Report to the People
12th July 2004
One
Fight at a Time
If
you’re lucky enough never to have been diagnosed with cancer, put down your
paper for a moment and, having taken a second to count your blessings, reflect
on how the news might make you feel.
Scared?
Scared of dying? Of leaving loved ones behind?
Of the pain, suffering and unpleasant treatment which lies ahead?
Undoubtedly.
But
research suggests that, after the fear of pain, the second biggest cause of
stress for cancer patients is financial worry.
I
suppose it’s understandable for those of us who haven’t battled cancer to
assume that, if you were diagnosed with the disease, considerations other than
fighting and beating it would take a back seat. But, when you think about it, struggling to get by when, for
example, you’ve been forced to give up your job and your husband or wife has
reduced their working hours to help care for you, must put you under huge
additional pressure.
What
makes the situation worse, says a new study commissioned by Macmillan Cancer
Relief, is the fact that there are piles of Disability Living Allowance and
Attendance Allowance lying unclaimed. In
Scotland, the report found, 64% of people with terminal cancer – nearly 10,000
individuals – did not claim disability benefits.
That amounts, believe it or not, to almost £15 million.
In
response to the obvious question of “why?”, the study highlights three
reasons: the forms are too difficult to fill in; patients don’t realise
benefits are on offer; and there is a reluctance in some to claim benefits.
To
get the last point out of the way first, no-one should be made to feel ashamed
to claim what is rightfully theirs. If
you don’t put the money in your pocket, it will go into the government’s.
And do you think they’ll feel embarrassed about that?
On
the other two issues, as someone who goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid
filling in anything more lengthy than a fixed-odds coupon, I can well understand
how the prospect of completing a DLA claim form would put anyone off.
I also appreciate that the benefits system is complex and does not, to
put it mildly, always make to what you are entitled immediately apparent.
Thankfully,
however, help is at hand. If you
(or indeed a relative) need expert advice or assistance in claiming, you can
call either the Welfare Rights Office on 714461, or the Financial Fitness
Resource Team on 729239.
If
you’re fighting cancer, you’ve got a big enough battle on your hands.
You don’t need to be fighting poverty too.
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