GPs to no longer sign people off sick

This is a long article (click title to view), and I have a lot to say about it, so I'll just give you a few snippets below. I like my snippets recently don't I!

People should be signed off for long-term sickness by an independent assessment service and not GPs, a government-backed review says.

The review also calls for a new government backed job-brokering service, to find work for people cannot stay in their current job because of their condition.

If the recommendations are accepted people who are signed off sick would also be put on to Job Seekers' Allowance, instead of Employment Support Allowance, for a period of three months.

"What the GPs say is they don't have time to do an in-depth functional assessment and nor have they had any training in occupational health so we think it's providing a new unique service that both employers and GPs need."

And welfare reform minister Lord Freud said: "We just don't get adequate help for people early enough when they need it and what we are creating in there is an incubator for lifelong idleness for far too many people."

He (Dr Richard Vautrey) said: "If what is being described is a proper health, occupational health assessment at an earlier stage in the patient's illness then that would be helpful.

"But if it turns out to be a punitive process just to try and save money without the best interests of the patient at the heart of the process then it will fail."

So, just to summarise for you, in case it is not clear from the above; the latest government proposal is to stop peoples personal doctors being able to sign them off long term sick from work, and to put the responsibility on a new body, which as yet does not exist. This body would consist of occupational therapists, who no doubt will give you a twenty minute assessment which does not give them any true insight into your condition at all, just like the Atos assessments. It would not in fact surprise me if they employed Atos to do it.

Why on earth are they making a fuss about 300,000 people being off work sick? That's a drop in the ocean compared to the unemployment figures. Perhaps if they focused on creating jobs, bringing markets back to this country, and preventing JSA fraud the country would be in a lot less dire straits; and they could stop picking on the sick and disabled!!

Seriously, the population of the United Kingdom is approximately 60 million. 300,000 being ill long term is less than 0.5%. I would say that was almost a miracle in itself.

Where do they think all of these jobs for the sick and disabled are going to come from? If they cannot employ the nearly 1.5 million who are claiming JSA, how do they think they will find jobs for people whose health is unreliable.

I may have been ill for ten years, but I've seen how all of this works; if you're ill at work, you get penalised. You lose out on bonus's and those with poor sickness records are the first to be made redundant. Why would employers take on someone who is uncertain when they'll be in work, or how much they can do, someone completely unpredictable, when there is a healthy person equally qualified that they can employ?

The most ridiculous thing about this is that our GPs know us the best. It did not say as such in this article, but the news item on the television last night apparently said that many GPs feel pressured to sign patients off long term sick when they should not. This, I can understand to a certain extent, as when you are familiar with someone it is human nature to not wish to do them any harm. There in lies the error though; if your GP cares about you they would not sign you off as long term sick, taking you out of the work place, and earning better money, if it were not necessary.

I know for a fact that my own GP feels a lot more pressure from the government to have me returned to work, than he does from myself to sign me off sick.

Well, as one of my friends says, this may simply be an exercise in keeping the public happy again. Show the public that the government is doing what they want, then actually do nothing about it. I hope he is right, as these measures would lead to even further suicides.

Diagnostic Blood Test for M.E.

I'm frequently disheartened by the lack of interest the scientific field has in M.E.. Sometimes though there is a glimmer of hope. There is progress. It is slow, and it is not well publicised, but it is happening. I was very excited at the Rituximab study a few weeks ago. Now there is this!

A bloody test that will potentially identify those who have M.E., and also possibly identify those who will respond to treatment with Ampligen.

"Four genes were identified by Multivariate Regression that separated CFS patients from the normal control group.


"Chronix and Hemispherx are currently planning to [...] identify how different persons with CFS can respond to Hemispherx’s experimental drug Ampligen®.


"Ampligen® is an experimental RNA nucleic acid being developed for globally important debilitating diseases and disorders of the immune system."

I've got M.E. I'm not a benefits cheat

It is with a little sadness that I share this article. It was written in August 2010, so well over a year ago now, and things have not changed at all. It's quite a long article, and it's well written, so I can't really nick bits of it to share with you. If you're interested in how people with M.E. (and similar illnesses) are treated, then I would indicate to you that you can click the title of this blog post to read an article that describes perfectly what myself, and various others, have been and are repeatedly going through.

It is a personal account, describing the process and the writer's personal experience. It is because the process is so badly flawed that many people with M.E. have to rely heavily on other conditions they suffer with in order to actually claim ESA. I'm now kind of wondering how I got through, since my assessor completely ignored my back problem all together.

National Union of Journalists Speaks Out

The National Union of Journalists today released a statement asking journalists to stop calling disabled people scroungers. You can click the title of my blog post to see the whole article, but there are also some snippets below.

I personally find it interesting that it states the rate of Incapacity Benefit fraud to be 0.3%, and the rate of Disability Living Allowance fraud is 0.5%. 0.3% being the lowest benefit fraud statistic. Given the demonisation I've personally felt from people I have met and people I know, it is evident that the press coverage of benefit fraud has indeed lead the public to believe otherwise.

"Over the last few months we have seen a continuous drip-feed of stories which have promoted a range of inaccurate and generalised accusations against disabled people with long term health conditions. As a result disabled people have faced greater hostility from the public, with many claiming that they have experienced hostility, discrimination and even physical attacks from strangers.

