The first hearing of the Work and Pensions Committee’s inquiry into the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) takes place today. We will be following the inquiry very closely as progressive conditions is a topic that is due to be discussed.
In simple terms, progressive conditions are those that get worse over time - prominent examples include Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s as well as the chronic autoimmune disease Rheumatoid Arthritis.
The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) and three other leading national charities - Cystic Fibrosis Trust, MS Society and Parkinson’s UK – are all calling for changes to the WCA to enable claimants with progressive conditions to be more fairly assessed.
Our research indicates that between 2008 and 2011 45% of new claimants with these four progressive conditions were placed into the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) and deemed to eventually be able to return to work, whilst of those with rheumatoid arthritis only 16% were placed into the Support Group.
Those in the WRAG are expected to take steps towards employment based on an expected prognosis of recovery and likely return to work. However, these prognosis reports directly contradict the definition of a progressive condition, which can only get worse, causing great distress to these claimants.
Even those with a prognosis report of return to work being unlikely in the
longer termhave found themselves in the WRAG. Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics record that in over 100,000 incidences claimants in the WRAG had been given a prognosis report of two years or more.
Not only does this seem deeply inappropriate but placing these types of claimant in the WRAG also leaves them at risk of the time limiting of Contributory ESA and potential sanctions. Research by our charities also indicates that ATOS is not seeking further medical evidence on which to base prognosis reports, or placement in the WRAG, for those with progressive conditions. This calls into question the reliability of the decisions being made.
We believe the ESA and the WCA are not meeting the needs of those progressive conditions. Rather than providing appropriate levels of support to these claimants, the current system penalises those who want to work but are simply no longer able to.
In our experience, people with Rheumatoid Arthritis only give up work reluctantly, once their symptoms have become too severe and debilitating. Indeed, many have been retired on medical grounds. For people with progressive conditions, being told they must eventually return to work is therefore devastating and nonsensical.
The current Work and Pensions inquiry provides an excellent opportunity to examine the ESA and WCA from the perspective of those with progressive conditions and to make recommendations to correct the current injustice.
We hope Dr Paul Litchfield, who has been appointed by DWP to a conduct a series of independent reviews into the effectiveness of the WCA, will also be listening to the Committee’s discussions today and seize the opportunity to include progressive conditions within the scope of his next review.
Laura Wetherly, Government Affairs Officer, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society