Robert Barlow

A disabled man died penniless when he lost his benefits after being judged fit to work.

Robert Barlow died last November aged 47 while suffering from a heart defect and brain tumour.

He was deemed fit to work by benefits assessors Atos despite doctors at the time urging him to have a heart transplant – he passed away less than two years later.

Now his family and Labour MP Luciana Berger want the Government to learn lessons from this tragic case.

His aunt Joan Westland, 85, said: “I don’t know how they expected him to work. Nobody would have loved to work more than him but he simply couldn’t.”

University of Liverpool graduate Mr Barlow, from Wavertree , worked as a Government scientist but gave up his job nine years ago when diagnosed with severe cardiomyopathy, a weakness or failure of the heart muscle.

By the end of his life he could not walk, struggled to read due to poor eyesight and often fell over, smashing his teeth on one occasion.

Doctors eventually gave Mr Barlow a year and a half to live and recommended a heart transplant.

He was often in and out of hospital during his final months. He never married or had children.

Mrs Westland said: “Robert said he wouldn’t have the heart transplant. He had no commitments and thought it would be better if there was a heart for it to go to somebody else.

“We tried to talk him into having the operation but he wouldn’t do it.”

 Mr Barlow, born in Wallasey , was given a fitness-to-work test by Atos in January 2012 and his Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was stopped three months later. He also lost the right to free NHS prescriptions.

Mrs Westland said: “Robert was dying and he accepted that. I feel he should have been left to enjoy what little time he had left.”

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says Mr Barlow initially challenged the decision to stop his benefits but the appeal was withdrawn because, according to Mrs Westland, he felt too ill to fight the case.

“Robert had very little money on benefits and nothing at all when his money was stopped,” his aunt said. “I know there are scroungers but he was not one of them.”

 Paying tribute, Mrs Westland continued: “He was a trained classical pianist, he could cook and he had a beautiful sense of humour.

“He loved cricket and was very knowledgeable about lots of subjects. He loved Beethoven and had an extensive collection of records.

“But he got so ill that by the end he couldn’t play the piano any more. He had a bad left eye so reading became difficult.

“I want these fitness-to-work tests to stop because I don’t want other people going through the same trauma. Robert was very, very distressed after his Atos assessment.”

Mr Barlow died after never regaining consciousness following a fall at home – just seven months after his mother passed away.

Wavertree MP Ms Berger, a shadow health minister, raised his tragic story in the House of Commons last month.

Since then Atos has quit its £500m contract and ministers are looking for a new provider.

Ms Berger told the Sunday ECHO: “It’s not enough to change the provider. The whole process needs to be totally redesigned.

“My constituent is someone who lost his life at a time when his ESA was suspended.

“He was too sick to appeal the decision and died while he had no access to benefits.”

A DWP spokesman said: “We have followed the correct procedures in the processing of this benefit claim. People have the right to appeal a decision, but if the appeal is withdrawn we cannot continue with processing the claim.”

Wirral West Tory MP and Employment Minister Esther McVey previously defended the fit-to-work tests, saying: “Our reforms will make sure the billions we spend every year give more targeted support.”