| Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service Pastoral Care? |
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Foreword: FSV-WH was severely injured on an incident. Taken to hospital he received 4 units of Hepatitis ‘C’ contaminated blood originally from an Arkansas Prison USA. This severely set back his recovery and ultimately led to his compulsory medical discharge by the LFRS. His life and employment ruined. Subsequently in 2007 in a dispute over his Injury pension the LFRS deliberately ceased to pay any of his pensions and left him entirely destitute for over a month. It was all a ‘mistake’. At the same time they ceased to pay his Injury Pension, refused to acknowledge his correspondence, or to release his Personal Record Files including his medical records for over 2 years even though instructed to do so by the Information Commissioner. It cost his family(due to his solicitor’s error) £2000.00 to get a Court Order for the release of his files which prove that he has not been paid the correct pension since his compulsory medical retirement in 1985. FSV-WH became terminally ill and died on the 16th May 2014. Regardless of his demise, the LFRS pension debts will remain accruing and will continue to be due to his estate and his beneficiaries with compound interest thereon. During his liftime and in his terminal decline neither FSV-WH, nor his wife and family, ever received a single visit or any form of pastoral care or support from the LFRS. This is the second time in the history of the British Fire Service that a Widow specifically banned the attendance of the Chief Fire Officer or any serving member of the LFRS from attending FSV-WH’s funeral. It could only happen in Lancashire. N.B. in the first instance, FSV-WH’s estate will require restitution, with compound interest, for the payment of the correct pension(s) back to his compulsory discharge point in 1985(29 years), and because by their ‘mistake’ the LFRS have enriched themselves, no statute of limitations in defence of restitution, can be applied in law. In the second instance, FSV-WH’s estate have the right under the Human Rights Act 1980 to pursue restitution from the LFRS because in his liftime FSV-WH has had his rights breached under Protocol 1 Article 1 of the European Convention… “Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law.”. FSV-WH’s ‘possession’ are his pensions – all of them. A very conservative estimate places this debt in excess of one half Million pounds.This does not include any compensation he may be awarded under Protocol 1 Article 1 of the EU Convention an LFRS debt which will now pass to his estate and its Beneficiaries including exemplary and aggravated damages. Public Witness Statement of disabled FSV – WH. I, W.H, disabled Fire Service Veteran of… Lancashire shall state as follows: 1. In the latter part of 2007, letters from the LCC were sent out to disabled Fire Service Veterans who were receiving Injury Pensions. A letter which I might add was worded quite threatening and very stressful especially to me. Years before I had been injured on an incident and in Hospital I received blood transfusions using blood from America which was contaminated with Hepatitis ‘C’ which immediately damaged my health and has destroyed my life for the last 20 years. 2. I was then abruptly compulsorily retired from the Brigade without further ado and had to go and get a job to provide for my family because times became hard. 3. Attached to the said letters was a form asking each Veteran to sign and return to the LCC giving them permission to obtain all their DWP Records. This was found to be an illegal document. Some of the disabled Veterans including myself refused to sign on those grounds. 4. The following year 2008, the said Veterans including myself again received letters asking them to sign a reworded form. This was not a legal form either. 5. Later on in 2008 the Veterans including myself who had not signed the form had their injury pensions withdrawn and that is where I am still at. 6. In my case at one point my full and entire pension was withdrawn leaving me penniless. It took numerous telephone calls and visits to my bank and the LCC which caused me and my family a great deal of stress. Finally it was admitted by the LFRS and the LCC that they had made a mistake which was rectified the following month minus my Injury Pension. This mistake left me my wife and my family without any income for over a month. 7. I do not believe it was a mistake at all I believe they meant to punish me and the other disabled Veterans and to show us who was the boss. 8. The next step taken was to contact the Fire Brigades Union to act on our behalf which they approved and passed all my information to their solicitors Thompsons of London. Over the following year and a half Thompsons did very little to assist me. It was brought to my attention that the person who was supposedly dealing with all our cases was not even a solicitor but an unqualified clerk who advised us to sign this unlawful document which I refused to do. 9. When I complained to Thompsons they informed me that they no longer employed this person so I lost complete confidence in Thompsons and in 2010 Thompsons decided they did not wish to represent me anymore because I still refused to sign this form and I have never signed this form because firstly I still believe it is unlawful and secondly because of the LFRS bullying attitude. 