DWP admits its benefits helpline is driving disabled people to self harm

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has had to admit that delays on one of its benefits helplines could be contributing to a rise in claimants harming themselves. Mind you, they’ve only done it because they’ve had to, and of course, they haven’t admitted this publicly.

DWP begging for help with a problem they caused

In the last few weeks, the DWP has sent out an urgent appeal to stakeholder groups, including advice agencies and charities, asking for their help to solve “pain points” experienced by Employment Support Allowance (ESA) Claimants who have to deal with distressing delays and waits when they call the DWP for help.

The email to stakeholders, shared by Benefits and Work, said:

We are interested in identifying the pain points faced by ESA customers communicating with DWP, particularly issues surrounding telephony and the pain points our customers face when contacting DWP by phone.

The department reports that the number of calls they are receiving, particularly from worried ESA claimants, is increasing rapidly, creating “unresolved backlogs”. However, they can’t seem to put two and two together at that place because they also say:

the link between backlog management, operational decisions, and customer behaviour isn’t fully understood

I dunno man, mentally and physically disabled people having to suffer through agonising waits to speak to someone who’s supposed to help, while every single day they’re told by the media and politicians that they’re all useless scroungers? Nah, I can’t figure it out either.

Claimants in danger while the DWP lies about customer satisfaction

The DWP also scarily admitted that far more calls require an intervention, and that it’s their fault:

Additionally, 6 Point plan intervention during these phone calls are rising across all service lines, potentially due to delays impacting the customer experience.

The six point plan is a series of steps DWP staff are required to follow if a claimant tells the operator that they intend to harm or kill themselves. The plan includes grabbing a colleague to support them in the call, finding out information from the caller to gauge the level of risk they are in and then providing referral advice or calling the emergency services.

However, as Benefits and Work points out, this appeal to stakeholders is in direct opposition to the DWP customer experience survey results, which the department posted on 25 September.

The findings of the survey were, as ever, wholly positive bordering on delusional – with an astounding 80% of customers (apparently) saying that it was easy to use DWP services. 80% also said they were satisfied with the time it took DWP to tell them the outcome of their new claim or change of circumstances. With an incredible amount of backlogs, this seems absolutely ridiculous.

Begging stakeholders for (unpaid) help

The survey, of course, makes no mention of distress and especially nothing about how many claimants want to kill themselves after the way they’re treated on the phone, but would a public survey mention that? Instead, they’re pretending the DWP is hunky-dory while they’re begging stakeholders for help.

The email continues:

We believe that our shared clients’ experiences are crucial to shaping a better system. Their stories of dealing with DWP processes will help us identify not only practical pain points but also the emotional toll that service delays can have on their lives. We are especially interested in capturing their feelings, anxieties, and any challenges they’ve faced when interacting with these systems.

The department has asked stakeholders for an incredible amount of unpaid labour here. They want to know what claimants are telling the advice lines and charities about:

• Experiences of contacting ESA/New Style ESA telephony service lines.
• Any difficulties or frustrations they’ve had when interacting with ESA.
• Any barriers or challenges faced when liaising with ESA.
• Their feelings, anxieties, or positive experiences with these systems and services.
• Suggestions on how these processes could be made more accessible, user-friendly, and emotionally supportive.

The scale of this problem is even worse than the DWP cares about

While, seemingly, this is a positive thing that the DWP are trying to find new ways of supporting claimants, the fact that they’re keeping it so secretive whilst pushing out bullshit about how satisfied customers are is troubling. There’s also the fact that at every turn the DWP is against claimants and does not work in their best interests

We don’t yet know the scale at which delays are causing ESA claimants to harm themselves, but if it’s bad for claimants who are still on ESA, imagine what it must be like for those having to deal with the disastrous and cruel DWP whilst they’re being forced to migrate over to Universal Credit. You can also guarantee that with the increase in media-fueled benefits hate, the scale at which it’s unreported will be even higher.

One thing’s for certain, it must be fucking bad if the DWP are actually seeking help for it, because the department is responsible for an untold number of deaths that they have for many years tried to cover up.

Featured image via the Canary