Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has provided recent guidance to medical clinicians on the use of SR1 forms for patients following changes to benefit applications under the new special rules for people with terminal illnesses.
The DWP provides guidance to clinicians to support them to provide the SR1 medical evidence form to support their patient at the end of life to make a claim for benefits under the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). On 3rd April 2023, the DWP updated its clinical guidance on GOV.UK regarding the new SREL eligibility criteria and how to obtain and return an SR1 form. This guidance and a video explaining how to complete the SR1 form can be found at www.gov.uk/dwp/special-rules.
The DWP has worked closely with clinical stakeholders like the Ambitions Partnership for Palliative and End of Life Care and the Royal Colleges; this engagement will continue to raise awareness of the changes to the SREL.