Cut The Benefits, Cut The Life

A mother of a disabled woman who died by suicide when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) incorrectly stopped her benefits has demanded an investigation. Housebound Jodey Whiting died in 2017.

Her death came just two weeks after her Employment Support Allowance (ESA) was denied because she was considered fit for work. But Ms Whiting, from Stockton, lived in chronic physical pain and had her benefits wrongly stopped.

Mum Joy Dove has now met with Labour Party cabinet member Sir Stephen Timms, who is conducting and co-chairing the so-called Timms Review, which is exploring changes to Personal Independence Payment assessments and eligibility.

“Jodey was always just a name and a number to them – she was just one of millions and that must stop,” Joy said. She said: “Only a full public inquiry would get to the truth, for all the people that have been failed.”

“The way the DWP treated my daughter was brutal and disgraceful,” she said. “I’ll keep fighting to get justice for Jodey and all the other families who have lost loved ones.”

Bridget Dolan KC, the coroner’s counsel, said: “She wrote about not being able to pay her bills and having no food.

“In some she wrote about feeling breathless and having back pain and trying to pay her bills and being in debt.”

Another note stated: “I have had enough.” One note ended with the words: “Debt, debt, debt.”

At the inquest, Helga Swidenbank, a director at the DWP responsible for accessibility and disability services, said the department should have recognised that Whiting had “good cause” not to attend a health assessment, given her illnesses and mental health concerns.

In a statement, the DWP said: “The Department has acknowledged the findings of the Coroner, apologised to Jodey’s family for the failings in her case, and made significant improvements.”

I am shocked and hollowed with disbelief because this is a system that kills its own.

This lady didn’t fail the DWP; the DWP failed her, and her blood is on their paperwork.

A lot of people on PIP/benefits have paid decades into the system from working hard and unfortunately get hit with illnesses/disabilities.

They have a right to it! God forbid any of you ever find yourself in a situation where you have no control over your health.

Nobody chooses to be sick or incapacitated by long-term illness, and people who are born with impairments and have never been able to work to support the system clearly deserve it as well.

Nobody wants to live with a disability or poor health! Indeed, there are many who take advantage of others and make claims when there is nothing wrong with them. It is necessary to target these individuals! Individuals who have paid into the system, those who continue to do so, and those with severe disabilities who would not have been able to are all eligible and have submitted numerous medical records, letters from consultants, and healthcare providers.

Everyone who is born or develops a disability should have equal access to financial, emotional, and physical support.

Anyone who needs it should have it regardless; it shouldn’t be seen as something a person has “earned.” The majority of claimants would give it up in a second in return for good health and a pain-free life.

DWP. They come from a distant world, and it’s certainly not ours. Basically, they are working in a heartless system, and many are power-grabbing and just as hungry as the system they work in.

It’s extremely sad for this lady who has died because of the DWP’s inhumane decisions and mistakes, because for people struggling to survive emotionally, physically or mentally, it can be the last straw.

It’s time for us to start caring as human beings because no one should die as a result of bureaucracy or technological errors.

Strict Rules, Soaked Dignity — Hackney’s Apology Comes Bone‑Dry

The leaders of an East London academy where vulnerable pupils were found to have potentially been harmed by its disciplinary culture have declined to apologise to children affected.

A safeguarding review into Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (MVPA) in Hackney, praised for its excellent academic results, concluded in December 2025 that the school’s culture of “punishment no matter what” had been “particularly harmful” for a substantial minority of vulnerable students.

The report, commissioned by the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership and authored by Sir Alan Wood, looked at 342 reports from parents, pupils and staff describing a climate of fear, institutionalised shouting, a lack of reasonable adjustments for SEND children, and techniques designed to humiliate pupils. Sir Alan called on the school to end the practice of isolating children in corridors – known as ‘desking’ – and teachers screaming into pupils’ faces.

Sir Alan urged the school to differentiate between “acceptable voice raising” to gain attention, and “unacceptable shouting” used to humiliate individual pupils. It concluded: “Academic excellence that traumatises some pupils is not true excellence.”

On Wednesday (July 8), figures from MVPA and its multi-academy trust, Mossbourne Federation, claimed that their behaviour policy was “fit for purpose,” but that it was the culture and “implementation” that needed changing. As they faced a grilling by councillors for the first time since the report’s publication, senior figures from the trust said they had made “enormous progress”, but they would not “throw the baby out with the bathwater”.