10. Following the above I wrote to the LFRS requesting a copy of my Personal Record Files because I suspected that the LFRS had not kept my pension records properly in the first place. 11. The reply came back that if I wanted my PRFs I had to send a cheque for £10 to enable them to process my paperwork. I sent a cheque in. 12. I was then informed that because the LFRS did not hold my PRFs in alphabetical order and my files were not held in a structured fashion they were refusing to give them to me. They never sent my £10 back to me either but they did to at least one other person who had applied at the same time as me for their PRFs and they were refused also. I was informed if I was not happy with this to contact the Information Commission which I did. 13. Next I contacted the ICO to register my complaint and I was given a reference case number. 14. Over several months and correspondence between the Veterans including myself and the ICO there still appeared to be no action about my complaint. 15. In June 2011 the ICO advised me that I should allow time for the LFRS to make a final determination of their practices and could not take any further action whilst the issue was on going. 16. This directly contradicted what they informed me on 20th April 2011 when they stated that their final decision was that the said information is held in a relevant filing system and therefore the LFRS are subject to the law of the DPA and my PRFs should be provided to me without further delay which they had informed the LFRS of at that time. 17. In late June when I asked for my PRFs again acting on the advice of the ICO the LFRS wrote saying they were still in discussions with the ICO. I believe that this was a downright lie because on the 16th May the ICO had written a final letter to the LFRS saying they must give me my PRFs and that the Commissioner’s decision was final. 18. By September no further progress had been made in giving me my PRFs which I believe will prove that the LFRS have maladministered my pensions. 19. I am one of a group of disabled Fire Service Veterans who are people who gave dedicated and loyal service to our community and the LFRS over many years and because of injuries received whilst doing this myself and others are now in addition to financial hardship, having to cope with serious health and stress problems. I believe that myself, my wife, and my family are being deliberately hounded and more stress placed upon us because we refuse to back down and continue to accuse the LFRS of mistakes, cover ups, and the maladministration of my injury pension. 20. This appalling debacle has been brought about by the LFRS who are now in my opinion covering up years of mistakes and blaming me and others for their errors which appears to me and other disabled Veterans to be extremely unfair. I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. Redacted……………………. W.H Date: 14th April 2012. |
| Widow and Son ~ Public Impact Statements |
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Mrs PH 176 Wxxxxx PRX 1XX E-mail XXXXXXXXXXX Tel XXXXXXXXXX Date 17/12/2024 Victim Statement Re Wxxxx Hxxxx My name is Pxxxxx Hxxxx and my late husband Wxxxx was a retired Fire Officer with Lancashire Fire Service. I am writing this statement to give you an insight on what disgraceful treatment and intimidation we received from the Fire Service. My husband required an emergency operation after a serious on duty injury to have 2 discs removed from his back in the early 1970s. During this operation he was given 4 pints of blood which was contaminated with Hepatitis C which would directly lead to his death. When he was given the blood, it was already known that it should not have been used yet they carried on giving it which has led to many thousands of people dying. Around 1994 my husband required a hip replacement and during the initial tests before the operation he was diagnosed as having been given Hepatitis C during his back operation. I remember that day we found out about this as we were also told there was no cure so this was in effect a death sentence to him. I remember sitting with my husband in total shock and feeling completely numb. When you are given this type of news your emotions are out of control. We both cried and worried how to tell our children about this. From that day our lives changed forever and led to nearly 25 years of constant worry and pain. In the years that followed I had to watch my husband health fail and watch him become depressed and upset which I now realise was his mental health collapsing due to this situation. My husband was a very active man who had an incredible sense of humour however I watched all that disappear as he worried everyday about his health. Over the years as his illness got worse the pressure on me and our family became unbearable. There were times I felt I couldn’t carry on but knew I had to for his sake and our children’s sake. The last few years were the hardest as I got older I struggled to cope as his