Woman ‘not sick enough’ for carer to get allowance passes away
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A CANCER patient who was told she was “not sick enough” for her full-time carer to receive Carer’s Allowance has passed away, just months after her carer was initially refused the payment.
Patricia Slevin (63) was cared for by Patrick Mulligan (60), her friend of 40 years, in their council house in Tymon North.
Patricia was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, but follow-up tests then showed that she also had cancer in her bones and her spine.
After Patricia underwent chemotherapy and bone-strengthening treatments, in the hope of going into remission, it was then found that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.
Paddy helped Patricia with a number of her needs, including bathing, washing and changing her dressings.
As was previously reported in The Echo, Paddy applied for Carer’s Allowance last September, but 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’.
Paddy told The Echo: “They refused me on the grounds that Patricia wasn’t sick enough, and then five months later she died.
“She was very upset about it, and I was very upset about it.
“I had been looking after her for two years.
“What really upset her was that this decision was made by a person behind a desk.
“She was dying in front of me. How sick does a person need to be?”
Paddy received Carer’s Allowance last January, after appealing the original refusal.
Paddy said that he is speaking out for anyone who may be going through a situation similar to the one himself and Patricia went through.
“Don’t accept it if they say no – chase it. You have to fight your corner.”
The carer, who will now face having to go back onto Jobseeker’s Allowance in September, said he would like to continue caring for people on a part-time basis, but he is facing difficulty with this as he needs to secure a qualification in order to carry out the work, despite having cared for Patricia for two years.
