Marie Curie responds to updated DS1500 guidance
Comment published
Scott Sinclair, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, England for Marie Curie
Marie Curie responds to updated DS1500 guidance
“It is right that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has updated its DS1500 guidance and accepted two of our key recommended changes - making it clear that the form is not just for people with terminal cancer and also that clinicians won’t face negative consequences if their patient lives for longer than six months.
“However, while a good step forward, it doesn’t resolve the core issue of enabling doctors to be free to use their judgement of whether a person is terminally ill without being subject to the arbitrary six-month time limit. Until this changes, the current welfare system will remain cruel and unfair to the most vulnerable people in our society.
“We will continue to campaign to change the law to scrap the six-month time limit to enable everyone with a terminal illness get quick and easy access to the benefits they need.”