A 55-year-old man has been declared fit to work by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) – despite being due to have a triple heart bypass next month.
Konrad Zastawny suffers has coronary artery disease which leaves him short of breath on some days and completely unable to move on others.
Doctors have told him he is unfit to work and needs to have the six hour operation, which will see surgeons move blood vessels from elsewhere in his body to his five blocked arteries.
But cruel job centre bosses have insisted he does not qualify for disability payments because he is fit to work.
Instead he is forced to live on just £317 per month in Universal Credit payments – less than his half of the mortgage and bills at the house he shares with a friend.
Konrad, who had worked for his entire adult life before being struck down with the respiratory disease, said: “Doctors have told me I have triple vessel heart disease, I have five blocked arteries and three of them are severely blocked and that I am not fit to work.
“I get tired very easily and, if I went for a job interview, I wouldn’t be able to guarantee to an employer I would be able to get into work on time every day or be able to cope with the demands of the job.
“I certainly wouldn’t be able to stack shelves for eight hours a day, for example. I worked in a warehouse for a while, I couldn’t do that now until I’ve had my heart operation.
“The DWP have overwritten my doctor’s notes and have given me £80 a week to live on.
“They keep saying there’s work I can do and I do not have limited capacity.
“I grew up in a world where, even under Thatcher, if you were disabled they looked after you.
“[Secretary of State] Thérèse Coffey said before the general election that if you can’t work Universal Credit will protect you, but I don’t think this is protection.
“I handed eight pages of medical evidence to the job centre staff and watched them scan it in.
“But the DWP told me they never got them, so they think I am fit to work.
“It now seems they are going after the disabled, I don’t know what kind of country we are living in.
“The individual people I have been dealing with are not bad people, but the system isn’t working for me and it’s not working for other people.”
Konrad, of Sheffield, South Yorks., quit work last year to take care of his elderly mother who is suffering from dementia.
When he was looking to return to work, he was struck down by bouts of tiredness and went to see doctors, who diagnosed him with five blocked arteries and high blood pressure.
He applied for a job in a bank, but was told he was not suitable for the job because of the upcoming operation.
Konrad, a former civil servant, first applied for help from the DWP in August after an Angiogram X-ray confirmed the heart disease.
He attended an incapacity assessment at the job centre in October but, after a seven week wait, he was finally told he does not qualify for disability payments.
Since then, he has to rely on the generosity of his housemate to help pay his bills and day-to-day essentials, but says he has no spare cash at the end of the month and will not be able to afford any Christmas presents.
Konrad added: “I have to borrow money from my friend every month to pay for bills and to cover the cost of living.
“If my friend wasn’t so helpful I would have had to sell my half of the house or re-mortgage.
“Do we live in a country where if you’re seriously ill, they’ll save your life but you’ll get into thousands of pounds worth of debt because you can’t work?
“Even though I am quite a robust chap, it has affected me.
“I won’t be able to afford any Christmas presents and can’t afford to pay for anything. My friend buys me all my food and lends me money every month to live off.
“I’m getting deeper into personal debt every month.”
Konrad has supplied the DWP with more medical evidence and has been told his case will be considered by a decisions officer.
A spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “We are currently reviewing Mr Zastawny’s claim taking into account new information he has provided.”