A terminally ill mother and grandmother with stage four ovarian cancer was left with just £6 to survive after being told she did not qualify for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) she was already receiving.
Denise Bates, 50, from Newcastle, had fought and overcome cancer four years ago but was tragically informed at the start of this year that it had returned and is now receiving palliative chemotherapy.
Ms Bates’ daughter Terri said her mother had previously been receiving PIP but was assessed by a private contractor who attended her home.
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Terri, 28, indicated that the assessment included questions that did not take into account the terminal extent of the illness and added that, following the decision, her mother was informed she could move on to Universal Credit to start seeking full-time employment.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty recently indicated in his final report that the principles underpinning the social contract created by William Beveridge are “being overturned” and, in the process, “great misery has been inflicted” upon the working poor, single mothers, the disabled and, in this particular case, a terminally ill lady.
These are the precisely the people for whom PIP was created to support.
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