Since MVPA is an academy, Hackney Council has limited enforcement power over the school, which is presently controlled by the Department for Education (DfE). The DfE was originally scheduled to attend the meeting but pulled out. During the tense meeting, two cabinet members accused the trust of “gender discrimination” by requiring pupils to make up extra time if they take toilet breaks during class.

A dossier of complaints which led to the damning review – usually reserved for cases of serious harm to children – included five reports from parents that pupils with no previous incontinence problems were soiling themselves or menstruating through their uniforms, either because they were banned from going to the toilet or were too afraid to ask.

MVPA’s Principal, Matthew Toothe, said the school was “unwaveringly caring” as he rejected the toilet policy as “restrictive”, claiming that an alternative approach would fail those children who missed learning time. Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Early Intervention, and Cllr Laura-Louise Fairley, Deputy Cabinet Member for SEND, said this discriminated against menstruating children.

Councillors challenged the leadership’s broader response to the report’s findings, arguing they had yet to see proof of change. Cllr Fairley reported that a Year 6 child who had attended a Mossbourne school on a transition day was sanctioned for not bringing a pen. She called on the senior leaders to say sorry to pupils identified by Sir Alan’s review.

Toby Campbell-Gray, Chair of the Mossbourne Federation, said the trust was focused on acting on the recommendations, but despite pressure from councillors, he refused outright to apologise for suffering experienced by schoolchildren.

“We’re not going to get into apology politics for lots of reasons,” he said, as he implied that certain practices could remain. This included desking, which he said could be “restorative” for pupils, including those who sometimes were asking to be removed from the class.

Peter Hughes, CEO of the Mossbourne Federation, said the school’s code of conduct had now been updated to make clear that “no child is belittled or (made) to feel less than”.

Independent Children’s Safeguarding Commissioner Jim Gamble, who led the report in December 2024, has been critical of the trust’s response both leading up to the review and post-publication. In January, Mr Gamble conveyed his shock that nobody from the senior leadership had yet resigned over the report’s findings. He has also called into question the £400,000 the Federation spent on legal fees, including on its own parallel KC-led inquiry – the equivalent of nearly £500 per pupil.

When asked by Labour backbencher, Cllr Daniel Rea, whether this was an “appropriate” use of public funds, Mr Campbell-Gray said the trust would have “preferred to have spent less” and admitted this decision may have been a mistake, adding: “It is what it is”.

Mr Campbell-Gray took over as Mossbourne Federation Chair in March, following the resignation of Henry Colthurst.

Though Mr Gamble said he was pleased by the new chair’s “fresh perspective”, by the meeting’s end he became visibly frustrated with the leadership’s refusal to apologise to children who had “suffered in a place where they should have felt safe”.

“When an apology is warranted, it should be delivered. That candour is what differentiates those who can reflect and learn from those who simply will defend and continue to defend because they can,” he said.

Turning to the DfE, Mr Gamble did not mince words, claiming that “the so-called regulator” had failed to hold the school to account by sanctioning the leadership. “Leadership sets the tone for the culture, and governance should oversee and challenge when that culture has clearly gone wrong,” he said.

“Made to wet themselves? In LONDON? In 2026? What century are Mossbourne living in?”

Strict? This isn’t strict. This is cruelty dressed up as discipline, and if leaders can’t apologise to children, then they shouldn’t be anywhere near them.

Envision defending a policy that leaves kids soaked in urine. Absolutely medieval.

Sanitation is an acknowledged human right. The UK accepts this and has obligations to progressively realise it.

There is no standalone “right to sanitation”, but failures in sanitation provision can still be challenged under broader rights (e.g., dignity, health, discrimination).

Although the UK acknowledges sanitation as a fundamental human right through international obligations, the Human Rights Act does not specifically identify it.

Murder On The Moor

Following the announcement of Ann Widdecombe’s passing on Friday, police have released an important update.

On Friday morning, Good Morning Britain hosts Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh interrupted the broadcast after Ann’s representative confirmed she had died at the age of 78.

Ann was discovered dead at her Dartmoor house, and later on Friday, Devon & Cornwall Police officers announced they are looking into her death.

The Sun claims that after suffering a severe head injury, Ann was discovered drenched in blood at her Devon house.

In the latest update, as reported by the BBC, a 26-year-old man has been arrested in connection with Ann’s death, Devon & Cornwall Police confirmed. The force said a white British male is in custody.

They added that the incident is not being treated as terrorism and there is “no information” to suggest it was politically motivated.

In a statement earlier on Friday, Detective Chief Inspector Ilona Rosson said: “This is an extremely tragic incident, and our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of Ann Widdecombe at this difficult time.

“Our murder enquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace. We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened and to locate the person responsible, who we believe to be a white male.

