Hi Everyone,
Having read a number of posts now about how some people have been adversely treated in relation to pursuing benefits etc, I thought it might be worth mentioning that, over recent years, the definition of what constitutes 'a disability' for the purpose of protection against discrimination under the Equality Act of 2010 is now much wider. I am not a lawyer but it does strike me that the definition may encompass someone dealing with a diagnosis of Amyloidosis.
Quoting from the government's own guidance (
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/85010/disability-definition.pdf)
Main elements of the definition of disability
A1. The Act defines a disabled person as a person with a disability. A person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantiaand long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normalday-to-day activities (S6(1)).
A2. This means that, in general:
• the person must have an impairment that is either physical ormental (see paragraphs A3 to A8);
• the impairment must have adverse effects which are substantial(see Section B);
• the substantial adverse effects must be long-term (see Section C);and
• the long-term substantial adverse effects must be effects on normal day-to-day activities (see Section D).
It goes on to say that...
"A disability can arise from a wide range of impairments which can be:
• sensory impairments, such as those affecting sight or hearing;
• impairments with fluctuating or recurring effects such as rheumatoid arthritis, myalgic encephalitis (ME), chronic fatigue
syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia, depression and epilepsy;
• progressive, such as motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy,and forms of dementia;
• auto-immune conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosis(SLE);
•
organ specific, including respiratory conditions, such as asthma,
and cardiovascular diseases, including thrombosis, stroke and heart disease
I've highlighted the last section as I believe that this is key to the inclusion of an amyloidosis patient.
Why does it matter? It matters if you believe that you are being unfairly treated as a direct (or in some cases indirect) consequence of being disabled. In relation to benefit entitlement, it could mean that - depending on individual circumstances - one could make the argument that a decision to withhold benefits could be unlawful under the Equality Act of 2010. In cases relating to cancer and HIV for example, it was held that protection started on diagnosis - not on the onset of debilitating symptoms. This could be significant for Amyloidosis patients trying to get benefit entitlement backdated.
As Amyloidosis is rare, I would doubt that many people suffering with it have made the connection with the Equality Act.
If anyone reading this is a lawyer, or knows one, it might be interesting to hear her\his view on what I've outlined. My own connection with this stems from my 'pre-amyloidosis' work in advising businesses on their responsibilities to make their premises more accessible to people with disabilities. I picked up a bit of the legislative background along the way.