A man who was rejected for personal independence payment (PIP) when he was being kept alive by a kidney dialysis machine has claimed one of his assessors didn’t even know what dialysis was. James Suett, 28, of Stockport, Manchester, shared his story with i about how he was refused the benefit because he wasn’t deemed “sick enough” even though his kidney function plummeted to just 4 per cent. i spoke to PIP whistleblowers who lifted the lid on the process and claimed the system is “set out to fail” and that assessors are under intense pressure to hit daily targets.
Having been through the experience of applying and being rejected for PIP himself, Mr Suett told i the revelations come as no surprise to him. Mr Suett appealed against his PIP decision twice, but was still rejected and is now going to challenge it at a tribunal hearing. He said: “It doesn’t surprise me one bit that the PIP whistleblowers have revealed the system is failing people and that they are lacking in adequate training.
“When I had my PIP assessment, there didn’t seem to be a lot of knowledge behind the questions and the answers that were being given and it was as if they were basically reading off a script. “There was someone I spoke to who didn’t even know what dialysis was. To have a so-called medical expert that doesn’t really understand what kidney disease is, shows the system is not working as it should.
“It is a system that seems to be designed to set people back rather tha.