“I would appeal to anyone who may have information about this incident, however insignificant it may seem, to come forward and speak with us.

“We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the vicinity of Haytor Vale, Haytor, or anyone with CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage which could assist with our investigation.

“We have an increased uniformed police presence in the area to both support the investigation and provide reassurance to residents. Anyone with concerns can speak with our officers at the scene.

“We will release further information when we are able to do so. In the meantime, I would ask people not to speculate about what might have happened, particularly on social media. This is not only potentially harmful to our investigation but also deeply distressing for family and friends of Ann Widdecombe.”

Following the news of the investigation, Ann’s niece Fiona Martin, 52, told The Telegraph: “It’s still very raw, and the family are still processing it. I can’t say any more at this stage.”

It comes after Good Morning Britain broke into its scheduled programme to tell viewers that the former Conservative minister had died. A statement was given by her agent on behalf of her family.

Speaking live on GMB, Kate said: “We haven’t heard about a long illness, have we? So I think it took everybody a little bit by surprise. I think she was even still doing various broadcasting things up until recently.”

Ranvir added: “She lived a full life, you can certainly say that. Sad news there that Ann Widdecombe has passed away.”

Whatever people thought of her politics, this is grim. Murder? On Dartmoor? This is unreal, and this will get messy extremely quickly because people will twist it into politics even though the police said there’s no motive like that.

People are now alarmed since Haytor is small, and nothing like that ever occurs there.

It doesn’t feel real at all. The nation seems to have awoken to a criminal drama.

This isn’t just news — it’s a bomb going off in the middle of the country.

The timeline is the part that freezes you. An assault at midday, a body undiscovered until morning. That’s not drama — that’s forensic horror, but strip away the politics, and you’re left with a stark fact: a human being was violently attacked and left alone, and it’s chilling in its simplicity.

A Family Forced To Job‑Hunt For A Blind, Non‑Verbal, Wheelchair‑Bound Teenager — Proof The DWP Will Grind You Down Even When You Can’t Stand Up

The parents of a severely disabled teenager say they have been forced to spend hours hunting for jobs he can’t do in a “nightmare” battle with the DWP. Connor Donnelly, from Mauchline, East Ayrshire, is wheelchair bound, blind, non-verbal and barely able to sit up after being starved of oxygen at birth.

But since he turned 18 and left school in May, dad Steve, 46, and mum Helen, 44, say they have been facing an ongoing struggle to prove he is unfit to find work while claiming for Universal Credit. Unable to get him to their local job centre, which is inaccessible for his wheelchair, the family requested a face-to-face assessment.

But in the meantime, they say they were told to keep looking for work for him. Steve told the Record: “Both myself and my wife are feeling embarrassed and hurt.

“With Connor’s disabilities, every day is a challenge. You’re having to fight for absolutely everything.

“We explained his complex needs, and it just fell on deaf ears. The woman on the phone was saying he needs to stick to his commitments and do this and that.

“I’m so angry at the fact they expected him to do job searches. We’re getting questions like ‘has he got a mobile phone? Has he got access to the internet? Has he got interview clothes?’

“We’re saying ‘he’s in a wheelchair and can barely sit up unaided.’ What they were asking him to do is a physical impossibility and what we’ve been put through is an absolute nightmare.

“At one point we were sitting thinking ‘is it really worth it for what he’ll actually get?’ I then realised there is bound to be someone else out there like us, going through the same struggle.”

A single person under 25 receives £338.58 per month in Universal Credit. In Scotland, disabled individuals can claim Universal Credit for living costs while simultaneously receiving separate disability living assistance.

You can qualify for additional monthly payments on top of your regular Universal Credit allocation if a medical condition or disability prevents you from working. Your evaluation results will determine the precise monthly additions.

Connor, who has three younger sisters and a big brother, was previously eligible for the benefit as he was enrolled full-time at Willowbank School in Kilmarnock until earlier this year.

Now he has become an adult, Steve said the requirements the family have to fulfil on top of caring for his complex needs have hit them “like a freight train”.

He said: “We had to go through the courts to get guardianship for him because he’s non-verbal and we’ve only got that for five years. We’ve already had a battle over his Motability car and had to prove he was disabled enough to have a vehicle every year.

“His condition is not going to improve. As he’s getting older, it’s getting more complex. It’s not as if he is going to miraculously be able to walk one day. It’s never going to happen. His mum has had to sit and fill out his Motability forms every year in tears, noting down everything that’s wrong with him.

