Sign up to FREE email alerts from Liverpool Echo - Weekly Politics Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A disabled man was left with malnutrition after waiting eight months for benefits he was due, city MP Luciana Berger revealed today.

The Wavertree MP told Parliament she was “ashamed” to live in a country where desperately ill people are facing serious delays in getting help.

She told of the case of Thomas O'Donnell, whom she said suffered from epilepsy, depression, arthritis and memory loss - yet was made to wait eight months for his Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

She also revealed the case of her constituent Trudie Ann Birchall who was forced to wait five months for her PIP payments after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Ms Berger is alarmed by delays in giving people their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and told MPs in a Westminster Hall debate she secured: “I am here to represent the constituents who have come to me, some in real despair and to ensure that their stories are heard.”

The payment is intended to cover the additional costs they face because of their condition. This could be help with taxi fares to hospital, higher utility bills, or specialist equipment.

She said: “ Thomas O’Donnell originally made his claim for PIP in August 2013. The months went on without him getting an assessment, and he fell into real financial difficulty.

“He was struggling to pay his rent, and he couldn’t afford his bills. By time he came to me in March of this year, Thomas was suicidal.

“Eight months on and he was still waiting for a decision. His epilepsy was causing him to have daily, violent fits, and he was surviving on just £30 a week.

“He didn’t have cooking or washing facilities in his home. And he didn’t have any food.

“After months of helping Mr O’Donnell navigate an impossible system and raising his case on the floor of this House, he was eventually awarded the money that he was entitled to.

But eight months of waiting and the hardship and strain had taken its toll – his doctor confirmed that he was suffering from malnutrition...

“I am appalled that my constituent was suffering from malnutrition here in the United Kingdom in 2014.”

She added: “Since the introduction of PIP, thousands of cancer patients have been left in the dark, with at least 4,500 cancer patients waiting six months or more to find out whether they will even be awarded the benefit.”

The MP concluded: “I am currently ashamed to live in a country that is treating our most sick and vulnerable in this way. The state should be supporting people in the time of their need not making them feel worse.”

Mike Penning, Conservative minister for disabled people, said he was “brutally honest about the problems we have with PIP” and the time taken by both the contractor and the Department for Work & Pensions was “fundamentally unacceptable”.

He said it now takes on average less than 10 days to approve payments to a terminally ill patient and he hoped to drive it down further.

More Merseyside news today:

Shocking attack in Liverpool nightclub l eaves man with nose 'hanging off'

Rolf Harris could be stripped of honorary degree by Liverpool Hope University

Drama at Mersey police station as man walks in with World War II mortar round he found in North Wales

Young Merseyside woman may sue McDonalds a fter spilling hot chocolate on her lap

Liverpool bracing themselves for opening Luis Suarez bid from Barcelona

Watch: Everton Road closed by house fire

Pictures released as police appeal for information on bikes stolen from Hillsborough fundraisers

Stay with us for all your breaking news, sport, traffic and travel