DWP has destroyed reports on suicides of benefits claimants

[honeybee13]

The department for work and pensions has been accused of “a cover-up” after destroying reports into suicides linked to benefits being stopped.

 

Around 50 reviews into deaths following the loss of social security payments before 2015 have been shredded, officials have admitted – blaming data protection laws.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dwp-benefit-death-suicide-reports-cover-ups-government-conservatives-a9359606.html

 

HB

[brassnecked]

They must have had something to hide as they have been pulled up on these deaths before.

 

This seems a typical case

 

https://welfareweekly.com/family-of-jodey-whiting-seek-fresh-inquest-into-her-death-to-examine-role-played-by-dwp/

[honeybee13]

Useful link, BN.

 

The article mentions that the National Audit Office said that the DWP isn't learning anything from its mistakes.

 

HB

[brassnecked]

No DWP is in denial, the Errol Graham case has caused much concern

 

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/errol-graham-coroner-pledges-to-press-dwp-on-safeguarding-review/

 

Something is amiss with the procedures, Capita and the PIP Assessments seem to go against what a claimant's doctors say quite often, as do the UC Work Capability Assessments

[unclebulgaria67]

With any benefits system which has some form of controls in place, you will see some of these reported events happening.  Obviously it is not just people that are claiming benefits that commit suicide.  I think the biggest cause of death of men between 40 to 50 is suicide. 

  

it would be interesting how the UK compares with other similar countries.  

 

Does the UK have worse social problems than other wealthy countries?  Are countries, particularly non English speaking, more community orientated, with family generations living close by, offering support to young and old ?

 

Trying to concentrate blame on one thing, without looking into all of the other relevant issues, can lead to misleading conclusions.  

 

You would think that following a suicide death, Coroners would have obtained copies of all relevant information including DWP files.   Why is there not a requirement to properly investigate such deaths at the time they occurred and to learn something from  each case ?

[brassnecked]

exactly UB

[Max1968]

I'm not surprised but I agree with UB.

 

My own experience though with a two year battle with the DWP over ESA, eventually lost, put me in a very dark place.  I was somewhat lucky that a number of factors probably saved me from going down that route as well.  If it hadn't been for owning my house outright, rather than having a mortgage, my mother helping me out financially (for which I still feel shame), and the illness eventually becoming manageable (not cured), I would probably not be here now reading this.

 

However I still have fear that the illness will return once again to render me unable to work again and my mother is now in full time care with dementia so I always have that darkness lurking over my shoulder and I know that the last place I will find any support is the DWP. 

[unclebulgaria67]

 DWP are apparently going through a process of improving how they process claims for people with mental health conditions. The work capability assessment is  going to be improved in the way that it assesses people with mental health conditions.  

 

Obviously the way that assessments are done, just looking at someones health on a particular day, rather than use Doctors evaluations over a longer period, is not that satisfactory.  Mental health conditions vary on a day to day or even hour to hour basis, so a one hour assessment on a good health day, is not going to be helpful.

 

 

[brassnecked]

Absolutely UB.

[Max1968]

Glad to hear it UB, although I think that they also should also look into how they deal with ALL fluctuating medical conditions, AND actually listen to the claimants Doctors long term assessments rather than ignore such professionals opinions as they did in my case!  With me I could be fine one minute then the world would be spinning for three hours the next so fluctuating conditions are not taken seriously enough.

 

I also believe that the DWP brings a lot of it's own problems to it's own front door.  For me I certainly didn't have a mental health condition prior to dealing with them, merely a physical condition, but after battling them, as well as fighting my physical health, for well over two years I ended up with depression and on medication and counselling.  If the DWP had shown a duty of care and supported me in my health battles so I could focus on getting well rather than fighting them at the same time, I may well have been able to return to work earlier, and could also possibly have avoided being plagued with a mental health issue.  Ironically when I finally got a diagnosis of Vestibular Hypofunction, one of the triggers I was told to my spinning episodes was stress, and dealing with the DWP and their Draconian practices stress was something that was unavoidable when you are wondering how you are going to survive.

 

Many thousands of people will be, and would have been in the same boat, and how many long term claims could be avoided with some empathy and duty of care shown.  Want more people off benefits and back into work?  Then hitting them with a stick and telling them to fend for themselves isn't quite the sensible road to go down!!

 

Sorry, still bitter!!!

[honeybee13]

The Work and Pensions committee want to look at this now.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/01/dwp-criticised-for-incredible-secrecy-over-deaths-of-benefit-claimants

 

HB

[brassnecked]

doesn't look good for sure, here's Welfare Weekly's take

 

https://welfareweekly.com/tories-accused-of-covering-up-dozens-of-benefit-related-suicides-after-destroying-secret-reviews/

[honeybee13]

More bad news about the DWP, alleged pressurising of claimants to accept lower offers than they're entitled to.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/02/dwp-accused-of-offering-disabled-people-take-it-or-leave-it-benefits

 

HB

[brassnecked]

This is becoming a serious issue, and Capita is part of the problem with target driven Assessments.

[honeybee13]

...like Atos before them.

 

HB

[Max1968]

Mmmmmm!!!!

 

Gross negligence manslaughter -

Gross negligence manslaughter can occur when someone is killed by someone else’s extreme carelessness; that is, gross negligence. There is no intention to kill or harm that person and consequently gross negligence manslaughter is often described as a type of involuntary manslaughter. An individual can be deemed to be grossly negligent in relation to their acts and omissions, ie the actions they take or fail to take.

The legal test for manslaughter by gross negligence was confirmed by the House of Lords in R v Adomako (1995). It is a four-staged test, and the essential elements to be established to prove gross negligence manslaughter are as follows.

1. The defendant must owe a duty of care towards the deceased.

2. The defendant must have breached that duty of care.

3. The breach must have caused or significantly contributed to the death of the deceased.

4. The breach must be characterised as gross negligence and therefore considered a crime.

 

 

[brassnecked]

ATOS are still in the mix they changed their name to Independent Assessment Services  https://www.mypipassessment.co.uk/

and seem to be active in Wales for PIP assessments.

 

The old DHSS used to rely on Crown Immunity to counter any Gross negligence manslaughter, I was told, but these days its possible some senior Civil Serpent might get caught in the net if a causation chain to a death could be absolutely confirmed. Possibly why they have "lost" some Reports etc.