“That has been recently resolved, but Universal Credit is still the issue, and what’s happened with the job centre has just been a disaster. His mum is his carer. The job centre said, ‘You can come in and sign on for him’. But is she supposed to leave him sitting at home?

“Currently, Helen is his appointee, and she has had the commitment to do two hours of job searching a week for Connor. If anyone had actually seen him, we wouldn’t have had to waste time doing this.

“There’s not a job out there that he could possibly do. We also have to provide sick lines to say he’s not fit for work until this gets sorted out.”

If you’ve been raising your child for a long time and are aware of his limitations, it seems like a slap in the face when a paper pusher tells you that he must be able to work and that you need to put in more effort.

I don’t know why this occurs. It should be sufficient to demonstrate his disability and the nature of his disability if he is on PIP.

A UK jobcentre can be breaking the law if it has no wheelchair‑accessible entrance and has not provided any reasonable alternative access. Under the Equality Act 2010, public bodies must remove physical barriers or provide an equivalent, safe way for disabled people to enter and use the service.

Lunatics in charge of the nut house springs to mind.

Hands Off, Miriam — You Don’t Cancel An Icon For Calling For Peace

The persistent effort to deprive Miriam Margolyes, a national treasure, of her OBE is utterly disgraceful.

This brave woman has only expressed her opinions.

She is an 83-year-old Jewish woman who has spoken out about the ongoing atrocities in Gaza with much suffering and empathy, demanding an urgent ceasefire to end the murder of defenceless women and children. ​

However, every time someone dares to oppose the Israeli government’s activities, a concerted effort is made to have them revoked, demonised, and stripped of their awards.

There must be an end to the use of indignation as a weapon to stifle valid political criticism. ​

Miriam Margolyes has always been fiercely independent, kind, and honest.

Not only is it unethical to penalise a Jewish elder or anybody else for caring about human rights, but it’s also a pitiful attempt to stifle free expression. ​

For years, I’ve questioned why she isn’t a Dame. Not to mention depriving her of her OBE! She talks about the Israeli government because, in addition to the fact that what she is saying is accurate, she can do it without being labelled antisemitic since she is a Jewish lady.

What’s wrong with this world? No empathy. If I couldn’t be a humanitarian, I would say to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine if I had an OBE.

She only speaks what everybody else should also be saying, especially our politicians.

If Miriam gets stripped of her OBE, then England is indeed going up the kiber pass. She has spoken out; she’s not pulled the wool over anyone’s eyes. She says it as she sees it, and good for her.

People like Miriam are the true guardians against anti-semitism by showing us that being a Zionist is a significantly different thing to being a Jew.

She is absolutely right. What has transpired in Gaza is appalling. Netanyahu’s behaviour has harmed ordinary decent Jewish people as well. It’s terrible that she is being targeted for standing up for human rights.

They can do whatever they want, but the majority believe she is a hero.

Trying to cancel people for demanding peace. What has happened to humanity? She should be praised, not cancelled.

Attempting to ban individuals for calling for peace. What has become of humanity? Instead of being cancelled, she should be commended.

Her harsh honesty is something I like. She receives a lot of “bad press” for this, but many more people value her direct and honest attitude. Additionally, she doesn’t care who she offends.

She is an incredible lady who upholds her values, so I have no doubt that she would handle it head-on if it occurs. No matter who attempts to blackmail her, she will not allow that threat to prevent her from talking about Palestine and the Zios.

The moral compass in this country has gone; it just doesn’t exist.

Right now, this minute, today, yesterday, and tomorrow, silence is complicit and is literally murdering Palestinians and Lebanese.

If even one tenth of our politicians (who aren’t on Israel’s payroll) or public figures had Miriam Margolyes’s humanity, knowledge or courage to speak out, it would educate and break the indifference in this country.

The woman puts herself in danger by speaking up, and she is deserving of all the praise for her honesty, compassion, and integrity.

Throughout her life, Miriam Margolyes has made many significant choices, and she will do so once more. No one can take away her numerous accomplishments, so no matter what happens, she can still be proud of them. Furthermore, she is aware that the vast majority of people in the United Kingdom support her.

Asked For A Plaster, Got Told To Ring 999. Britain: Where Minor Injuries Get Blue‑Light Treatment

A grandmother of seven who needed a plaster after cutting her finger was refused assistance by her local pharmacy and GP – and told to call 999. Pauline Shillito hurt herself while slicing a melon in her home in Lydd, on Romney Marsh, where she lives alone.

Although the injury was only minor, the 84-year-old started bleeding because she takes blood-thinning medication, so she sought assistance at Well Pharmacy – a three-minute walk away on the corner of High Street and New Lane.

