Cancer sufferer judged fit to work

THE Government has been told to treat sick people more “humanely” after a North Yorkshire man was judged fit to work despite being seriously ill with cancer.

A Tory MP has raised concerns with Ministers and Citizens Advice has warned it has “great concerns” over the system of testing under reforms to sickness benefit.

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith intervened after a constituent with bowel cancer was ruled able to work despite his illness meaning a colostomy bag needed changing 16 times a day.

The man is now appealing against the verdict of the “work capability assessment” to see if he was eligible for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), introduced in 2008 to replace Incapacity Benefit and Income Support for new claimants.

Experts at Citizens Advice say the tests – which check whether people are able to walk 50 metres or pick up an item off the floor – are a “blunt instrument” that often fail to take into account the impact of people’s illnesses.

It received more than 45,000 calls in the first three months of this year from people claiming they had been wrongly judged, including people with terminal

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