§ Baroness Jegerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why terminally ill patients are denied attendance allowance unless they survive more than six months after diagnosis.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Skelmersdale)Entitlement to an attendance allowance does not depend upon diagnosis of a particular disabling condition or illness. Any person with severe disability must have required from someone else for a period of at least six months either frequent attention in connection with his bodily functions, or978WA continual supervision or watching over to avoid substantial danger to himself or others. The six months' qualifying period is one of the aspects of the attendance allowance scheme which we shall examine in the light of the information from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys disability surveys.