“But the pharmacist said, ‘We don’t deal with blood,’” said Mrs Shillito. “So then I went to the GP, but the receptionist said, ‘We have no nurse on duty today,’ and told me to call 999. “It’s absolutely disgusting. Can you imagine an ambulance coming because of a cut finger when there are people having heart attacks – all I needed was a plaster.”

Pharmacist Tunde Odelade – who spoke to the pensioner following the accident last Wednesday – said his staff are not trained or insured to handle such injuries. “There was a lot of blood. It was literally dripping down her arm onto the floor – in a pharmacy full of people, that’s very unhygienic,” he said.

“I told her I couldn’t help her because I can’t deal with blood. I did offer to take her details and call an ambulance, but she refused.”

Mrs Shillito says she was also turned away from Orchard House GP Surgery in Bleak Road because they “did not have a nurse on duty” – and told to call 999. Fortunately, while walking home, she bumped into a neighbour.

“She saw me crying with a piece of blood-soaked kitchen towel around my finger and helped me,” the former John Lewis shop assistant added. “She cleaned my finger and put a plaster on it. I’m just lucky I have good neighbours.”

A spokesperson for Orchard House Surgery’s operator, Invicta Health, said: “We are aware of the matter you have raised; however, we are unable to comment on issues relating to individual patients’ care due to patient confidentiality. Our practice is committed to ensuring patients receive appropriate advice and access to the right healthcare service based on their clinical needs.”

Mrs Shillito, who moved to Lydd from London seven years ago, said she refused to call 999 because “it wasn’t an emergency” and she “didn’t want to waste the ambulance service’s time”. The NHS says 999 is for life-threatening emergencies like serious road traffic accidents, strokes and heart attacks.

Dialling 111 is recommended when the medical situation does not rise to this severity, but you think medical help is needed right away. The 111 service can direct users to the best place to get help if their GP is unavailable.

It’s unbelievable that a nurse wasn’t on hand, and what? Can’t a doctor clean a wound and apply a plaster? Says everything about the times we live in.

Unless you are on blood thinners, you have no idea. Clotting takes a lot longer, so a cut finger would bleed heavily and not stop. This lady must have been extremely frightened. Worryingly, the places we thought would help us showed so little compassion in this.

Lovely how the surgeries don’t need to be accountable or give their comments due to “patient confidentiality”. Such a suitable cop out on their part.

They could have put disposable gloves on and cleaned it up, then kept her sat in a chair to see if the bleeding had stopped. If not, then got medical advice. The lady is elderly and required help.

So this lady’s neighbour managed to help her when the professionals refused. She just required a plaster and help with putting it on. And also a little compassion and TLC. All are free.

Just do the human thing: help an old lady.

Ambulance Conveyance In Acute Crisis — Followed By A Discharge That Left Him Clinically Unprotected And Predictably Lost To Psychosis

Antony was taken by ambulance from his home address to Southend Hospital on Friday 3 July after experiencing tachycardia while going in and out of psychosis.

He was discharged at 11:58 pm that same night, despite still being mentally unwell, and CCTV later showed him wandering around the Southend Hospital car park throughout the night until he eventually wandered off the premises at 8:40 am on Saturday.

By midday on Saturday 4 July, he was officially reported missing to the police. Later that afternoon, at around 5 pm, I (his brother Jake) found him in a state of full psychosis. With the help of police and ambulance crews, he was taken to Basildon Hospital, where staff assured us he would be shadowed and sectioned for his safety.

However, at 6:40 am on Sunday 5 July, a new duty doctor discharged him, deeming him fit, even though he remained actively psychotic, had no phone, money, or bank cards, and was also suffering from a strangulated hernia. A nurse had acknowledged over the phone that he was still not mentally well, but said there was nothing she could do.

This isn’t just an isolated glitch — it’s the exact kind of failure that makes people lose trust in a system that’s supposed to protect the most vulnerable. When you watch someone you love being passed around, discharged, dismissed, and left unsafe, it’s not just stressful; it’s traumatising. And it leaves you with a very human reaction: this system is not working for us.

This is a system that didn’t recognise risk, doesn’t recognise psychosis, doesn’t recognise lack of capacity, doesn’t recognise medical emergency, doesn’t recognise missing‑person vulnerability, and didn’t recognise basic safeguarding obligations.

That’s not me being dramatic. That’s the system failing at the most basic level, and the way mental health crises are handled is unacceptable.

How on earth was he discharged twice while in psychosis? That’s a complete failure of duty of care. He was a missing person, medically unwell, and clearly not safe. Any competent clinician should have recognised that.

