Cost of living: Cancer patient used foodbanks during PIP wait

A couple have spoken of their "harrowing" wait to receive benefit payments following a cancer diagnosis.

Sarah Harries, 43, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August last year and is undergoing treatment.

Her partner Stephen Dickson said loss of income due to shielding combined with increases in the cost of living meant the couple had to use foodbanks.

The UK government said its priority was for people to receive benefits "as soon as possible".

"It just became an incredibly stressful time for us, at a time when we already had so much stress to worry about with Sarah's cancer," Stephen said.

Sarah, from Narberth, Pembrokeshire, worked as an assistant manager at a hotel and Stephen was in marketing, but the risk of Covid-19 to immunosuppressed people such as those undergoing cancer treatment meant they both had to stop working.

But it took months for Sarah's personal independence payment (PIP) to come through, with the couple living on "the absolute minimum benefits" in the meantime which Stephen described as "incredibly frustrating".

"You have to wait five months, they interrogate you for an hour and a half, then they tell you 'yes you're eligible'," he said.

Stephen said that once the first payment arrived the total wait was around six months.

Now that they are receiving PIP and other welfare payments, Stephen says they are "just about scraping by", but with petrol, food and energy prices rising, things are still tough financially.

"Our worry now is unless universal credit and the benefits Sarah is eligible for are increased in line with inflation that has happened over the last year, then we and many other families are going to get in a worse and worse predicament every day because the government simply aren't doing anything about it.

"I find it unbelievable and incredibly infuriating that the government and the system currently in place is such that they would make cancer patients go through the same system as everyone else."

On Wednesday the chancellor Rishi Sunak announced he would cut fuel duty, raise the threshold at which people start paying National Insurance, and pledged to cut the basic rate of income tax before the next general election.

But the level at which benefits will rise next month remains unchanged at 3.1% while inflation is likely to average 7.4% for the rest of the year.

Jonathan Long from Macmillan Cancer Support said the charity was "lobbying hard" for waiting times to be shortened.

"Navigating the system can be difficult at the best of times, even more so when you're ill.

"And then you're finding once you've done what you needed to do you're waiting months and months and months for decisions to be made.

"And while that's happening the financial impact is growing and growing and growing."

A UK government spokesperson said: "We support millions of people every year, and our priority is they get the benefits to which they are entitled to as soon as possible, and to ensure they receive a supportive and compassionate service.

"We know that living with a long-term illness or disability can impact on living costs, and financial support is available to those with disabilities, or those who care for them and we urge people to check whether they are receiving all the benefits to which they are entitled, and to be aware of the wider support this opens up, including help with transport, broadband or prescription costs.