Dear Prime Minister,
As Prime Minister, you have the opportunity to lead a government that transforms the lives of the more than 150,000 people living with MS right now. Will your government be one that delivers the change that can’t wait any longer?
Right now, too many people with MS face unimaginable difficulties.
Broken PIP assessments and inadequate benefits, coupled with a lack of workplace support, mean many people face huge financial uncertainty. People are also missing out on essential specialist care that means the groundbreaking treatments that can support people to live well for longer are out of reach for too many. Limited resources, staff shortages, and a postcode lottery leave many feeling abandoned when they need support the most.
We can't afford to wait any longer. People with MS deserve better.
The next UK Government must:
Make sure people have financial security and the opportunity to succeed in work.
- Support people with MS to move into and stay in good-quality employment
- Fix the PIP process. Scrap the 20-metre rule. Abolish informal observations for people with fluctuating conditions. And change the 50% rule to be more flexible
- Ensure disabled people can live free from poverty. Review and improve disability benefit rates and carers allowance
Make sure people have the support and healthcare they need to stay healthy and live well for longer.
- Build a thriving and sustainable health and care neurology workforce to address shortages in neurologists and MS nurses
- Appoint a clinical director for neurology in each integrated care system
- Establish a UK-wide neurological taskforce that tackles the issues of people affected by neurological conditions
- Improve mental health support for people with MS and longterm conditions
- Reform social care so that it supports working aged disabled adults to live independent lives.
By taking these steps, the next government could transform the lives of those living with MS. People living with MS are counting on you.