The fact he had a strangulated hernia and was still discharged is unbelievable. That’s not just bad practice — that’s dangerous.

Hospitals keep saying they’re overwhelmed, but that doesn’t excuse releasing someone who can’t even tell you where they are, and this is heartbreaking. Families shouldn’t have to fight this hard just to keep someone alive and safe.

Mental health services need reform. This isn’t an isolated case — it’s happening everywhere.

I’m actually speechless. How can a hospital let someone in full psychosis just walk out like that? And I can’t wrap my head around this. A strangulated hernia and psychosis — and they said he was fit? That’s terrifying.

How did two different hospitals both think this was acceptable? It doesn’t make sense, and I’m stunned. He was wandering around a car park all night, and they still didn’t intervene?

Allowing a vulnerable patient to wander hospital grounds overnight without intervention raises significant questions about risk management and duty of care, and the sequence of decisions made in this case appears to fall significantly below the standard of care expected under statutory and common‑law duties. The repeated discharge of a vulnerable adult in active psychosis is deeply concerning.

The failure to conduct or document a capacity assessment, particularly in the context of psychosis and a recent missing‑person report, represents a potential breach of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and allowing a patient with a strangulated hernia to leave hospital without treatment may constitute a failure to provide basic medical care, potentially amounting to clinical negligence.

Locked In By Bureaucracy

Council chiefs in Bristol have doubled down on their refusal to make a disabled woman’s home accessible to an electric wheelchair, saying her home has ‘already undergone significant alterations’.

Bristol Live reported last week that Janice Moule said she was effectively trapped in her own home and relied on her son to come and take her out, as all she has is a traditional fold-up wheelchair.

The grandmother, who has lived in her council home in Bedminster for 24 years, said she had been told she’s now eligible for an electric wheelchair, which would mean she could get out and about on her own without the need for anyone to help her, but the NHS is not providing one because it wouldn’t be able to get into her home.

She said she has repeatedly asked Bristol City Council to install a suitable ramp from her door to the pavement – which would involve creating a new gate out of her front yard – but the council keeps turning her down.

After Bristol Live reported on her plight, the chair of the council’s homes and housing delivery committee said he understood the distress situations like this caused, but the decision had been made.

“I understand that a situation like this can feel distressing for our residents, particularly when they have lived in their home for a long time,” said Cllr Barry Parsons (Green, Easton).

“Council officers remain committed to exploring alternative housing options that will better meet the resident’s mobility needs and support their independence.

“All adaptation requests received by the council are thoroughly considered, taking into account the feasibility of the proposed works, the scale and cost of structural changes and whether the property can realistically meet the resident’s long-term mobility needs,” he added.

“We also need to make the best use of our limited housing stock, which can often create a difficult balancing act.

“In situations where the level of work required will not provide a suitable or sustainable outcome within a home, officers will work with residents to explore alternative housing options that are better suited to their needs.

“This will include properties that are already accessible or can be more appropriately adapted, which helps to effectively support residents’ independence,” he said.

A council spokesperson told Bristol Live Janice’s home had ‘already undergone significant alterations.’

Her home had been assessed previously by council officers, occupational therapy staff and surveyors, and it has been ‘determined on more than one occasion that it is not suitable for further wheelchair adaptation,’ the council said.

“Due to the layout, structure and physical constraints of the property, further major adaptations, such as reconfiguring the entrance to provide full wheelchair access, have been assessed as not reasonable or practicable,” they added.

Janice told Bristol Live she feared the council was refusing her repeated requests for work to be done to install an access ramp because they wanted her out of her home of 24 years.

She said without the access, and therefore without an electric wheelchair, she could not have a social life, see her friends or go to the shops or for health appointments when she wanted.

“I’d like to go up and meet all my friends, I’d just like to go out with them, and I just can’t, because I’m stuck in here,” she said.

“I’ve been offered that I could go to meetings and clubs, like craft or the RNIB; I could do social events, but I can’t do any of it stuck in here.

“They said they could get me there, but they couldn’t get my wheelchair in their car. If I had an electric one, I could get on the bus and go there,” she explained.

Janice said when she was told of the most recent meeting which decided to turn down her request, she was distraught. “I just broke down crying. That really done me then.

“I said ‘everything has been a ‘no’ for me’,” she said, explaining that after a recent operation and time spent in a nursing home, she was discharged back to her own home but a surgeon said her spine was too complex to be operated on.

So why can she not move to a more suitable home?

She could move — but the system makes it incredibly hard, slow, and often emotionally brutal.

