Posted: Monday 8 December 2003
9,000 people every year in England and Wales are being forced to live on a total of £15.50 per week as a result of spending 52 weeks or more in hospital with mental health problems, Mind announced today (1). The leading mental health charity is using the festive season to launch a campaign for benefits equality for long-stay patients. At the same time new figures from Abbey, one of Mind’s corporate partners, revealed that the average person in England and Wales will spend £446 on celebrating Christmas this year (2).
To illustrate the immense difficulty of living on such a meagre allowance, MP and Health Select Committee member John Austin will today (8 December 2003) join mental health campaigners in London and attempt to see how far £15.50 will go towards his weekly shopping list.
Under current legislation, people who need to stay in hospital for a year or more automatically have any benefits slashed to £15.50 per week. This sum is intended to cover all necessities such as toiletries, presents for family or friends, the occasional cup of coffee or transport for home visits, and in most cases, simply doesn’t cover the essentials.
Moreover, the loss of housing benefits and other benefits means that after twelve consecutive months in hospital, many patients can’t afford to keep on a home to go back to, with devastating effects.
Patients are reliant on the hospital not only for their meals, but for their clothing too, and many find themselves in the degrading position of being dependent on old, used items and unsuitable cast-offs. Patients and professionals agree that not being able to pay for things like haircuts, presents for family or friends, or simple distractions such as reading materials or walkman batteries, has a real detrimental effect on people’s self esteem, and therefore their recovery. Although the Government has changed the time limit for receiving full benefits from three months to twelve, Mind believes that it is unacceptable for any in-patient with mental health problems to have their recover so seriously hampered by poverty.
Comments gathered by Mind from long-stay patients affected by benefits cuts include:
Richard Brook, Chief Executive of Mind, said:
"It is an outrage that in this day and age, in a civilised society, over 9,000 people are being forced to live so far below the poverty line, and to re-build their lives after illness and prepare themselves to get back into the community at the same time. It is thrown into particularly sharp contrast at Christmas, when there are people who can’t even to think about buying presents for their children. We want the Government to act on this matter quickly and at least double the amount of benefits long-term patients get, to save such a large number of people from living in such dire poverty."
Mind is encouraging people to send a Christmas card to their MP to highlight the plight of long-term patients living on £15.50 a week. An Early Day Motion laid down by the charity has received a phenomenal amount of MP support, achieving over 70 signatories in the first 24 hours, and over 80 to date.
Gill Earle of Derby Patients’ Council, who have been campaigning on this issue for several years, and who will be shopping with John Austin, said:
"It’s heart-breaking to see grown adults who deserve respect, and who can’t even to afford to socialise over a 15-pence cup of tea, or dress themselves in anything other than hospital cast-offs. I hope this campaign will make the Government take action, because the situation at the moment is causing a huge amount of suffering to some of the most vulnerable people in the country."
Notes
1 Department of Health figures show that 8,150 people in England spent more than 52 weeks in hospital under the care of a mental health consultant in 2002. HOWIS (Health of Wales Information Service) figures showed that 615 people spent more than 52 weeks in psychiatric hospitals and units in Wales up to 31 March 2002.
2 Abbey's 2003 Christmas spending research was carried out by BMRB. Interviews were carried out using a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system by BMRB. A total sample of 950 interviews with adults aged 15+ living in Great Britain was achieved between the 23 Oct-2 Nov 2003.