By Locals see benefits cut due to hospital stays
Hundreds of people across East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire have seen their benefits cut due to long stays in hospital.
Government rules state they will no longer be entitled to personal independence payments (PIP) if they spend 28 days or more in hospital.
PIPs are designed to help those a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability or have difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of your condition. It can still be claimed even if you work, have savings or receive other benefit payments.
However, some families say there are extra expenses during that period.
North and North East Lincolnshire saw 140 cases each of people having their payments suspended.
The Government stated: “The rule avoids taxpayers paying twice, and the number of suspensions is “very small” compared to the overall number of claimants.”
Nationally, suspensions during that time period increased from 30,860 in 2020, to 45,850 in 2022.
Learning disability charity Mencap’s head of policy, Dan Scorer, told Greatest Hits Radio: “This group of people are more likely to need lengthy hospital admissions due to their often-complex health needs.
“Due to the complexity of the barriers they face in communicating their needs, they rely heavily on family members and carers, who know them well, to advocate for them and support them in the hospital environment and to tolerate medical interventions.
“The loss of financial support can have a detrimental impact on the ability of family members and carers to support the person at a key time, throughout a lengthy hospital admission.”
A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that disabled people get all the support to which they are entitled.
“It is a long-standing rule that payment of extra costs benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment, is suspended after the first 28 days in a hospital or similar institution, to avoid double provision from public funds.
“While the number of hospitalisation suspensions has gone up so has the number of PIP awards, suspensions still form a very small proportion of the overall PIP caseload.”
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