She’s lived in her home a long time and has her memories there, and this is the part councils always treat as an afterthought. A home isn’t just bricks and mortar. For someone who’s lived somewhere 24 years, it’s a whole life.

It’s not just a property she occupies. It’s:

  • Her memories — every season, every visitor, every milestone.
  • Her sense of safety — she knows every corner, every surface, every way of moving around it.
  • Her independence — even if limited, it’s familiar independence.
  • Her community — neighbours, routines, the local shops she can navigate.
  • Her identity — 24 years is a lifetime; it’s not “just a house”.

For a disabled person, the emotional geography of a home is even deeper. It’s the one place where the world’s unpredictability doesn’t overwhelm them.

When councils say, “She should move to a more suitable property,” they’re talking about logistics. But for her, moving means:

  • leaving behind the place where she raised children, grieved losses, celebrated birthdays
  • losing the layout she knows by muscle memory
  • risking being placed somewhere unfamiliar, isolating, or even unsafe
  • starting again in a world that already demands too much from her body

It’s not just relocation — it’s displacement.

And councils rarely acknowledge that.

Seven Years Lost To The Wrong Fight

The NHS misdiagnosed a youngster and administered six cycles of chemotherapy.

Faye Condon, 12, was wrongly diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disease Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) at age five in a mistake mum Christina says “ruined her whole childhood”.

Christina pressed medical professionals at Bristol Children’s Hospital (BCH) to check for additional illnesses since she was not persuaded by the diagnosis. After seven years, Faye was found to have a kind of muscular dystrophy for which there is no known cure.

Christina, from Plymouth, Devon, said: “We have spent her entire childhood in and out of hospital, we haven’t been on holidays, and we don’t have a house or car that is wheelchair accessible as we were told she was going to get better.”

The mum added: “If we had the correct diagnosis seven years ago when Faye was able to walk, we could have gone on holiday and had more fun with her before she was wheelchair bound. We put our lives on hold because we were always told she was going to get better.”

Christina, 36, first took Faye to doctors after noticing she was not running and jumping as well as other children her age. She was referred to BCH, where doctors conducted initial tests, and in November 2019 the family were told Faye had JDM.

Christina said: “I first took her for hip pain and inability to bear weight, and we knew something was wrong, but the doctors couldn’t see what I could see as a parent. She couldn’t walk 200 yards to school; she would randomly fall, and I had to take videos and pictures to prove it.

“The doctor was very flippant about it; they just threw medicine at her, but nothing would make a difference. In October 2019, we were categorically told it was not muscular dystrophy, but I’m sure that the doctor was looking for her to fit into a rheumatology disease; it was almost like he was tainted before he had even seen Faye.

“Everyone could see there was something wrong, but no one wanted to take responsibility for her and do more tests, as tests cost money. The staff at the hospital were very vocal about a financial fight about which department would pay for testing.”

Faye underwent her first round of chemotherapy in January 2021. Christina said: “She was about seven for her first round of chemo and was so sick, it was awful. We couldn’t be near anybody, and she became really poorly; it was horrific to watch. She then contracted viral meningitis as a side effect of a blood product a doctor gave her, and she was forced to stay in a dark room.

“There is no treatment for muscular dystrophy, so she wouldn’t have had to have any of this if they diagnosed her properly the first time. Every test for the autoimmune disease was negative; not a single test they did pointed towards JDM. She even had a muscle biopsy, which pointed to a congenital muscle disease, not an autoimmune disease, but that was overlooked.”

After years of asking BCH for more tests, Christina begged doctors at her local clinic at Derriford Hospital for a second opinion. One of the first doctors who saw Faye at the hospital in Plymouth agreed with Christina that the JDM diagnosis was not correct and pushed to get her referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London.

Christina said: “Without the support of doctors at Derriford Hospital, we would never have got the correct diagnosis. They have been amazing from day one; they listened to and believed us as parents and really pushed for someone to listen.”

GOSH diagnosed Faye with de novo Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) type 2 in August 2025, for which there is no treatment.

Christina said: “The specialist at GOSH took one look at her and named this type of muscular dystrophy. All it took to diagnose her was a blood test with specific genetic testing, but the doctors at BCH were so adamant that it was JDM they never sent for this test.

“Those doctors ruined my little girl’s whole childhood. She is losing the use of her legs very quickly; she was refused entry into a school because her needs changed too much.

“She is currently a ticking time bomb; her heart could stop at any minute, and she is on a ventilator at night, so cannot have a sleepover like other girls in her class.

“Had we known from five years old, and they had diagnosed her correctly, we would have everything in place… every appointment we go to is more bad news.”

