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Fuel aid plea for cancer patients | Fuel aid plea for cancer patients |
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The UK's refusal to extend the winter fuel allowance for people with chronic illnesses is "absolutely outrageous", a leading cancer specialist has said. | The UK's refusal to extend the winter fuel allowance for people with chronic illnesses is "absolutely outrageous", a leading cancer specialist has said. |
Professor Karol Sikora said sufferers facing spiralling winter fuel bills should be given urgent help. | Professor Karol Sikora said sufferers facing spiralling winter fuel bills should be given urgent help. |
He said patients need to keep warm to get better. | He said patients need to keep warm to get better. |
The government says its disability living allowance aims to meet year-round costs and is more generous than the winter fuel allowance. | The government says its disability living allowance aims to meet year-round costs and is more generous than the winter fuel allowance. |
However, critics say many cancer patients do not qualify for this benefit. | |
Mr Sikora, whose organisation Cancer Partners UK runs independent cancer centres, said: "You feel much colder with some chemotherapy. | |
"It's absolutely outrageous that cancer sufferers on treatment go home to sit in the cold for hours on end. | |
I'm feeling the cold an awful lot more than I used to Cancer sufferer Julian Rutter | |
"We have got to do something about it and we have to do something now." | "We have got to do something about it and we have to do something now." |
Up to 400,000 need urgent help with their fuel bills, according to the charity Macmillan Cancer Support. | Up to 400,000 need urgent help with their fuel bills, according to the charity Macmillan Cancer Support. |
Head of policy and campaigns, Michael Hobday, said: "It's important in a civilised society that the country looks after those people who're in the greatest need. | |
"Cancer patients undergoing treatment are twice as likely to be in fuel poverty as the rest of the population." | |
Fuel poverty is defined as those who spend more than 10% of their household income on heating their homes. | |
The charity wants all terminally ill patients and those on some benefits to automatically qualify for the winter fuel allowance and be charged less for their energy use. | |
Feeling 'persecuted' | |
But the government has said it has no plans to extend the winter fuel payments, which are annual tax-free sums paid to people aged 60 or over. | |
Julian Rutter, from Crystal Palace, south-east London, had to give up his recycling business after undergoing emergency surgery for cancer of the small intestine in October last year. | |
"At home, I have had the heating on from early in the morning to late evening. I'm feeling the cold an awful lot more than I used to," he said. | |
However, he does not qualify for state disability living allowance or winter fuel payments and energy companies provide no assistance because his partner earns more than the £15,000 annual threshold. | |
Mr Rutter told the BBC he felt "persecuted" as a result of the lack of financial support. |