singular_me
21st September 2015, 02:19 PM
cynically, those were not faking...
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Depressed man killed himself as a direct result of DWP’s ‘fit to work’ ruling, coroner finds
21st September 2015
A coroner has concluded for the first time that a man with severe mental illness killed himself as a direct result of being found “fit to work” by the Government’s outsourced disability assessors.
Michael O’Sullivan, a 60-year-old father from north London, hanged himself after his disability benefits were removed despite the opinion of three doctors that he was suffering from recurrent depression and certified as unable to work by his GP.
Figures released last month by the Department for Work and Pensions showed that nearly 90 people died every month between 2011 and 2014 after they had been declared fit for employment after undergoing a work capability assessment (WCA).
Ministers insisted that the statistics provided no basis for a link to the Government’s welfare reforms. But it has now emerged that a coroner ruled in the case of Mr O’Sullivan that the WCA and anxiety caused to him by its findings were the direct cause of his death.
Mary Hassell, the senior coroner for inner north London, wrote to the DWP warning that she believed there was a risk of similar deaths in future and demanding preventative action.
read more: Thousands have died soon after being found ‘fit to work’ by the DWP’s benefit tests
But the statistics, released on the order of the Government’s transparency watchdog, show that between December 2011 and February 2014, 2,380 people died after their Work Capability Assessment told them they should start looking for work. The figures related to claims for the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefit as well as IB/SDA.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/over-4000-people-have-died-soon-after-being-found-fit-to-work-by-the-dwps-benefit-tests-10474474.html
It is believed to be the first time a coroner has explicitly blamed a suicide on the welfare reforms. Mr O’Sullivan, who had a long history of debilitating mental illness, including fear of being outdoors, died in 2013 but the case has only now come to light after it was revealed by the Disability News Service.
In a formal finding following Mr O’Sullivan’s inquest in January last year, Ms Hassell said: “[His] anxiety and depression were long-term problems but the intense anxiety that triggered his suicide was caused by his recent assessment by the [DWP] as being fit for work, and his view of the likely consequences of that.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/depressed-man-killed-himself-as-a-direct-result-of-dwps-fit-to-work-ruling-coroner-finds-10510305.html
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Depressed man killed himself as a direct result of DWP’s ‘fit to work’ ruling, coroner finds
21st September 2015
A coroner has concluded for the first time that a man with severe mental illness killed himself as a direct result of being found “fit to work” by the Government’s outsourced disability assessors.
Michael O’Sullivan, a 60-year-old father from north London, hanged himself after his disability benefits were removed despite the opinion of three doctors that he was suffering from recurrent depression and certified as unable to work by his GP.
Figures released last month by the Department for Work and Pensions showed that nearly 90 people died every month between 2011 and 2014 after they had been declared fit for employment after undergoing a work capability assessment (WCA).
Ministers insisted that the statistics provided no basis for a link to the Government’s welfare reforms. But it has now emerged that a coroner ruled in the case of Mr O’Sullivan that the WCA and anxiety caused to him by its findings were the direct cause of his death.
Mary Hassell, the senior coroner for inner north London, wrote to the DWP warning that she believed there was a risk of similar deaths in future and demanding preventative action.
read more: Thousands have died soon after being found ‘fit to work’ by the DWP’s benefit tests
But the statistics, released on the order of the Government’s transparency watchdog, show that between December 2011 and February 2014, 2,380 people died after their Work Capability Assessment told them they should start looking for work. The figures related to claims for the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefit as well as IB/SDA.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/over-4000-people-have-died-soon-after-being-found-fit-to-work-by-the-dwps-benefit-tests-10474474.html
It is believed to be the first time a coroner has explicitly blamed a suicide on the welfare reforms. Mr O’Sullivan, who had a long history of debilitating mental illness, including fear of being outdoors, died in 2013 but the case has only now come to light after it was revealed by the Disability News Service.
In a formal finding following Mr O’Sullivan’s inquest in January last year, Ms Hassell said: “[His] anxiety and depression were long-term problems but the intense anxiety that triggered his suicide was caused by his recent assessment by the [DWP] as being fit for work, and his view of the likely consequences of that.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/depressed-man-killed-himself-as-a-direct-result-of-dwps-fit-to-work-ruling-coroner-finds-10510305.html