Professor Steve Hams, Chief Nursing and Improvement Officer at Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very sorry to hear of the concerns raised by Faye’s family and our thoughts are with them.

“We are reaching out to her mother to listen to and understand her family’s experience. We want to approach this with care and compassion and will take the time needed to fully understand what has happened.”

A child put through six rounds of chemo she never needed, years wasted, mobility lost, and a family gaslit at every turn. That isn’t a “mistake.” That’s a systemic failure with a human cost.

Negligence has a price, and when the system fails, someone should be accountable.

Faye is now wheelchair‑bound. Her family lost years they could have spent making memories while she was still mobile, and they were constantly told she would “get better,” so they delayed adapting their home and life.

This is one of the most severe recent NHS misdiagnosis cases involving a child — not only because of the unnecessary chemotherapy, but because the correct diagnosis was actively resisted despite clear evidence pointing away from the autoimmune disease.

I hope they file a lawsuit against the hospital, because in cases like this, the legal threshold for negligence would very likely be met.

Every doctor owes every patient a legal duty, and they acted in a way no responsible clinician would, and her parents can bring a claim now, because the harm is ongoing and documented.

Twenty‑Six Years Of Building A Life — And Now They Want To Tear A Family Apart

A Jamaican man who has lived more than half his life in the UK is facing deportation to his home country in one of the first cases since new anti-immigration measures were announced in last week’s immigration bill.

Mark Nelson, 46, came to the UK in 2000 and set up his own car-mechanic business. He has five British children and a British partner. In 2017, he received a four-year prison sentence for growing cannabis plants, something he said he did after his business experienced financial problems. He has not committed any additional offences.

In 2022, he wrote an opinion piece for the Guardian about being under threat of deportation. He said Jamaica was a place where he no longer knew anyone after his great-grandparents, who brought him up there, died when he was 16.

His removal was later withdrawn, and instead he was tagged and had to report weekly at a Home Office reporting centre. But last Thursday, when Nelson went to report, he was arrested, detained and told that the government intended to deport him to Jamaica.

Speaking from a detention centre near Heathrow airport, Nelson said he was devastated about once again facing deportation and separation from his five children and his partner. “I’m in a hot and filthy cell on the induction wing. My mental health is so bad because of what the Home Office has done to me. For the first time in my life, I have taken antidepressant medication.

“My family is so upset. My brother, who is 46, was crying on the phone when he heard I had been detained. I haven’t been able to sleep a wink since they brought me here. I was in such a state of shock when they arrested me,” he said.

“What the Home Office don’t think about when they try to deport someone like me is the impact it has not only on the person but on so many other people around them. I love my kids so much, and I can’t bear to think of them being without their dad. I try to be a good role model for them. I talk to them about my crime to try to ensure they don’t make the same mistake I made.”

His partner, Rachel Derbyshire, said that all of Nelson’s family were distraught about his detention and threatened deportation. “It seems that the Home Office is not going to let this go. Mark’s mental health is really bad because of this. He’s a really lovely guy, but the Home Office is treating him as if he was a rapist or a murderer.”

The new immigration bill lays out a harsher test for the family and private life test known as Article 8 in deportation cases.

Although exceptional circumstances are taken into consideration – such as the degree to which a person is socially and culturally integrated in the UK, whether there would be significant barriers to integration into their country of birth and whether the effect of the person’s deportation on family members would be excessively harsh – it appears that the government wants to proceed with Nelson’s deportation despite the span of time he has lived in the UK and his strong family ties.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “All foreign national offenders who receive a prison sentence in the UK are referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity.”

“More than 70,000 illegal migrants and foreign national offenders have been returned since this government took office, a 41 per cent increase.”

People have been extremely vocal about Mark Nelson’s situation, and many are saying that 26 years in the UK, British children, and a stable life make his removal cruel and unnecessary. He’s already served his sentence and rebuilt his life.

His situation is cruel, vengeful and a disgrace, and it would harm his five British children, who would lose their father overnight. They are penalising the children, not just him, and it seems that the system is designed to break people.

This case resembles the Windrush scandal, where long-term Caribbean residents were wrongly detained or deported.

The UK is breaking families apart, and sending him back after 26 years would be dangerous and destabilising. Jamaica has a limited support system for people who have been away for decades, and he would be isolated, with no family, no home, and no realistic way to rebuild.

Community organisations accuse the UK of using deportation as a political tool to appear tough on immigration, and the Home Office is “targeting easy cases” — people who have lived here long enough to be compliant and easy to detain.

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