Granton Information Centre – Page 7 – The NEN

Healthy advice from GIC

Granton Information Centre (GIC) has extended their service at Muirhouse Medical Group. GIC’s Michelle Lee can now be found at the Muirhouse Avenue centre on Mondays and Tuesdays from 2 – 4pm.

GIC have provided an advice service in local GP surgeries for many years, and have had a presence in the Muirhouse surgery for almost two years. The extra hours at Muirhouse became possible when the Muirhouse practice was extended, and it’s a service that patients registered at Muirhouse are using in increasing numbers.

“There’s as much of a demand for the service as there has ever been – perhaps even more so”, said Michelle, who has been with GIC for eight years. “The advice service has been getting particularly busy on Tuesdays, and having the additional day here makes a great difference.”

Muirhouse Medical Centre’s Gillian Anderson said: “Michelle is very much a part of our team – she’s been added to our appointment systems and participates in our six-weekly staff team meetings. It’s great to have Michelle here in the practice to give advice – updating staff on changes to legislation and other issues that may affect GPs – to the comprehensive service she provides to the local people who are registered at this practice. There are a lot of questions on benefits and entitlements that we couldn’t give the answers to, so it’s very useful having Michelle here to explain complicated things in a way we can all understand.”

One patient who particularly appreciates GIC’s GP surgery service is Alan, who lives in Muirhouse. Alan, who suffers from depression, turned to Michelle for help when his mother – who was also his carer – suddenly died last Christmas.

“I didn’t have a clue what to do – my mum had always done everything and I really didn’t know where to turn or where to start. It took me a long time to get over the shock of losing my mum and things sort of drifted – I got into a mess and I didn’t have a clue how to sort things out. It affected my health, which was not that great anyway, and I was so lucky that my GP was able to offer GIC’s advice service, saying we’d be able to get things sorted.” At this point I had been refused Employment & Support Allowance due to failing a Work Capability assessment; I had a funeral to organise and to pay for and had accruing council tax arrears and I had no money coming in.”

He went on: “When I spoke to Michelle it was a weight off my mind – it was amazing just how much better I felt just being able to share things with somebody, because I really didn’t have anyone else to help me, no-one else to turn to. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Michelle was my lifeline – she has supported me all the way through. Things were a mess – far too complicated for me – but with Michelle’s help things are looking up now – it’s a whole lot brighter, when just a wee while ago everything seemed hopeless.”

Michelle said: “Alan suffers from severe depression, and when he found himself alone he found it impossible to cope with forms, bills and paperwork. He found himself with an outstanding funeral bill, no money coming in because his benefits had been stopped and there were various other complications. It was a set of circumstances that anyone would have found daunting – never mind someone who had recently lost their mother. Fortunately, we have been able to systematically deal with all of the issues Alan faced, and things that once seemed insurmountable have been resolved. It is not an easy process, but we’ve got there. Alan has started to get his life in order, and he’s feeling better and more positive as a result.”

Michelle explained to Alan that she would assist with appealing the Employment & Support Allowance decision and would also assist with making an application to British Gas Energy Trust for help with the outstanding balance for the funeral. Michelle also identified a possible entitlement to Disability Living Allowance.

The Employment & Support Allowance decision was overturned at the appeal stage and Alan was placed in the support group. His weekly income increased from absolutely nothing to £105.05 a week, and he also received an additional backdated payment of £681.00.

The British Gas Energy Trust application was also successful and Alan was awarded £1960.80 to clear the outstanding balance of his mother’s funeral costs.

The initial application for Disability Living Allowance was unsuccessful, but GIC successfully appealed the decision and this increased Alan’s weekly income by another £41.10 – in total Alan’s annual household income has increased by £7,599.80!

Alan’s life has been turned around. “I’m starting to get out and about a bit more, which is hard to believe,” he said. “I can honestly say that, without this service, I really don’t think I would have been here to tell you this story. Seriously, it was that bad but things are getting better. I can never thank Michelle enough for everything she’s done for me and I count myself so lucky that my GP told me about the advice service.”

Granton Information Centre’s GP Surgery service is also available at Crewe Medical Centre on Tuesday mornings between 10.00am and 1pm.

Welfare reform: getting the facts in Forth

The current reform of welfare and benefit payments is the biggest to be undertaken for over sixty years. Whether you agree with the reforms or not, the changes will affect hundreds of thousands of people across the country. How will you be affected? Find out at a briefing and information session later this month.

Forth Neighbourhood Partnership’s Health Action Group is hosting a briefing on the Welfare Reform Act on

Wednesday 17 October from 10 – 11.30am in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.

Granton Information Centre’s Roddy Samson (pictured below) will be leading the session – which is aimed at local community, voluntary and statutory organisations – and there will be ample opportunity for questions and discussions.

Roddy Samson said: “The Welfare Reform Act 2012 introduces the greatest changes to welfare benefits in sixty years. These changes will have far reaching impacts for benefit claimants and their families, particularly for vulnerable people and the services which support them. The impact of these changes will affect those in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credits and Job Seekers Allowance. This event will give you the opportunity to learn about the latest details of the Government’s welfare reform programme and help you to understand the new system and prepare for the changes ahead – where possible.”

