Cancer patient is “not sick enough” for Carer’s Allowance

By Mary Dennehy

THE refusal of the carer’s allowance to a man who provides full-time care to a Tallaght woman with terminal cancer has been described as a “new low” for the Department of Social Protection.

Patrick Mulligan (60) cares for his friend of 40 years Patricia Slevin (63) in their council home in Tymon North, where they have been co-tenants for the past 17 years.

In 2007, Patricia was diagnosed with breast cancer and a decision was made for one of her breasts to be removed.

However, Patricia’s operation was cancelled after follow-up tests discovered cancer in her bones and spine.

After a number of bouts of chemotherapy and bone-strengthening treatment, Patricia was hopeful that she would go into remission.

However, sadly, tests showed that the cancer had spread into her lymph nodes.

“I’ve been on a programme of chemo and other treatments since”, Patricia told The Echo.

“The treatment is keeping me alive but there is no cure for me.

“In the last few years the treatment has taken its toll, I’m just existing and don’t leave the house unless I’ve to go to the hospital.

“There’s days I can’t eat, days I can’t get out of the bed.

“Paddy does everything for me. He gets the shopping, my prescriptions, does the washing, ironing, prepares all of my food, washes me, dresses me and keeps me company.

“He helps me up and down the stairs and cleans my commode.”

She added: “My son was caring for me up until a year ago, and was getting the Carers’ Allowance, but as I became more dependant, there were things I didn’t want my son to have to do.

“If it wasn’t for Paddy I would have had to leave my home and go into a hospice.”

Last September Paddy applied for the Carer’s Allowance and despite outlining Patricia’s needs, the claim was refused on the basis that Patricia ‘was not so invalided or disabled as to require full-time care and attention as laid down in the Carer’s Allowance legislation’.

Patricia said: “They basically said that I wasn’t sick enough.

“It was such an insult and very upsetting. How do they know what my daily life is like?

“They didn’t even send someone out to assess my situation, the decision was made by somebody sitting behind a desk.”

Paddy is currently on job seekers, with the carer’s allowance increasing his weekly allowance from around €188 to €204 – an increase of €16.

Paddy said: “At this stage it’s not about the money, it’s the way we have been treated.

“It’s so unfair, not just for us but all of the people out there struggling, and we’re fighting for them too.

“Like how sick does a person have to be?”

With representation from local Sinn Féin TD Sean Crowe, Paddy appealed the decision, a move which has been “strongly supported” in a letter by Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross, which outlined the “pivotal” role that Paddy appears to play in relation to Patricia’s care at home.

A GP medical report also confirmed that Patricia’s condition has severely affected her ability to reach, lift, carry, bend, kneel, sit, rise, stand, climb stairs and walk.

Deputy Crowe said: “Patricia is a seriously ill woman who is currently a patient and receiving palliative care from Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross and is visited at her home by their specialist nurses.

“I am decades working with various State and Government departments, and Ministers, on behalf of my constituents.

“I should not be surprised by their replies, but I was shocked and enraged after reading the official correspondence and stock reply from the Department of Social Protection.

“To suggest, as the letter did, that Patricia is not ill enough to require full-time care is quite frankly insulting, ignores the facts, and is lacking any scintilla of credibility.

“This decision is downright wrong and it confirms that the current system of Social Protection is broken and not fit for purpose.”

In reponse to Paddy’s appeal, the Social Welfare Appeals Office said that some time “will elapse” before the appeals officer will be in a position to look at the case, due to a large workload.

According to Deputy Crowe: “I had asked the Minister [of Social Protection Leo Varadkar], given the terminal nature of the illness, if the appeal could be fast tracked but his written reply doesn’t appear to suggest he has taken my personal request on board.

“Weeks later I am still stunned by the lack of any urgency or sympathy and the standard official reply from Minister Varadkar’s office.

“This case sets a new low in standards.. and highlights a system that is clearly indifferent to the plight of some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

When contacted by The Echo the Department of Social Protection said it does not comment on individual cases.