Imagine if all ICS & Trusts switched their financial models towards prevention & community investment. Acute hospitals overwhelmed by “demand” is a sign of our systemic failure to do this at scale & pace. Instead of pulling people out of the river let’s try to prevent falling in.

Mel Stride my brother is not sick he has a significant life-long cognitive disability. He is not a cost, he's a human being.

Ian Birrell LDEngland LDE Self-Advocates Learning Disability Today Rightful Lives Saba Salman Learning Disability Matters for Families RCN Learning Disability Nursing Forum Learning Disability Senate The Disability Union BBC News (UK) ITV News

Mel Stride says it is an “open question” if people with learning disabilities should receive cash disability benefits - which sounds horribly like the prelude to a pre-election attack scapegoating the country’s most disempowered community

Every bit of my life outside of adult social work leads me to support #AssistedDying Every bit of my adult social work experience makes me terrified of it.

Here's an example of some of the costs:
New cane: £51
Cane tips: Anything from £4.25 to £17 depending on the type.
JAWS screen reader: £735
Two further updates to JAWS: £240
Cost of food shop delivery (can't drive and closest shop won't assist): Anything from £3 to £7

SET REMINDER! - If you are voting at your polling station on Thursday 2 May you’ll need to bring photo ID. Check if your ID is accepted orlo.uk/IfpHz

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The DWP consultation on PIP is out. The gov is trying to take away a vital benefit for so many disabled people

Closes 22nd July

gov.uk/government/con…

The work & pensions minister says the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is 'thousands of pounds a month'

If you qualify for the higher weekly rate & get the mobility part you get £184.30 per week, which works out at £798.63/month. So you don't get thousands of pounds a month

Mel Stride DWP consultation published 29 April 2024:

“Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper”

gov.uk/government/con…

Consultation open till 22 July 2024

#welfare #PIP #DWP

Thinking about going to university but worried about the tuition fees? The Southwark Scholarship Scheme has helped over 130 young people to pursue their chosen university course. Applications are now open - apply before 31 May 2024 orlo.uk/1NT09

Family of teenager who died after over a year in hospital told by DWP to pay back £8,000 in benefits.

Despite closing their shop and caring for her day in, day out in hospital, DWP rules meant they had to pay back carers allowance and #UniversalCredit .

news.sky.com/story/family-o…

Shoutout to the staff at ASDA tonight who saw me tic and decided that it meant I must have stolen. They kept me for 45 mins whilst they ‘made calls’ to see if #TouretteSyndrome existed. All I wanted was coriander and I ended up trying to prove my diagnosis to strangers? 🤯

People often justify refusing my Guide Dog access on the basis of potential fear of dogs.

But how does it work when someone is scared & we’re sharing a space?

Well it happened just now on the tube. As I boarded a person with a young child gasped “I’m scared of dogs!”

I was contacted by a medical advisor who revealed the shocking attitude of the DWP towards #DisabledCarers .

Put simply, the department doesn't believe a disabled person could care for another person.

The UN has found 'no significant progress' in the UK government's treatment of disabled people in the seven years since it was found in breach of its obligations under the #UNCRPD

Shocking, but not surprising. Not at all

Bowel cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the UK. It can be detected early with screening when it's easier to treat. Do you know the symptoms? Do a quiz by 30 April for a chance to win a year’s supply of Andrex® toilet rolls orlo.uk/wl83o

📽️ Westminster debate: Over a quarter of carers live in poverty, rising to half of those who care for more than 35 hours a week.

45% of people receiving Carer's Allowance are struggling to make ends meet due to punitive policies limiting their ability to earn an income 🧵 (1/)

Had a Teams meeting with someone I once knew. Our last encounter was in a classroom. We had a racist teacher. 10+ years later she reaches out because she heard about me & wondered if we could collab., neither of us seemed to remember that we once knew each other, until...🧵

Do you need a FREE voter ID to vote at your polling station on 2 May? TODAY (24 April) is the deadline for applications. Apply now orlo.uk/mvJUt