To find out more or to book your place at the West Pilton briefing, contact Forth Neighbourhood Partnership’s partnership development officer Jim Pattison on 529 5082 or email jim.pattison@edinburgh.gov.uk

Eighty attend Dosh Day

Around eighty people attended North Edinburgh’s first ever Dosh Day at North Edinburgh Arts Centre this afternoon, taking the opportunity to find out how they can cut their costs and maximise their household income.

The event was organised by the Lottery-funded Money Matters project. Castle Rock Edinvar’s Head of Neighbourhood Regeneration Heather McNaughton explained: “A group of Housing Associations in Edinburgh work together with the Citizens Advice Edinburgh to help tenants to access debt advice and to encourage people to use support to maximise their income and remain out of unsustainable debt. As part of the project we had previously co-ordinated a “Dosh Day” in Craigmillar which was very successful and we are now bringing the concept to North Edinburgh with the kind support of local organisations and agencies.”

Citizens Advice Bureaux, Granton Information Centre, Community Renewal, JobCentre Plus, Cyrenians and Volunteer Centre Edinburgh were among the organisations attending on the day, so there was no shortage of sound financial advice.

Sick to the back teeth

You can hardly open a newspaper or switch on the telly these days without reading or hearing about changes to sickness benefits. There’s no doubt about it that reforming sickness benefits is at the forefront of the welfare reform agenda – but what do the changes mean in practice for people who are claiming sickness benefits or are not able to work? Roddy Samson from Granton Information Centre gives a brief update of the changes so far…

What is it?

Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is a welfare benefit which was introduced in October 2008. All new claimants who are unable to work due to illness or disability (including mental health problems) are placed on ESA. The intention is to support people to access appropriate work, with a greater emphasis on what claimants are able to do. ESA has replaced Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Income Support (IS) paid on the grounds of incapacity. The government plans to review everyone on IB for suitability for ESA by March 2014. The review process started in October 2010.

How are people assessed for ESA?

The ESA assessment process usually takes around 13 weeks, but can be longer. During this period the claimant will undergo:

A work capability assessment (WCA)

A work-focused interview

The ESA work capability assessment is carried out by a health care professional contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions at the local assessment centre in York Place. It is designed to assess whether the claimant is capable of work or capable of work related activity.

If they are assessed as incapable of work-related activity they are placed in the ‘support group’ and receive ESA.

If they are assessed as capable they are placed in the ‘work-related activity group’ and receive ESA. People in the ‘work-related activity group’ are expected to undertake work-related activity as a condition of continuing to receive the full amount of ESA.

The Work Capability Assessment

This assessment applies to most claimants and determines whether or not they remain on ESA.

For this test you are assessed on your ability to carry out 17 listed physical or ‘mental, cognitive and intellectual’ activities. Points are awarded on the basis of your limitations with respect to each activity. These points are totalled up and if the total reaches the threshold of 15, you are deemed to have limited capability for work and thus stay on ESA.

Within each type of activity there is a list of descriptors with associated scores ranging from 0 to 15. The descriptors describe related tasks of varying degrees of difficulty. You score when you are not able to perform the activity described. Though more than one descriptor may apply to you, you can only pick up one score from each type of activity; in each case whichever scores the highest.

If you score 15 in any one activity, you automatically pass the test. If your score is less than 15, it can be added to the scores you pick up from any of the other types of activity (in both the physical and the mental parts of the test). If your total score reaches 15, you pass the test.

The physical activities

The physical functions in the limited capability for work test are grouped into 10 different types of activity. These are:

Mobilising unaided by another person with or without a walking stick, manual wheelchair or other aid if such aid can reasonably be used.

Standing and sitting.

Reaching.

Picking up and moving or transferring by the use of the upper body and arms.

Manual dexterity.

Making self understood through speaking, writing, typing, or other means normally used, unaided by another person.

Understanding communication by both verbal means (such as hearing or lip reading) and non-verbal means (such as reading 16 point print) using any aid it is reasonable to expect them to use, unaided by another person.

Navigation and maintaining safety, using a guide dog or other aid if normally used.

Absence or loss of control leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or bladder, other than enuresis (bed-wetting) despite the presence of any aids or adaptations normally used.

Consciousness during waking moments.

The assessment takes into account your abilities when using any aid or appliance you would normally use.

The mental, cognitive and intellectual activities

These functions in the limited capability for work test are grouped into sets of activities under the following 7 headings:

Learning tasks.

Awareness of everyday hazards (such as boiling water or sharp objects).

Initiating and completing personal action (which means planning, organisation, problem solving, prioritising or switching tasks).

Coping with change.

Getting about.

Coping with social engagement due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder.

Appropriateness of behaviour with other people, due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder.

Appeals

If the claimant is assessed as capable of work then they do not qualify for ESA. They can appeal this decision. If they appeal they can continue to receive the basic allowance of ESA until a decision is made on their appeal by a tribunal. Recent government figures show that appeals against ESA decisions are more successful if you have an experienced representative.

