Need Some Help Regarding Medical Negligence

Yes a helpline with out a queuing system or voice mail-fustrating as hell and has taken weeks to get through- need preferably a recommendation to bar probono to get my situation sorted.

[content removed - moderator]

I also have the choice of paying for water bill,heating or electricity or eating once a day.

A debt relief order may be an idea as well, but only can do it once every 6 years upto 15k

Hi Stuffed,

I'm sorry to hear that you're still having trouble. As my colleagues mentioned earlier, the NAS helpline is available for practical advice and support. The contact number is 0808 800 4104, and it is open 10-4 on weekdays. Please do try again if you've had difficulty in the past.

A feedback form for comments relating to the services provided by the NAS can be found at the bottom of our contact us page.

Regards,

Alex - Mod

Well update the NAS are chocolate teapot useless,as not a residential client they can charge for=Zero interest.

I have found a solicitor who seems keen, 202 pages of notes on PDF trust thought I would never read and a final letter from NHS Partnership due this week.

 I forget to mention I also have debilitating  stomach and joint problems and have been trapped on a toilet for 3 weeks with doctor home visits-off to specialist again hopefully.

I get lower rate mobility and if it wasn't for unfairly relying on family I would be stuck with £25 one way to town taxi instead of a car that isn't included in weekly out goings.

There is no dignity in the situation and haven't had a holiday I could pay for in years.

If it wasn't for the fact that the bastards won't get the better of me- some days I could quite happily hang myself and leave a note saying what a **** take the situation is.

Dignity and part of society is a joke-poverty and exclusion more like.

Goatworshiper said:

Hey, N'power are doing one of those kind of tariff's if you can get on it.

They might be now, but I bet they won't be soon - they're part of the "Warm Home Discount Scheme" (which is what the new Government scheme is called)

And I've just realised it's not a discount on my Gas bill - it's a discount on my Electricity bill!

Which is just stupid! I have gas fired central heating!

And both my Gas and Electricity is being switched to the standard tariff.

Hey, N'power are doing one of those kind of tariff's if you can get on it. 

Reading that report I noticed 10.20ish was the minimum required hourly rate for a decent standard of living. I get £8.95 and only get 18.5hours a week. I can't claim "credits" as I dont work 24 hours or have a minimum wage. Complete madness. 

Also were I work, most of the public transport got axed, so I can't get to work on public transport. I need a car to do the 20 odd mile trip. Literally no jobs in my town, NHS & ASDA are the biggest employers. I think it's something like 19 applicants per vacancy.

Let them eat cake.

And it only gets worse.

For example, I got a letter from my energy supplier recently stating that due to changes brought in by the government they can no longer offer the special 'essentials' tariff that I've been on, and from the end of this month I will be put on to the standard tarrif (approximately 1.5 times my current tariff). And in March next year, if I meet the eligibility criteria, I might get a rebate on my winter heating costs.

So my entire gas costs will go up by 1.5 times, and I might get a rebate on some small part of that.

Thanks, Con-Dem government, thanks.

I find the cost of food & fuel thoroughly depressing, looking at this reinforces my feeling towards it.

In which case, may I ask where you got your £25 figure from?

£40 per week for a single person living alone is not unreasonably high, particularly given the recent rises in the cost of food.

For example, see this aritcle from 2008: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/02/welfare

A single person living in Britain needs to earn at least £13,400 a year before tax to afford a basic but acceptable standard of living, according to a report published by the Joseph Rowntree foundation...

...The panel decided that a single person without children needed to spend £158 a week, while a couple with two children needed £370 a week...

...How the weekly budgets break down:

Single person, working age 
Food and drink £48.07 
Clothing and footwear £6.30 
Housing costs £83.42 
Household goods and services £19.64 
Personal goods and services (inc health) £5.99 
Transport £17.03 
Social and cultural activities £29.73 

Total £210.18

...

Couple with two children
Food and drink £103.53 
Clothing and footwear £29.26 
Housing costs £123.56 
Household goods and services £27.11 
Childcare £190.47 
Personal goods and services (inc health) £27.39 
Transport £35.02 
Social and cultural activities £90.08 
Total £626.43 

Total excluding childcare £435.96

And that was 4 years ago, before all the recent price increases (though, now I've found the 2010 and 2012 reports (see next post), it appears the figure went down and then back up).

And note that a family of four spends only a little more than double what a single person spends, per week, on food.

