In the UK, healthcare is constantly under scrutiny, as the government attempts to improve policies and cut down on budgets. In recent years, however, the policies for the “fit to work” assessment are getting worse.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) requires a Work Capability Assessment that evaluates whether a prospective employee is fit to work, unfit to work, or fit to work, subject to work modifications.

The condition is determined by the test that’s run, as well as medical evidence.

This is exactly what’s been happening to several families across the UK. Shortly after getting their notifications that they are “fit to work”, disabled people are dying of the condition that would make them “unfit to work”, and continue to make them eligible for welfare.

People with disabilities, or other medical conditions that prevent them from working, receive an allowance to help finance their personal care. By declaring these people as “fit to work”, their allowance is cut off and instead they get unemployment benefits, which are smaller amounts of money. A boat load of messages telling them to get a job and attend job workshops then proceed to be sent in the mail.

The controversy of the “fit to work” (FTW) assessment lies in how the results are decided.

When people have to get a FTW assessment, they can get a psychological assessment, a medical assessment, or both.

If someone doesn’t agree with the “fit to work” ruling, they can appeal the assessment.

However, there have been several cases where people didn’t even get the chance to do this. People with disabilities have died the day of, or a few weeks after, receiving the assessment. Living with a condition such as degenerative lung disease or cancer is hard enough, but losing money, makes it even harder to maintain a humane way of life.

For some families, suspension of welfare can lead to them losing their home or starving. As a result, the test has even triggered suicides. The tragedy is that 60% of assessments have been found to be wrong.

The DWP is working to improve the “fit to work” assessment. Hopefully, in the process, they will take more care to avoid malpractice in an attempt to minimize budgets.