No 4 point PIP descriptors results
| Submission ID: 1161318 |
| Date: 2025-04-07 23:05:04 |
| Nickname: Gordon |
| Age: 50-55 |
| Main health condition: Physical health |
| Main conditions that affect daily living: Muscular Dystrophy |
| Rate of PIP daily living component: Standard |
| 4 point descriptor score: No |
| Possibility to score at least one 4-point daily living descriptor at the next review: Unlikely, despite my serious symptoms, for example I choke frequently but only score 2 points currently in the 'eating' category. |
| Tasks you struggle with on a day-to-day basis: I struggle to chew my food and regularly choke on this. I even choke on soft food. I regularly stumble and people who don't know about my condition sometimes think I'm drunk. I fall quite frequently and have sustained bruising and even bleeding due to falls. One time I fell down the stairs and hit my head at the bottom. My hands seize up so that I can't grip things. My speech is often slurred and hard for others to understand due to my tongue seizing up. My voice is much weaker than it used to be as well and others often struggle to hear me. I'm frequently tired and fall asleep during the day, which is a symptom of my condition. I often have bouts of IBS and can't leave the bathroom for a long time until this has subsided.. My face is much less expressive now because my condition has weakened my facial muscles. I have early cataracts. I get skin and eye infections. When I get a cold I often develop a chest infection because my cough reflex is weak and fluid gets into my lungs. |
| Expected income you will lose if the Green Paper cuts are imposed: Approximately £900 per MONTH due to loss of PIP Daily Living, LCWRA and carer's allowance. This would mean we could no longer afford for my wife to care for me, so social care would have to pick up that burden (but would they?). We could not afford my medications that aren't available on prescription. We wouldn't have the money we need for special clothing and footwear that I need due to my disability, or be able to maintain a car to alleviate my isolation in a rural area. We wouldn't have enough money to pay our normal bills despite the fact we are very careful with our resources. We would struggle to provide for our daughters. We don't go on fancy holidays, pay for subscriptions or buy any luxury goods. We simply need this money to get by. |
| Expected problems if you tried moving into work, with support from a work coach: I have had many barriers to finding work when I suffered fewer symptoms at a younger age. I knew people could sense there was 'something wrong with me' even if I didn't declare a disability on a job application, and I wouldn't get the work. I have no doubt that I would be unsuccessful at even getting a job in the first place for the same reason and because my symptoms are worse now. If I were to miraculously obtain employment, I would struggle to have the stamina to get through a day. I would be a very unreliable employee due to fatigue and frequent bouts of IBS. I would risk choking at work, as well as falling. People would become frustrated at not being able to understand me (even my wife does) because of my sometimes slurred speech and weak voice. I would have to take time off work due to sickness, which would frustrate my employer. |
| Anything else to tell us: These welfare proposals betray either a complete ignorance of the challenges faced by disabled people, or a total callous disregard for our welfare. The rug is being pulled out from under people who have no way of bettering their financial situation through work. Many seriously disabled people would not be awarded 4 points in a PIP assessment because the criteria don't cover their symptoms or the points don't properly reflect the seriousness of their difficulties. I need to have someone supervising my eating because of the risk of choking, but at my last assessment I was only awarded 2 points in the eating category. When the government speaks of supporting the severely disabled, they're not talking about people like me, despite my myriad of health challenges. £900 per month would be removed from our income because they are proposing to make PIP Daily Living the gateway to other benefits as well. PIP was designed to help disabled people with the EXTRA costs associated with disability (of which there are many), not to enable them to work (when they're unable work in any case). My wife works part-time so she can care for me, so if she has to get a full-time job due to these health benefits being removed, should she leave me at home to choke or fall? Will the government pay for carers to take her place? How much will this cost? Does that make any sense at all? Where are all the paid carers going to come from in any case, in our broken social care system? These proposals are draconian, particularly in a climate of a struggling economy where even fit and able people will increasingly find it difficult to secure employment. I am beyond angry that the government appears to be trying to score political points by pushing these proposals, with no regard for people like me whose lives, and those of their children (and my beautiful children), will be devastated by these cuts. Is this government actually willing to score political points off the back of the weakest and sickest in our society, and leave their children destitute as well? The government's declarations about 'putting disabled people at the heart of everything they do' is all smoke and mirrors. It's about appearing to care, but not actually caring. I believe their assurances of support are nothing more than placations and that they know, as do we, the sick and disabled, that the outcome will not be a massive move of disabled people into work, just some money saved. Little do they care where that leaves us and our families. These proposals are absolutely shameful. I urge any MP with sense and a conscience to resist them. |
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