"The Work and Pensions Select Committee on Incapacity Benefit have themselves criticised the Government for the language it uses when it releases and comments on official statistics on the incapacity benefit reassessment programme resulting in some media using terms such as "scrounger" and "work shy". 

"Rather than offering constructive support to disabled people, certain stories and features have portrayed disabled people as unsustainable, unproductive and even not disabled at all, but profiting from fraudulent benefit claims"

I've not personally experienced violence, but hostility I have. In fact, one of the reasons I left a dating site earlier this year was the number of people who had a go at me when they discovered that I am incapacitated. The most hurtful incident was Easter Sunday (long time ago now). Having spent Easter very sadly alone I went to the Chinese take away to get something to eat. A new person working there asked me if I had just finished work. I said that I had not. He then asked me what I do. I explained that I do not work at present. I didn't even say I was ill or claiming benefits, but received a mouthful from him asking whether I just intend to live off benefits for the rest of my life. He then had to answer the phone, otherwise I'd have given him a mouthful back and asked for a refund. 

I agree with the NUJ. The media is deliberately stirring up hatred against the disabled and incapacitated. I cannot begin to imagine why. There is a lot of benefit fraud happening. People claim Job Seekers Allowance with no intention of actually working again. Everyone I know who claiming sickness or disability benefits, would much rather be healthy and working. 

One of my friends summed it up beautiful recently. He has Cystic Fibrosis. He is on high rate mobility, and therefore has help with costs towards a car. Someone expressed to him that they were envious. His response was that he would gladly exchange them the car for their healthy lungs.

Please understand that you don't understand

'Oh, I know what that's like; my friend used to have it!'

Just one of many phrases that tends to upset me. Particularly if followed by something along the lines of 'He used to go to all the protests!'. Of course I don't actually say anything on the occasions that people say something like that to me. I know that people are trying to relate, and trying to be nice, but they don't realise that they are actually being rather tactless. So, I'm asking you to understand that you just don't understand.

I know that probably sounds very arrogant, but it is not.

Among people who have CFS / M.E., those experienced at least, it is generally understood that even among one another we do not all have the same experiences, we do not all share the same symptoms, we are not all on the same medications; we basically cannot understand each other. But we respect that. When one of us says we are struggling with such and such, we make allowances for it.

I spent this afternoon with Trudie and Bev. The three of us have M.E.. We are all aware that we inevitably struggle with energy levels, and that spending time together will take a toll on our condition. We are aware that Trudie is the worst affected, and Bev the least. But the way in which we are affected varies significantly. When Bev is exhausted she spends hours asleep. When I'm exhausted my entire body starts to ache and tremble. We simply mutually accept that we have different problems, and that we'll express if we are struggling with anything or need help.

So, if you know someone who has M.E., or has had M.E., please understand that that does not automatically mean that you understand me. To be honest, it's highly unlikely that you understood your friend to start with either. Even among one another we struggle immensely to describe the symptoms we go through, and because it changes from hour to hour, day to day, what we described to you yesterday may well not stand today anyway. So I'm asking of you, please, instead of trying to relate to me, or someone you know who has M.E., just take us as you find us. You can't presume, and to some extent you can't prepare.

Please don't misunderstand me. It is not that we seek to be aloof and mysterious; we really honestly do want to be understood. It is horrible having to try and explain what we are going through over and over again, especially when we don't really understand it ourselves. A little patience please.

Respite

Most of the time when I post to my blog I seem to be complaining, either about how bad my health is, or about the benefits system in the UK. I'd like to make a change. I would like to thank Bev and Mark for being wonderful.

Recently I've been feeling extremely down. I've been dealing with a house move I did not want to make, an ex husband messing me around, and health that I just can't get a handle on. I've had some very dangerous thought patterns.

Today .. well, it is 9pm, and I've not been out of bed properly today. My legs hurt. Until about an hour ago I was finding it hard to focus on anything efficiently. And I'm suffering from the M.E. equivalent of labyrinthitis again. But I've spent most of the (waking) day giggling and laughing.

Bev and Mark, and Roger when he passes the room, are a tonic. Mark in particular helps me see the funny side in everything M.E. related. Not just M.E. related, but it's notable for me as I fail to find any of it amusing when I'm alone at home.

Today I've been fed yummy food, given a birthday cake even though my birthday was a month ago, and made to feel relaxed and happy in general.

Thank you Bev & Mark.

M.E. is serious

So many people simply do not comprehend that M.E. is a serious illness. At this time of last year I was severely ill. I was bedbound, my body deteriorating in front of my eyes. I thought I was dying. I have said this to people over the last year, and been met with a mixture of reactions. Many people do not believe it possible to die from M.E.. Mostly people who die from M.E. die from secondary infections, or complications caused because of M.E., (or suicide),  but not actually the M.E. itself ... in cases like mine though, there was nothing else you could put it down to ... and nothing else with which my doctor can explain the consequences I've been struggling with all year. I only personally know of one person who has died from M.E., but that is one too many.

So, for those who don't believe, please visit the following website: ME / CFS Memorial. A snippet:

"Barbara Ramos Gibson, 63, died on May 1, 2006 from complications of CFIDS/ME and fibromyalgia. She was active in Florida trying to make a difference in the way the disease was viewed as well as reaching out to others. She had become so severe that she was unable to walk and she was due to enter a nursing home when her life ended."