Welfare system changes 'detrimental to people's mental health' in Teesside
The Government outlined plans to save £5 billion yesterday
We are hearing how the Government changes to the welfare system is going to be detrimental to people's mental health in Teesside.
The Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, outlined her plans yesterday to save £5 billion by 2030.
Trevor Sherwood, co-creator of LilyAnne's Wellbeing in Hartlepool, said: "The people that we support here are really worried that they're going to lose their income, because they're suffering with their mental health so much that they can't hold down a job, so they're really worried that their mental health's going to deteriorate and they're going to lose their ability to come out of the house, they're going to lose the support that they get.
"I work with a couple of people that are in work and they get PIP to help them go to work and they're afraid that they're going to lose that income, which helps them pay for fuel and things like that to get them to work, because they're afraid of getting the bus or whatever and they're afraid that actually they're going to have to leave work without that support.
"The situation with people who get support with their mental health they really feel that it's hard enough to get. I think there's something like 92 questions on a PIP assessment and they've already been diagnosed by a doctor, they've got the medication to help them, they're really struggling with their mental health and they've got to go through all of these questions to feel judged.
"Sometimes PIP and those payments are what people need to prevent them being admitted to mental health hospitals because it allows them to be mobile in the community, it allows them to get out, it allows them to socialise with other people and access support groups because they've got the means to be able to afford a taxi or to be able to afford petrol.
"We've spent years talking about mental health and it just feels like people have to prove that their mental health is real and that people aren't being believed. Everyone that I meet with mental health want to work, they want to live a fulfilled life but their physical mental health and anxiety prevents them from it.
"With mental health there's a lot of hidden disabilities that people can't see and they say 'oh, he's a young person', 'she's a young person' and they look physically well and fit. Some of the people I meet they wouldn't be able to sepnd an hour at work because of the levels of anxiety that they experience but saying that, people are better in work. People are happier around people.
"We should be supporting people into work and we should be supporting people within a pathway to get them into volunteering or working to help improve their overall mental health overtime, but it shouldn't be this forced thing where people feel that they're being judged."
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