she should have been receiving them all the way along”, leading to “significant distress… problems in the family relationship, her sense of self, her role as a mother”. Hopkins told the inquest: “The view of our IPR and ourselves is we should have done more at that time to escalate that call and be more understanding of the comments being expressed by Philippa on that day.”, Jacobs asked Hopkins whether she was satisfied with the training offered to DWP’s telephone agents, when the only response to Philippa revealing that she had been without her disability benefits for six months and was starving and cold was: “Are you ringing on your own behalf? UK Politics. Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…, Tags: Capita DWP internal process review Philippa Day PIP, New figures on COVID deaths of younger disabled people ‘show need for vaccine action’, Atos pays out for negligent PIP assessment after visit from debt enforcement officers, Treasury rejects delivery of last-ditch appeals for £20 uplift, Anger over disability survey’s ‘degrading’ and ‘insulting’ relationship question, DWP brands DNS ‘vexatious’ for seeking truth about impact of universal credit, Government questioned over ‘unforgivable’ failures on vaccine priority, Regulator fails to record key details from scheme sending COVID patients into care homes, ‘Why did it take disabled man’s death to lead to rail safety action?’ campaigners ask, Ministers silent after sitting on report on discrimination in politics for more than a year, The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924. Disability News Service, a specialist news agency, is running an investigation into whether the DWP is aware outsourced companies are asking such questions. The coroner also told Hopkins that there had appeared to be a “mindset or culture of scepticism” within DWP when PIP claimants told the department it had lost their forms, after a decision-maker “seemed to come to the conclusion that Philippa’s form had not been sent in” when she claimed it had been lost by DWP after she posted it in January 2019. MPs on the work and pensions committee […], By John Pring on 28th January 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty, Flaws in the disability benefits system were “the predominant factor and the only acute factor” that led to a young disabled mother taking her own life, a coroner has concluded. Alice Hopkins, DWP’s head of regional PIP service centres, was told on Friday (15 January) by Gordon Clow, assistant coroner for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, that the risk of Philippa Day taking her own life seemed to have “increased markedly” due to flaws in the PIP system. The latest breaking news, ... Government welfare experts slam ministers for PIP disability changes. Find information about PIP. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has finally agreed that all disabled people being assessed for personal independence payment (PIP) will be able to have their face-to-face assessments recorded. PIP was intended to replace the disability living allowance (DLA) to help pay for the extra costs of those living with a long-term health condition or disability. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Hopkins said: “I accept that… it isn’t their job to do that but certainly it’s our experience that they have been very helpful.”. the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues, By John Pring on 4th March 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty, A court has forced a discredited government contractor to pay £2,500 compensation to a disabled woman, after a negligent disability benefit assessment left her in debt and experiencing significant mental distress. Benefit and Works said earlier this week that IAS (Atos) began audio recording all PIP telephone assessments from 21 September. PIP appeals tribunal member. DWP’s own timeline of the case, released by the coroner to Disability News Service alongside the IPR, shows DWP sent a letter to Philippa as late as 11 March 2020, despite income support payments being returned by her bank with a note saying “account holder deceased” on 13 January 2020. DWP to end cruel repeat tests of 270,000 pensioners for PIP disability benefit In March, when the reform was unveiled, a DWP press release said their re … She said: “The mental health training is going to improve that; I hope certainly around the manner in terms of how people respond to people coming through. The decisions to be checked relate to claimants who need help to follow a special diet and also to claimants who need help with both managing medication and with monitoring a health condition. She was giving evidence at the inquest into the death of 27-year-old Philippa Day, from Nottingham. Hopkins admitted that DWP was not aware that Philippa had been taken to hospital on 8 August 2019, despite Capita having been informed that she was in a coma, and DWP making a new decision on her PIP claim while she was still in that coma. People with intellectual disability more likely to die from COVID-19 than general population News-Medical.Net 01:44 6-Mar-21 Gordon's quest to reach Paralympics The Sligo Champion 00:27 6-Mar-21 Tips to help you improve your mental health Drogheda Independent 00:16 6-Mar-21 Hopkins said the number of claimants with an additional support marker on their file had risen from around nine per cent of PIP claimants at the time to about one third now. Gordon Clow, assistant coroner for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, yesterday (Wednesday) highlighted […], By John Pring on 21st January 2021 Category: Benefits and Poverty, The release of a secret government report has revealed how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made repeated, serious errors with the benefit claim of a young disabled mother that appear to have contributed to her decision to take her […], A government contractor made key changes to the way it assesses disability benefit claims after the apparent suicide of a young disabled mum who had repeatedly warned she could not cope with attending a face-to-face assessment. Specialising in disability issues, by John Pring on 21st January 2021 Category: Benefits Poverty! I have not seen scepticism, certainly from the people that work my. Not affected by earnings, other income or savings it is run and owned disabled... Through different state … PIP appeals tribunal member 's the pity and by... 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