I
don't wish to piss and moan and depress you if you're reading this,
but there are a few things that I want to bring to your attention.
Things are getting progressively harder for disabled people like me.
I
recently went to London to see my sister and do a bit of sightseeing.
For the last few years, travelling on the underground has been free
for me. I would show the guards my Transport for Greater Manchester concessionary pass, and they
would let me through. Last weekend, they told me it was only valid in
Greater Manchester and I had to buy a ticket like everyone else.
This
begs the question, has there been a change in the rules or have
various Transport for London employees, in the past, let me in for free when I should
have had to buy a ticket?
Meanwhile,
the UK's Working Tax Credit claimants are being moved over to
Universal Credit, as you've probably heard in the news. As a result
of this, my tax credits have been stopped and are currently under
review. I forgot about this, and I have been fined for claiming free
dental treatment. I've asked my GP surgery for advice on this, as
this was a mistake I made due to having memory difficulties. My GP's
receptionist has asked me to write an explanation of why I made the
mistake (the memory condition that made me eligible for tax credits
in the first place), so I submitted an essay to my GP's surgery. I'm
waiting to hear back from that. Also, with DLA having changed to PIP,
I've managed- after some time- to get an award for the latter newer
benefit. Despite my circumstances being largely the same as when I
first applied for DLA, I've only been awarded half the money I was in
receipt of. This is also despite the treatment I was receiving
escalating from neuropsychology and Social Services up to
Psychotherapy, which is low-level Mental Health. Severity of
treatment for condition goes up, money goes down.
I've
been prescribed antidepressant Sertraline since the start of the
year. It's helping me make some progress, but one of the numerous
things bringing me down is that there is further confusion over
whether PIP allows me free prescriptions. It appears I do, from
various websites, but the chemist employees weren't sure themselves,
so I paid to avoid ANOTHER potential penalty charge. I confirmed yesterday that
I didn't have to pay, so got the cost refunded. I don't seem to have a
valid NHS exemption certificate (the one I had expired), but I showed
them my recent award of PIP that I got from the DWP. This was
sufficient. (Apparently they don't issue cards now, and checks are
done automatically. Or something.)
This
is all very confusing. I'm no dummy, although I, as repeatedly
stated, have a few problems. I don't understand what I'm entitled to,
but my mum (retired primary school teacher) and dad (retired customs
officer) don't understand it either, and they're non-disabled,
capable people. So if none of us understand what the hell we're
supposed to do, how does the average Joe get by? The answer? A lot of
the time, they don't. This is why we're seeing masses of homeless
people on the street of every city, and I'm afraid that, worst coming
to worst, I may have to join them one day.
If
anyone from the government is reading this thinking, you've
actually done something wrong, and you're going to get in trouble-
do me a favour and tell me who it is I'm supposed to get advice from,
then make sure they DO THEIR JOB and don't just palm me off and tell
me 'there are other people who need support more.' I've heard these
excuses before and they won't wash.
I'm
waiting to hear back about this dental fine. I'm waiting to hear back
about Universal Credit. I'm waiting to hear back from TFL. I was
waiting back to hear from the Employee Assistance Scheme in work;
after a problem with my voicemail (that people calling me could use
even though I hadn't set it up) I managed to get in touch with them.
I've given them some information on my situation... and I'm now
waiting to hear back from them.
I
think what's important in situations like this is to
compartmentalise- to accept that each one of these is a challenge to
be overcome, but I'm not going to beat them all at once- especially
not at Christmas. I've worked on all of this over the last few days.
It's now the weekend. I'll come back to it later, and for the time
being, enjoy myself with friends and on my own with a book, and try
not to think about money and stress.
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