What can PCS do if you are diagnosed as terminally ill?
Home Office rep Richard writes about the help he was able to give to a member who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Being told that you have been diagnosed with a terminal illness is one of the hardest pieces of news to receive. It’s not only hard on you as a person but also on family and friends around you. While going through this, work and job security are the last things you want to be thinking about, especially if retirement is unviable. Even if your scheme offers the option of ill-health retirement, it’s not always practical or achievable.
As a PCS rep, I’ve recently given some representation to a member who was diagnosed with cancer, who found himself in the position of not being able to retire. He was so vulnerable to infection from the chemotherapy that he was told he had to stay at home. Unfortunately, the member of staff worked for Border Force and his work required him to be there in person. This led to the member being forced to go off sick. It was as that point that he reached out for assistance from PCS.
I contacted his line manager who was very supportive (and grateful themselves to talk to someone about what was happening) and working together we arranged alternative, meaningful work that could be done from home. Along with this I was able to direct the member towards the PCS benevolent fund to help with his finances. I also offered to be someone he could talk to if he wanted to and to be there to help any way I could. He was grateful for the support.
A few months later his line manager contacted me to say that he had died. A little-considered benefit of being a member of PCS is the death in-service benefit, and I provided information so his family could claim it. Given the tragic circumstances it would at least help with the family finances.
The member left behind a family but he told me, for himself, he was ready to die, he was getting bored of waiting around. Despite this, his family was always present in his mind and he wanted to look after them. He worked because he wanted to provide for them and to still be a husband and a dad. With some help from me, I know he did his family proud.
Find more information on cancer in the workplace on PCS Knowledge.