It has been revealed that disabled people are once again being treated as though they’re a burden by the government and being punished for something we can’t control.
Tens of thousands of disabled people have had their benefits stopped whilst staying in hospital due to a cruel DWP rule.
It's been a long-standing rule of the DWP that if a disabled person who receives PIP is in hospital for over 28 days, their benefit is suspended.
However, a report found that the total number of PIP suspensions under the hospitalisation rule increased from 30,860 in the quarter to the end of April 2020, to 45,850 in the quarter to the end of April 2022.
The highest group impacted were those with mental health and learning disabilities.
The justification for this from the government is that it costs the state and taxpayers twice to pay benefits to patients whilst they are under NHS care.
This is a disgusting way to look at it and ensures that disabled people feel like a burden just for needing hospital care. How dare we insist on medical attention and enough to live on at the same time? The two aren’t even remotely connected.
This completely ignores the fact that families of disabled people still need to pay to visit them and for food, they also often have to stay with them or close by in order to provide care the NHS can’t, especially families of disabled children.
Another issue that the rule also applies to people who are in hospital settings that allow patients to leave and return.
A leave of absence which allows people to return home for short periods whilst still being monitored is an important part of rehabilitation for those detained in hospital under The Mental Health Act.
However, without the financial support they usually rely on, many couldn’t afford to get to and from the hospital of to look after themselves whilst at home.
So a mental health patient could be sectioned, and get well enough to begin transitioning back into home life only to discover they can't afford to live, which could cause their mental health to deteriorate further.
As a disabled person with multiple chronic illnesses, my absolute nightmare is having to spend longer than a few days in hospital. When we go into hospital we’re often treated like we don’t know our own bodies, have our accessibility measures and independence taken away from us and are made to feel invisible.
The last thing disabled people need on top of that is the fear that if we’re made to stay in hospital for what the government deems too long, then we’ll lose the one source of income we have that allows us to stay alive.
Who knows how many have discharged themselves or not sought care because they’re too scared that they’ll be penalised simply because they are sick?
It's a stomach-turning irony that a benefit that many fail to qualify for because they are deemed not sick enough is taken away from disabled people for being too sick.
Disabled people are struggling more than ever at the moment, thanks to the effects of Covid and the cost of living crisis. To take away disability benefits at a time when we need them most shows just how heartless the Tories really are.
