Let them live with dignity

Sunday Mail backs £450 payment to dying Scots to cover their extra energy costs

- BY JOHN FERGUSON

THE Sunday Mail today launches a campaign demanding poverty-stricken terminally ill Scots are given help to pay rocketing fuel bills.

We are backing recommendations from watchdog Consumer Scotland that would provide eligible people with a payment of up to £450 to cover extra costs.

A shocking 7700 terminally ill patients have been plunged into fuel poverty, according to end of life charity Marie Curie - with bills likely to soar further due to war in the Middle East.

Victims often rely on essential medical and mobility equipment in the home and can need extra heating to manage pain, respiratory issues and other clinical symptoms.

This results in energy bills that are up to 75 per cent higher than the average household.

Consumer Scotland chief executive Sam Ghibaldan said: “For people approaching the end of life, living without sufficient support can significantly undermine the ability to meet essential needs, including staying warm, dry and clean which in turn can accelerate health deterioration and compound distress.

“People living with a terminal illness are a group who often have to spend higher amounts of money on their energy needs with the potential for significant detriment if they have to ration their use.

“Current energy support does not account for the impact of higher essential energy expenditure, and therefore does not effectively help terminally ill consumers to meet their essential energy needs.