12 March 2024 , 09:49
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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is testing a new scheme to make it quicker for those with severe disabilities to apply for benefits.
The Severe Disability Group (SDG) is being set up by the DWP to help identify claimants with the most severe and permanent conditions.
If you're found to be eligible and selected for the group, you'll be able to go through a fast-track application process for Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and employment and support allowance (ESA).
To qualify, you must have an irreversible or progressive condition, confirmed or managed by a secondary care specialist, with no realistic prospect of improvement. You must also need assistance from another person to complete two or more daily activities.
Certain cardiorespiratory conditions are also listed as qualifying conditions. These include three-vessel coronary artery disease, heart failure scored three or four on the New York Heart Association (NYHA), pulmonary arterial hypertension, and severe chronic respiratory conditions like COPD, fibrotic interstitial lung disease, and diffuse pleural thickening with grade five MRC breathlessness.
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Neurological conditions are also mentioned, including severe spinal cord injuries that cause a lot of disability, leading to greatly reduced movement, bladder problems and upper limb function issues. Severe acquired brain injury is also included.
This covers dementia or any other condition causing cognitive impairment where the person is in residential care or long-term hospital care or lives at home and needs 12 to 24 hour supervision.
Motor neurone disease, advanced Parkinson's disease, advanced multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, and strokes are also mentioned. Musculoskeletal or rheumatological conditions are also on the list.
Incurable cancer diagnosis, highly symptomatic where patient's Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status is greater than or equal to two and incurable cancer diagnosis where no suitable active treatment options exist or remain are also mentioned. Gastrointestinal or hepatic conditions like treatment resistant inflammatory bowel disease and end stage liver disease are also on the list.
Stage four or five chronic kidney disease (CKD is also on the list. Immune deficiency, highly symptomatic despite therapy, reduced functional status, aplastic anaemia unsuitable for transplant and some skin diseases are also mentioned.
Chronic pain and fatigue is also on the list alongside severe hearing loss and multiple impairments, like COPD, coronary artery disease, diabetes and obesity.
Mental, cognitive and intellectual impairments are also included, such as long-term schizophrenia, severe depression or bipolar disorder, long-term alcohol or drug dependency, borderline or severe personality disorder and more.
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