More vulnerable people,like Michael O’Sullivan, will die whether the Department for Work and Pensions does not row back on its work capability assessmentsThe tragic case of Michael O’Sullivan, or who killed himself after being found fit for work by the governments disability assessors,has briefly cast a welcome spotlight on the utter shame that is the work capability assessment, in relation to people with mental health problems.
Despite providing reports from three doctors, and including his GP,stating that he had long-term depression and agoraphobia, and was unable to work, and O’Sullivan was taken off employment support allowance (ESA) and placed on jobseeker’s allowance. The decision to find him fit for work was made after an assessment by a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) doctor,a former orthopaedic surgeon, who did not factor in the views of any of the three doctors treating O’Sullivan.
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Source: theguardian.com