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Work assessment isn't working
Recent research by the Citizens Advice Bureau has provided evidence of what Ruth Patrick and others always feared: the new Work Capability Assessment (WCA) which determines people’s eligibility for Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is not fit for purpose
This is how ESA works. New claimants undergo a medical (the WCA) to determine whether or not they are able to participate in paid work. On the basis of the medical’s results, individuals are placed in one of three groups. Many will be found able to work, refused ESA, and instead given Job Seeker’s Allowance. Others found capable of some paid work will receive ESA and be put in an employment-group, where they are expected to participate in work-related activity as a condition of benefit receipt. Those whose impairments are judged severe enough to prevent them from working at all will receive a higher-rate ESA and will be placed in a support-group where they receive the benefit without any associated conditions.
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) found that the WCA is failing to properly determine capacity to work, and is frequently placing people in the wrong categories, based on a clunky and insensitive medical assessment. All too often, people who should not reasonably be expected to work as a condition of benefit are being put in the employment-group or, on occasions, refused ESA altogether. Headline grabbing incidents include individuals with advanced Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and severe mental health problems being found fit to work.
Such illogical outcomes can easily be rectified, given that they fly in the face of common sense and good medical judgement. What is particularly concerning is the evidence that the medicals are failing to account for symptoms which vary from day-to-day, and are insensitive to the complexities of many conditions. Critically, the assessment takes the form of a number of closed questions, providing no opportunity for the benefit claimant themselves to explain the impact of the illness/impairment and associated societal barriers on their daily lives. This is patronising, disempowering and a complete rejection of social model thinking. As David Harker, Chief Executive of CAB, concludes: “Seriously ill and disabled people are being severely let down by the crude approach of the Work Capability Assessment.”
This finding matters a great deal – especially as all existing Incapacity Benefit claimants will shortly be migrated onto ESA. The flaws and rigidity of the WCA needs to be highlighted and rectified, and the CAB’s call for a complete review of the WCA process should be echoed by the disability movement. Further, broader questions should be asked – and loudly – about whether an approach that crudely divides disabled people into different categories, that is based on medicalised notions of capacity, and which introduces work-related conditionality for disabled people, is the right one. These are questions which I will continue to pose to all who will listen.
• The full CAB report can be downloaded from http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/not_working
work assessment isn't working
this strategy impoverishes disabled people and this is likely to be compounded soon by cuts to services, increases in charging and the loss of disabled people's organisations support.
Shame on past and present governments
work assessment isn't working
The outgoing government where warned that now is not the time for change as jobs were becoming scarce. Again Disabled people and supportive MP's were not listened to. When will we be heard.
In addition welfare reform came with negative media portrayals of disabled people as workshy scroungers so who really wants to employ us now.... and again the government was warned about this and again we went unheard.
ESA
I am disabled because I had an operation to remove a brain tumour, the left hand side of my cerabelum was amputated during the surgery leaving me with balance problems and the inability to co-ordinate my left hand side, I feel that the questions are too general and do not take into account how I would do these things, i.e. yes I can raise my left hand above my head but it will not stay still and jerks, yes I can walk but only very slowly on flat level ground looking down all the time for any obstructions, a normal crossover to somebody’s driveway feels like a steep hill to me and I have to work hard not to topple over, likewise a stone or protruding weed between paving slabs could trip me.
Also I do not get the classification of terminally ill, all of the tumour could not be removed during surgery, leaving a piece of grade 3 cancerous tumour behind, I have more than 6 months to live and therefore not terminally ill although I will be lucky to make a further 5 years which means I cant get a mortgage, loans, or save money for the future, this does not classify me as terminally ill, what about someone who is given a year to live.
surely the whole process is flawed, I doubt the person examining me will have any experience in neurology and therefore will not be able to understand the problems I face in day to day life, in fact I fully expect to be found fit for work, the system does not work.