Outcry at red tape forcing terminally ill patients to worry about their finances
THOUSANDS of people have been moved by the heart-wrenching stories of unfair rules that deny terminally-ill patients fast-tracked access to benefits.
Currently they are only granted such access if a doctor or nurse says they have fewer than six months to live.
The cruel regulations mean patients with unpredictable conditions, like motor neurone disease, spend precious time worrying about their finances and can face an agonising wait for claims to be assessed.
The scandal has seen readers flock to back the Scrap Six Months campaign, backed by the Daily Express’s Compassion for the Dying crusade, which was started by charities Marie Curie and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Mark Hughes was forced to go through the gruelling process of applying for benefits after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The 57-year-old had been living with the disease for 11 years when doctors told him it had spread to his bones.
He was handed a terminal diagnosis in 2011.
Mark, of Great Wakering, Essex, was forced to quit his job as a long-distance truck driver and apply for financial support.
He said: “The Department forWork and Pensions wanted me to go along the lines of the six-month rule but my oncologist couldn’t give that date – he couldn’t say for certain.
“When I was told by my GP about the terminal diagnosis, my wife Jane was in tears.”
He added: “Jane had to start filling in endless forms while coming to terms with the fact that her husband was going to die.
“It has been a living hell with the endless form-filling and benefits being stopped for ludicrous reasons.
“The last thing you want is to be filling in forms about how long you’ve got to live.”
The campaign has received the backing of Good Morning Britain TV presenter Charlotte Hawkins, whose father Frank was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2011. Charlotte, 44, said: “You accept the fact that people close to you are going to get ill – my dad was in his 70s – but when you have a diagnosis for something like MND, that is effectively a death sentence. There is no cure.”
Frank was a much-loved vicar and former canon at welcomed daughter Ella Rose in February 2015. Charlotte is now a patron of the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
She said: “This campaign is not about people getting more money than they’re entitled to – this is money that they would get anyway.
“We need to make sure that we are doing the utmost to make sure that those last weeks, months – however long they’ve got left – they can spend with dignity and get access to the funds they need.”
Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter, 70, who plays butler Mr Carson, also backs the campaign in his role as a Marie Curie ambassador.
He said: “It’s great the Daily Express is supporting this campaign and crusade.
“People with terminal conditions need all the support they can get to continue living a good life.
“A change in the law will let doctors decide when a person is terminally ill, instead of an outdated process that is stopping so many people from receiving the support they desperately need.”