carer. My husband suffered appalling pain and suffering which no one deserves especially someone who dedicated his life to saving others. During his last few years he was continually in and out of hospital which added even more stress to me. When he was in hospital I would go twice a day to sit with him and hold his hand. He told me how scared he was to die which just showed how ill he was as he had always been a very strong person and that was not like him. Until my husband’s illness got really bad he was very vocal in trying to get justice for his treatment which sadly he did not live long enough to see. I have spent many years feeling guilty about being relieved his suffering was over when he died and continue to have these thoughts to this day. One of the worst situations was he only got to spend 4 years seeing his only grandchild and she has lost the opportunity to spend time with a wonderful grandfather. One situation I will never get over and it still angers me to this day was the treatment he received from The Fire Service. My husband received a letter form The Fire Service saying he had been over paid on his pension by around 2,000 pounds, I believe, and it had to be paid back immediately or he could go to Prison. This was an outrage as all my husband ever did was put his life on the line for others. This behaviour was disgusting from them and added to our stress and depression. I cannot explain in words how this situation affected both us, I think back now and cannot imagine how we coped. It was bad enough for me but the pressure on my husband was destroying his health as not only knowing he was dying but also was worried he would be sent to Prison. There are not sufficient words to describe this appalling behaviour to a dying man. I hope this statement will help you make an informed decision and force the Fire Service to do the right thing for people like my husband and all their families. Your faithfully Mrs Pxxxxx Hxxxxx +++++++++++++++++++++++ Wxxxxxx Sxxxxxx Hxxxx Date 18/12/2023 28 Bxxxx Rxxxx Pxxxx PRx 2xx E-mail xxxxxxxxx Tel xxxxxxxx
Victim Impact Statement Re Wxxxxxx Hxxxxx Senior [deceased] To Whom it May Concern My late father was a Firefighter for Preston Borough Fire Service and then an Officer in Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service. During his service my father injured his back which required surgery and a blood transfusion. As a direct result of this blood transfusion my father was infected with Hepatitis C which was the early cause of his death in May 2014. My father was always a very strong man both mentally and physically however due to his illness I watched him deteriorate until his death. At the time of his death my father only weighed around 7 stone compared to his weight which was around 14 stone before his illness. My father was a very caring man who sadly died in excruciating pain due to being deliberately given contaminated blood. From the time in the early 1990s when he was informed he had Hepatitis C and there was no cure my father had a 2death sentence2 hanging over his head. Every day he had to live with the thought that day his illness may end his life! It affected him significantly and over time he became withdrawn and very insular which wasn’t his normal demeanour. During the later part of his life he was also told that he had been over paid regarding part of his pension by Lancashire County Council. He was then threatened in correspondence that until he paid back money he would be taken to court and sent to Prison. This was an absolute disgrace which almost destroyed my father and this intimidation carried on a considerable period of time which again had a massive affect on my father’s health and mental state. My father gave a large part of his life to protecting others however he never got any chance to enjoy his retirement and spent over 20 years worrying everyday about his health. The Fire Service were a contributing factor to the health deteriorating due to their bullying tactics against a seriously ill man! Besides the horrendous treatment my father received there is also the huge effect it had on my family and myself. We also lived with the fear every day could have been the last day of my father’s life. On a personal level the pressure I lived under was immense and has led to over the years with me being unable to cope with certain situations. No person should have to watch a family member die in such circumstances and after watching this happen to my father I have spent many years trying to cope with his death. I try not to think about the times I had to physically lift my father out his bath when he couldn’t lift himself out or having to wipe his bottom after he used the toilet. The direct result of his illness and his treatment by The Fire Service has affected myself and is something I think I will never learn to cope with fully. When I am asked to undertake something like this statement it brings back all the memories of the pressure and pain I suffered watching my father die. Through no fault of myself or my family our lives have been almost destroyed at times and I believe the treatment of The Fire Service played a large part in this. Yours faithfully, Wxxxxxx Sxxxxxx Hxxxxx |