We're cancelling your appt. To the back of the queue you go!

[SarahG]

Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme

You're automatically entitled to claim Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme if you (or those you depend on) get at least one of the following:

- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Guarantee Pension Credit

You also qualify if your income is £15,276 or less and you also get one of the following:

- Child Tax Credit (with or without Working Tax Credit)
- Working Tax Credit with the disability element or severe disability element

The only benefit she gets is Disability Living Allowance, which isn't included. In any case the bulk of the expense incurred is the two days holiday which wouldn't be covered anyway.

I guess, short of legal action, there's nothing we can do?

As an aside, and somewhat OT, be careful of assuming that just because someone uses a wheelchair, they can get DLA. It's actually extraordinarily hard to get. It's impossible to get if you have an unhelpful GP. I'm sure many people here are familiar with that last problem. The current government is also trying to make it a lot harder and soon users of manual wheelchairs won't be able to claim it.

[Ice Maiden]

:(

[SarahG]

Well credit where credit is due, they have managed to find her another appointment, in early May, slightly earlier than her original one.

That's some relief. Guess I'd better book another day off work and hope they don't scr*w this one up.

[bethy]

For the 2 years I was at CX driving down from Manchester and being unemployed. I was never told I could claim back my expenses. I only was told on my last appointment there that I could claim them, By that time I had already moved to London.

Never worry about getting your money back nor their faults of cancelling due to doctors being ill or overbooked etc...

If the help is there then you have to pay for it tbh with you. Plus if it is something you need and want in life you give it all to make it happen.

[SarahG]

To be honest, the main point of my post was about the appointment being shifted back, which they have actually managed to do something about. The financial aspect was intended to be secondary.

I still think it's a pretty cr*ppy thing to do, especially to someone who is rather seriously disabled. Had this been a morning appointment we would have had to have booked a hotel in Hammersmith to have any chance of making it on time.

Because I bet if you turn up 5 minutes late, they'll happily cancel your appointment and/or discharge you. That's what our local physio does to people who can't walk and so turn up 5 minutes late.