Between April 2010 and April 2011 114,000 ESA appeals were heard by independent tribunals in the U.K.

Of these 38% were successful

However when the person appealing had professional representation this figure rose to 67%.

It’s important to remember that if you get a decision about your benefits that you’re not happy with you should seek advice as soon as possible as strict time limits apply if you wish to challenge them. Granton Information Centre provides free, impartial advice, assistance and representation on all benefit and tax credit matters.

Drop in sessions (Granton Information Centre):

Monday & Wednesday: All HOUSING issues: 9.30 – 12.30

Tuesday & Thursday: BENEFITS & MONEY ADVICE issues: 9.30 – 12.30

Outreach:

Tuesday: 10.00 – 1.00 CREWE MEDICAL CENTRE

(Only for patients of Crewe Medical Centre)

Tuesday: 2.00 – 4.00 MUIRHOUSE MEDICAL GROUP

(Only for patients of Muirhouse Medial Group)

Home visits and appointments may be available on request.

Telephone/Fax: 0131 552 0458, 134 – 138 West Granton Road, Edinburgh, EH5 1PE

National Award for Granton Information Centre

Granton Information Centre has received the prestigious Scottish National Standards certificate for the quality of their information and advice provision at a reception at the City Chambers.

GIC is the first Edinburgh organisation – and one of only a few advice agencies in Scotland – to achieve the award at this level, and their certificate was presented by Sheriff Principal Edward T Bowen QC.

The certificate presentation was the centrepiece of an event organised to celebrate the success of EHAP (Edinburgh Housing Advice Partnership), a consortium set up to provide housing advice services across the city in a contract with the city council. The consortium partners – Granton Information Centre, Community Health and Information (CHAI), Move On and FourSquare – offer a comprehensive range of housing advice services to the people of Edinburgh. EHAP provides a prison outreach project, a schools peer education service for S4 and S5 school leavers, housing advice in local neighbourhood settings and also provides representation at court – both for pre-prepared cases and also through an ‘emergency first aid’ service for people who turn up at court without representation. The EHAP event offered an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved so far and to look ahead to future challenges.

GIC award — Frances Durie and the staff team of Granton Information Centre receive their award. (Pic: Dave Pickering)

Welcoming delegates, Councillor Paul Edie (Chair of the Health, Social Care and Housing Committee) said: “Homelessness is something I’m very passionate about and I’m very proud of this council’s record. In Scotland, we have an obligation to eradicating unintentional homelessness by 2012 – not something that applies south of the border – and I think that’s a sign of what a progressive country Scotland is and how our social conscience reflects on public policy”.

He went on: “This council has a very radical strategy to tackle homelessness, developed in partnership with our colleagues in the voluntary sector and rolled out over the last couple of years. Critical to that strategy has been the provision of good quality ‘right first time’ housing advice to our service users. I’m really proud that last year homelessness dropped by 13% in Edinburgh, and EHAP are very important players in that strategy. No less than 99% of people who have used EHAP have not subsequently gone on to present themselves as homeless – that’s a jaw-dropping statistic; in any walk of life if you get that level of satisfaction rating you’d be entirely happy. I’d like to thank our EHAP partners for the great work they are doing to stop people losing their homes – a terrible thing to happen to anyone – and I wish you every success in the year ahead”.

One of Sherriff Principal Bowen’s responsibilities is to ensure ‘the efficient dispersal of Sherriff Court business’ and he explained that, while criminal cases take up the bulk of time at the court, civil business – including housing cases dealing with evictions and repossessions – take up a considerable amount of court time. He said that many of these cases could and should be resolved before they ever reached court, but added that there was also a need for suitable advice provision when cases did come to court.

“A recent review found that there is a need for proper advice – there remains a significant unmet need – and the EHAP service is critical to providing assistance prior to cases coming before the court system; providing there is a proper input by way of advice at an early stage, housing disputes can be resolved. The court needs to have confidence that suitable advice is available, so the service that EHAP provides is critical to the function of Edinburgh Sherriff Court. That’s demonstrated by the figures EHAP has provided for 2010 -11. We are indebted to all those involved in providing the EHAP service, which is widely acknowledged to be highly effective, and it gives me great pleasure to recognise that expertise by the presentation of these certificates today”.

Frances Durie, vice-chairperson of Granton Information Centre, received the award on the project’s behalf. She said: “This is a really tremendous achievement and a great honour for Granton Information Centre. Our staff have worked very hard over a long period to achieve the levels of professionalism that they have, and it’s good that this effort has been rewarded. We’ve always known that people coming to Granton Information Centre will get the highest standard of independent advice available anywhere, but it’s nice to receive wider recognition for the quality of our advice work”.

Granton Information Centre (GIC) provides free, impartial and confidential advice and assistance on a range of issues including welfare benefits, housing advice, tax credits and debt. If you would benefit from any advice you can visit them at their surgeries as per the details below.