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LETTERS

Scrap these care charges

28 October, 2021

‘We are all entitled to support services; women especially who have cared for people all our lives but when we are older or ill are denied the help we need’

• FURTHER to Rosemary Nicholson of Visually Impaired in Camden’s letter (Adult social care concerns, October 7) Camden is taking benefits from sick and severely disabled women through extortionate home care charges.

We are supporting a woman with advanced cancer, recently home from hospital, hit by charges starting at £116 per week for only seven-and-a-half hours of care.

She used to volunteer at Crossroads Women’s Centre and is a valued member of the community.

She has to have a hospital bed in her front room and is on continuing treatment. Because of the high home care bills and a letter threatening to take her to court, she cannot sleep.

WinVisible has written to Camden several times asking for the charges to be cancelled due to her extreme ill-health and disability expenses.

Despite her needs, she reduced the hours of care because she couldn’t afford the charges. Camden responded by increasing the percentage they charge for, clawing back most of her PIP (personal independence payment) daily living benefit.

Shameful!

Camden say she must fill in a form to prove her expenses – many of which they don’t even recognise.

She had to buy a specialist mattress costing several hundred pounds and Camden calculated this expense as £1.53 per week for the next five years!

Camden say they are following the Care Act, but a mother and daughter won an important legal victory against Norfolk County Council where the judge ruled that charging severely disabled people on benefits more than others is discriminatory and against the official guidance to councils, (Severely disabled woman wins her claim that council care charges are discriminatory).

We have challenged Camden’s charges increase since 2017. We know disabled women who dropped out of services, impoverished or stressed by being pursued for debt.

We are all entitled to support services; women especially who have cared for people all our lives but when we are older or ill are denied the help we need.

We are part of the Scrap Care Charges campaign by disabled people and family carers across London, England and Wales.

You can contact us on 020 7482 2496 or via win@winvisible.org and join the campaign:

 https://www.scrapcarecharges.com/join-a-campaign-group.

CLAIRE GLASMAN & DIDI ROSSI
WinVisible