TERMINALLY ILL ARE PLUNGED INTO POVERTY
89% face financial worries..and too scared to heat their homes
THOUSANDS of terminally ill people and their families are living in poverty – with some too terrified to heat their homes, a shock survey reveals.
Carers have found patients lying in distress, curled up under blankets for hours in damp homes.
Data from end-of-life charity Marie Curie found 89% of staff have patients with cash woes.
Some 83% said those in their care could not afford energy bills.
And 56% were very concerned for those with a terminal illness.
Gillian Payne, a healthcare assistant for Marie Curie in Cornwall, said lack of financial support is “making people’s illnesses worse”.
She added: “It is reducing both the length and quality of life. I have arrived at homes to find patients have been sitting in soiled clothing for hours because they can’t heat their homes and don’t want to get out from under their blankets.
TOLL
“Others are living in damp homes because the cost of heating is too high. This isn’t the end of life anyone would imagine for themselves or their loved ones.”
Widow Audrey Buckham, 63, told how mounting debts took a toll as her husband Eddie fell victim to pancreatic cancer.
She declared herself bankrupt a month before Eddie died at 64. Gran Audrey, from Tyne and Wear, said:
“We couldn’t survive. One credit card company wrote off the debt but the other wouldn’t. It was horrendous.”
The process of declaring bankruptcy left NHS administrator Audrey in tears and “feeling like a criminal”. She had to draw her pension early to cover costs. Audrey added: “You’re worried about your loved one and at the same time you’re worrying about money – it’s not right.
“When we were assessed for Universal Credit they had to take my earnings into account as well, so Eddie only got £39 a month.
“Going from two full-time wages to being on benefits is horrific. You assume the system will be there to support you when crisis hits. This couldn’t be further from the truth.”
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You’re worried about your loved one and at the same time you’re worrying about money... going from two full-time wages to being on benefits is horrific