Cancer patients excused from work capability assessments

Cancer sufferers awaiting chemotherapy and those between courses will now be treated the same as patients already receiving treatment when claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

People with severe mental health problems will also be given more leeway in the benefit application process.

The government says this will mean fewer very sick people will be asked to attend a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to decide their eligibility for ESA.

Poor accommodation of cancer patients applying for ESA has previously been a serious complaint of the process and it appears the government has now been forced to act.

Changes to the WCA are part of an ongoing overhaul after a highly critical review of the system by Professor Malcolm Harrington at the end of last year and an earlier one for the previous administration.

Prof. Harrington called the WCA ‘impersonal,' ‘mechanistic' and said that it ‘lacks transparency.'

As a result, the coalition has indicated the revamped process will eventually include ‘a much greater personalisation of the whole assessment process and measures to provide additional safeguards to protect the most vulnerable current claimants of incapacity benefits.'

The government added: "New regulations published today will enact some of these changes, by treating people who are waiting for or between courses of chemotherapy in the same way as those already receiving it, and also extend the criteria for people with severe disability due to mental health conditions, meaning fewer very sick people will be asked to attend an assessment."

ESA replaced incapacity benefit in October 2008 and at present just 6% of claimants are placed into the most severely impaired Support Group where no work demands are put on them.

A further 16% are placed in the Work Related Activity Group and hence, expected to search for some form of work with help.

The rest are either found fit for work (36%) or drop their application - including those who die.