Encouragingly, many of the problems Kidney Care UK shared with the PIP review team are addressed within the report, which helps our campaign for a major shake-up of the process so the right people get the right support in a compassionate and supportive way.
Supporting people with kidney disease through the complex process of claiming benefits to help meet the extra costs that the condition can bring is a core part of day-to-day work at Kidney Care UK. This means we understand very well what works well and what needs to change in the PIP system.
The problems we raised with the review team, and which were reflected in the interim report, include PIP decisions relying too heavily on a single assessment that fails to capture how people’s health conditions affect them day-to-day. Too often medical and other supporting evidence can be overlooked.
The interim report also highlighted our concern that people can be judged on how they look or present information during an assessment, even when that does not reflect the reality of their everyday life but rather the effort they have put into the assessment meeting.
Kidney Care UK has long argued that assessors need a better understanding of kidney disease, including symptoms that are not always visible, like fatigue, pain, treatment side effects and the impact of dialysis. The review’s recognition that assessors often lack specialist knowledge is therefore important.
The interim’s report main message was that PIP is not working and needs radical overhaul.
It acknowledged that there is currently a lot of distrust in the system and, while some people have a good experience, for too many people the process can be soul-destroying and humiliating.
The next steps in the PIP review will be the development of recommendations for change, based on the evidence already submitted. Kidney Care UK will contribute to that process. The final report will be published in autumn 2026, and the government will then respond.
Any changes will likely require new legislation so thank you for your support so far and do look out for opportunities to get involved in campaigning later this year.