Bolton: 100s miss out on PIP benefits due to 'hospital rule'

The findings, acquired under the Freedom of Information Act, showed that 230 people in the first quarter of this year had their benefits stopped after staying more than 28 days in hospital.

The government claims that this is because their needs are met while in hospital, but critics argue this is deeply unfair.

Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi said: “It is shocking to learn that people are having their benefits suspended when in hospital and that this happened to 230 people in the borough of Bolton alone!

“When people are in critical conditions, incapacitated, or recovering from surgery, they need our support, and a hand up not to be pushed down.”

The rule applies to people who have stayed in hospital for more than 28 days (Image: Newsquest)

The 230 people who saw their benifits suspended between February 1 to April 30 this year marked a sharp increase on the first quarter of last year.

This same period in 2021 saw 190 people have their benefits suspended, while the same period the year before saw 150 suspensions.

In Bolton, the most common condition for people who had their benefits suspended in 2022 was schizophrenia, while last year and the year before the most common was learning disabilities.

The borough is home to some of the most deprived communities in the UK, with a loss of disability benefits likely to be felt particularly acutely by families who are already struggling.

All over the country, a total of 45,850 people had their PIP disability benefit while in hospital, according to findings from the BBC Shared Data Unit.

Nationwide the highest number of suspensions was for people with mental health difficulties.

The Mencap charity has argued that the hospitalisation rule is particularly unfair on people with learning difficulties, who are more likely to ‘fall foul’ of it, which will have a harsher impact on them and their families in turn.

Head of policy Dan Schorer said: “While the NHS is taking steps to support family carers and acknowledge the important role they play in contributing to successfully managing hospital stays for their loved ones with a learning disability, the benefits system has this arbitrary 28-day cliff edge after which support is stopped.”

He added: “This group are therefore more likely to fall foul of the 28-day rule, yet the loss of financial support can have a detrimental impact on the ability of family members and carers to support the person at a key time, throughout a lengthy hospital admission.”

But the government says that the ‘hospitalisation rule’ is in place to make sure tax-payers are not ‘paying double’ for disabled people’s care.

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A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that disabled people get all the support to which they are entitled.

“It is a long-standing rule that payment of extra costs benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment, is suspended after the first 28 days in a hospital or similar institution, to avoid double provision from public funds.

“While the number of hospitalisation suspensions has gone up so has the number of PIP awards; suspensions still form a very small proportion of the overall PIP caseload.”