And here's an article on the same report, including links to excerpts from the reports themselves, from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7481927.stm

And the JRF report from 2010: http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/MIS-2010-report_0.pdf which puts per-week food costs for a single person in 2010 at £44.34

And the 2012 report: http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/minimum-income-standards-2012-full.pdf which puts it at £48.25

I wasn't. It was two different sentences. I do think £40 for one person is unreasonably high and there really is no reason why someone needs to spend that much.

stranger said:

...Even though I am on a restricedt diet, I could quite easily spend less than £25 a week on food... ...(family of 4)...

If you're basing that £25 per week off what you spend on the whole family and dividing by 4, stranger, then don't. It's always cheaper, per-person, to buy for a family than it is to buy for one (there's a limit to how much 'bulk buying' you can do as an individual because you end up wasting food).

(and, though I agree with you on the point about cleaning products, £40 per week on food alone, for one, is not unreasonably high)

Is there any reason why you need to spend £40 a week on food and cleaning stuff? You don't need to buy cleaning stuff each week. Even though I am on a restricedt diet, I could quite easily spend less than £25 a week on food.

Your electricity sounds very expensive. We (family of 4) spend double what you do per week in one month or so.

Scorpion0x17 said:

Sorry, I wasn't implying that you don't have reason to feel hard-done by or to complain, and I wish you success in getting things changed, just pointing out that some of us have to make do with even less money.

 No offence taken and I tried the advice line and it was constantly engaged.

My friend has uncovered some information and hopefully the local papers will run it.

I do often wonder what the NAS does for those of us that do not require 24 hour chargable care?

I think we are the hidden disability section of society that are treated extremely shabbily. 

Sorry, I wasn't implying that you don't have reason to feel hard-done by or to complain, and I wish you success in getting things changed, just pointing out that some of us have to make do with even less money.

the local NHS partnership/housing departmemt were unable to provide accomodation and only through a serverely disabled relative did I get a chance to live independantly.

The point your missing is I have no control over heating and electricity costs and water rates etc, I do make a point of not leaving heating on on and lights etc turned off.

My point is that an illegal assessment using values 20 years out of date is used for a charging scheme that does not recognise utilities bills at any where near current rate.

I get

Incapacity Benefit

Income support

DLA

Sect 25 exemption from council tax 

and NHS Partnership want to charge me £160 month towards Direct Payments, will not accept any utilities bills in the assessment allowances which put heating at £5 week 

Stuffed said:

£159 week

If that's what you receive in benefits, excluding Housing Benefit, then you get more than me.

Hi Stuffed

No wonder you are angry. You are clearly in a tough position and could do with some practical advice. This is what the NAS helpline is for. It is free to call or email and you will be able to talk through your situation with an advisor. They may also be able to refer you on to a specialist to talk about your case.

The contact number is 0808 800 4140
It is open 10-4 weekdays.

There is more information on our website here:

http://www.autism.org.uk/Our-services/Advice-and-information-services/Autism-Helpline.aspx

Please do try and get in touch.. they will do their best to advise you.

Bob - Mod

Try this for difficult

 £8268 pa =£159 week

 £1920 illegal charges as assesment not using current retail or consumer price index for values example heating £5 week and has not changed prior to 2007.

(checked with DLS)

leaves £6348=£122.07 week

Electricity £26.76 week

Water rates £10.25 week

Heating oil £ 20.76 week based on 52 weeks

Food and cleaning materials £40 week

leaving £24.30 to provide transport, buy occassional clothes as required etc

So if i sound cheesed off I am, I am in an impossible situation of poverty_ for all the grand ideals of the Autism Act, the Equality Act and the Disabled persons Act etc.

 Can someone answer a simple question? If the NAS can afford a city road address and allegedly champions Aspergers syndrome-why is it that the more able seem to be left in an impossible situation?

Could it be there is no profit in the situation unless NAS can get person in to residential accomodation and charge social services and council etc. 

 So yes I am deeply peeved, I could quite cheefully hang the next person to say we understand and it can't be so bad.

The situation is bad, I have had to rely on family to help with what they can.

Hi Stuffed,

I'm sorry to hear you are in such a frustrating and upsetting situation, and that you feel the forum hasn't helped you. We try to make it a place where people can share their experiences, so we usually wait a while to see if other people can help before a mod posts. At the moment we also cannot often check for new posts more than once a day. This should improve soon, though.

We do have a list of solicitors who can help with autism-related legal situations. You can find their details on our Autism Services Directory, here:

http://www.autism.org.uk/directory

Solicitors are under 'Advice and advocacy' and then 'Advocacy (legal)'. You can also get their details from our helpline, on 0808 800 4104. The helpline adviser will be able to discuss the situation with you, which might also help. I hope that you get some advice soon, good luck!

philippab - mod