Terminally ill 'denied lifeline' as they are forced to go through 'burdensome' benefits process, finds report

Government definition called 'outdated, arbitrary and not based on clinical reality'

Terminally ill people are being denied the “lifeline they need” because they are forced them to go through a “burdensome” process to access benefits, MP's have warned.

The government's definition of terminal illness states that a person's death can be reasonably expected within six months.

But this was described as “outdated, arbitrary and not based on clinical reality” by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Terminal Illness (APPG).

The six-month rule, introduced into law 30 years ago, means terminally ill people expected to live longer than half a year are missing out on being able to have their benefits claims fast-tracked and simplified under special rules for those given a short time to live, a report from the MPs said.

In cases where patients were supported in their claims by doctors, assessors from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with no first-hand knowledge of the case were challenging their judgments in a “wholly inappropriate way”, it added.

The report comes after The Independent revealed more than 17,000 died between 2013 and 2018 while waiting to hear whether their claim for disability benefit had been successful.

As a result ministers were accused of “failing people at the most vulnerable point in their lives”.

Official figures showed one in four (4,330) of those who died were suffering from a form of cancer, while 270 had anxiety or depressive disorders. In more than half of cases (9,020), the main disability was not recorded.

"Forcing somebody living with terminal illness to go through an intrusive face to-face assessment process is unfair and undignified - unbelievably, this can even include asking people with months to live to attend work capability assessments," said Drew Hendry, who set up the APPG in 2018.

”This is to say nothing of the weeks-long delays and significant financial burdens families face getting the support they need if their doctor is unable to say with confidence that they will die within six months.“

Charities said the current system was not fit for purpose and was making people's lives a ”total misery“.

Matthew Reed, chief executive of Marie Curie, said: ”The inquiry's findings are clear - the current system is not fit for purpose and the 'six-month rule' does not make sense. Yet, every day it is making terminally ill people's lives a total misery, when they should be focused on living well for as long as they can.

“Whether somebody with a terminal illness has six months to live or longer, their needs are the same - it cannot be right to deny them access to the financial support they need based on a 'made-up policy fudge' invented decades ago.”

Researchers at the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department at University College London found that clinicians are frequently inaccurate when predicting how long those living with terminal illnesses will survive.

They found that one in four cases saw doctors give inaccurate prognoses when using the question: “Would you be surprised if this patient died within the next x months?”

Doctors meanwhile told the APPG it is “very difficult” to estimate how long someone with a non-cancer condition has to live.

A DWP spokesperson said: “Terminal illness is devastating and our priority is dealing with people’s claims quickly and compassionately. That’s why terminally ill people can get their claims fast-tracked and access benefits without a face-to-face assessment. We’re looking at how we can improve our processes and in the meantime we continue to work with charities to help terminally ill people access the support they need.”

Additional reporting by Press Association