Thousands of disabled people in Greater Manchester have had their benefits stopped during extended hospital stays under a rule that charities say penalises the most vulnerable.
It comes after a court case was withdrawn which had been set to challenge the lawfulness of the so-called “hospitalisation rule” through an application for judicial review. Under this rule, a person’s entitlement to the disability benefit Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is suspended if they have received care in a hospital or a similar institution for 28 days or more.
Affected families said they were needed to help care for their disabled relatives in hospital which led to extra expenses during this time. But the government says when somebody is in receipt of long-term NHS in-patient care, it does not pay benefits to stop the taxpayer from paying double.
