By Adrian Mullan
As many as one cancer sufferer per week from the Omagh area is having his or her claim for Disability Living Allowance rejected, while in many cases, people who claim depression, have their claims more readily accepted.
Omagh Town councillor, Johnny McLaughlin, said that the DLA assessors were practically changing the goal posts in that they were making up their own criteria and in some cases ignoring the medical evidence of an applicant's GPs. He further claimed that medical assessors employed by the Department of Social Development were adopting a broad brush approach to claimants with reports on those suffering from cancer varying little from those submitted in respect of people with arthritis, or gall stones.
He added that the tactic of the DLA assessors appears to be to reject most claims out of hand, thus deterring people with genuine debilitating illnesses from re-applying for what is their rightful entitlement. He said that some people simply do not have the will to go up against the system irrespective of the severity of their condition.
Many people who have an alcohol dependency claim DLA vicariously -stating depression rather than their addiction on the application.
Cllr McLaughlin urged people who have their claim rejected not to go for an immediate appeal, rather to request to have their cases reviewed. That will allow them to decide for themselves whether or not they have grounds for an appeal.
He also urged applicants to make sure that they had the support of their own GPs for any DLA application and urged local GPs to take seriously their patients' concerns and make time for them.
A spokesperson for the Department of Social Development (DSD) said, "The rules governing entitlement to Disability Living Allowance are particularly complex because eligibility is based, not on a person's particular illness or medical condition, but the impact it has on a persons daily living. A DLA claim can have 12 potential different outcomes.
The spokesperson continued, "There is no rule of law that corroboration of the claimants own evidence is necessary but the decision maker should not accept evidence, uncritically. EMP's who undertake visits for the Social Security Agency are specifically trained in the benefit legislation and administration to enable them have a better understanding of the purpose of their visit and the requirements of the decision makers."
