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Disabled man starved to death after benefits cut when Atos declared him fit for work
Jason
Posts: 76,557 Forum Member
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/disabled-mark-wood-starved-death-3194250
Over to the supporters of the current regime to explain this one away in 3 .. 2 ...
Tom Pollard, Policy and Campaigns Manager at Mind, said: “We were deeply saddened to hear of the death of Mark Wood.
“Unfortunately this tragic case is not an isolated incident. We hear too often how changes to benefits are negatively impacting vulnerable individuals, who struggle to navigate a complex, and increasingly punitive, system.
“We know the assessment process for those applying for Employment and Support Allowance is very stressful, and too crude to accurately assess the impact a mental health problem has on someone’s ability to work.
“This leads to people not getting the right support and being put under excessive pressure which can make their health worse and push them further from the workplace.
“We urgently need to see a complete overhaul of the system, to ensure nobody else falls through the cracks.”
Over to the supporters of the current regime to explain this one away in 3 .. 2 ...
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Comments
There always almost is never a single cause in these kind of deaths.
And I say it again, in case I am labelled as a supporter, ATOS made the wrong decision based on what the article says.
Poor Man, R.I.P
Did he return any forms? Did he actually have an assessment? Even if those things happened, the appeal process would have kept the money coming in and would have required a note from the GP, which didn't happen.
Housing benefit would still have been paid with no income. He still had £40/week, which is still something.
Missing from that report, but is included elsewhere.
Is there any indication that ATOS had been told anything, by anybody?
I would contend that the food phobias contributed to his death in the sense that he couldn't actually afford to buy the food he specifically needed so had to make do with what he had left and when that ran out, he starved.
So the benefits cut, obviously IMO, was a significant contributory factor in his death, if not the root cause.
You can hardly blame him for that ..
Since his benefits were cut, i'd say he did have the assessment.
If it was after the rule change that meant you had to go to the DWP to ask for a reconsideration first before being allowed to appeal, you receive no money and are forced to sign on the dole if you want any.
Most likely referring to the money his mother gave him ..
I refer to the quote in nomad2king post (not too sure where it was obtained from):
It is not as simple as you make it out to be.
As I said, most likely the cash his mother gave him when she found out, but, as it says, it was too late. At the time his mother gave him money, it's very highly likely he was in rent arrears at the very least so he could well have elected to pay that off first.
Obviously that's pure speculation on my part, but when you're in that much trouble you are always told to try and keep a roof over your head if possible.
You can keep defending atos and the system, but its all falling apart and atos are history, and no one has trust in the system any more because its not fit for purpose, as his doctor said NO one from atos or the DWP got in touch with him, that is a big failing of the system.
How was it too late when he didn't buy food with the cash? Would he still be alive if he did buy food?
We don't know and it would be guessing by anybody.
As said, you can't pin point this one on ATOS 100%.
Oxford Mail Mirror Why didn't the family help him out with his benefits situation?
He gave the money away.
We only have the word of nomad2king that he didn't buy food with it. I'd certainly be keen to see a link or article that verifies this claim.
From a health perspective, there could be a multitude of reasons why it was "too late".
No benefit cut = money to buy whichever food he needed = no death.
So yes, you probably can pin this one on ATOS.
however in the article
"Anyone who knew Mark’s complex problems would see he couldn’t work. ”
So what support was he getting? was he on social did he not have regular visits or check ups by doctors, teams etc support services etc.
If he didnt and people were aware of his problems why was he not referred in the first place to get help?
The reasons why I ask this is because I work with people in these situations everyday, and the support services are there to work with people such as the gentleman who died. Therefore if people were aware and ATOS said he was fit to work why wasn't he placed in the system as he already is as he is on DLA?
Its a very sad case and I understand people do slip through the net, Ive dealt with clients and suicide attempts due to ATSO decisions, but they have got the support they needed. But I suoppose there are various sides to the case
He linked to the article and from that I quote:
As said (again!), not as simple as you make it out to be!
His sister said ..
So his pride led him to give the money away which, for me, just makes the case even more tragic and sad.
It really, really is .. no benefit cut = no death.
If you say so :cool:
Better let the Coronor know then.
A little bit more detail on here with regard to the money and some other things Jason
Apparently he gave the money away and did not buy food due to his phobia, the pathologist could not confirm the cause of death as the poor mans body was decomposed. I'd say that this man lacked support in many ways prior to his death too as who the hell was there to support him in all this? How do any of us know if he went to this assessment in a state of mind that answered the questions wrongly, he could even have said that he was fit for work for all we know.
That said, it's surely common sense that a history be looked at by these people doing assessments.
Of course he will.... in your world
And clearly in your world, you must have a portrait of IDS above your fireplace
I don't like any politician. They are all liars.
Which seems to say a very sick person who was not fit to work, but apart from the benefit cuts sick and disabled people are being hit with, the whole support net work is being eroded away, social care budget cuts have devastated the support net works thousands of sick and disabled adults have lost their support net works, thousands now fall outside the criteria that has now been brought in