Does not suggest that death within 6 months is likely to occur.

Description

By Sean Carroll

The catalyst for this project was the Welfare Reform Bill 2010-2012, something which affected my father directly. As with all people who claim Incapacity Benefit he was due for a re-assessment and was asked to complete the required WCA (Work Capability Assessment) forms in order to prove his entitlement to the new ESA (Employment Support Allowance) which has now replaced the original Incapacity Benefit.

My father's application was denied after several appeal forms and questionnaires and he now faces a possible return to work after 16 years of previously being declared unfit for work.

My father had a brain haemorrhage on Saturday 27th July 1996. Not only was he lucky enough to survive but he has been lucky enough to have only been left partially sighted, with a form of epilepsy and with frequent severe headaches. Even so there is no denying that he still lives with his brain damage.

The start of this project was an initial reaction to how unjustified I felt my father was being treated and also how I felt about the whole experience of going through this re-assessment procedure. It was a way of literally putting a face to the name that was printed on the countless number of forms he had to fill out and an attempt to make the statement that this is a person, a father, an individual’s life not just a product of guidelines and paperwork. The project title itself is taken from the denied response to my father's appeal.