More than 40,000 disabled households giving up cooked meals to run medical equipment

Shocking analysis from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has revealed that over 40,000 disabled households in Scotland are being forced to forgo cooked meals in order to run or charge essential medical equipment.

The findings, based on research conducted by the polling company YouGov, underscore a hidden crisis affecting the disabled community in the face of inflation and rising energy bills.

CAS discovered that an estimated 41,428 households with at least one person living with a disability or long-term health condition had sacrificed a cooked meal to power critical medical devices.

The charity warns that these figures highlight the severe impact of the cost-of-living crisis on disabled individuals, who are disproportionately affected by the economic challenges.

As part of its "Worried This Winter" campaign, CAS is urging affected individuals to seek assistance from the Citizens Advice network through various channels, including visiting www.cas.org.uk/worried.

The campaign emphasises the availability of online advice pages, interactive self-help tools such as Money Map, and specialist services like the Money Talk Team.

Individuals can find their local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for one-on-one advice.

The Citizens Advice network helped individuals gain substantial benefits, with the average energy-related advice resulting in a gain of over £400.

The overall average gain for those seeking advice was an impressive £3,700.

One poignant case exemplifies the challenges faced by disabled households.

A woman approached her local CAB seeking advice on a £1,600 energy debt incurred from running her disabled daughter's medical devices.

Faced with a doubled monthly bill of £300, she sought information about grants to cover the costs associated with maintaining the medical devices.

CAS Social Justice spokesperson Stephanie Millar expressed deep concern over the crisis, stating: "This crisis has impacted disabled people on a far greater scale than others might recognise. Anyone who is worried about bills and money this winter should seek advice from the CAB network."

Millar added: "Our online advice pages are used by millions of people a year, and we have interactive self-help tools to help people see where they could boost their incomes or cut their costs.

"The CAB network gets incredible results for people. Last year, the average gain for someone who sought advice was over £3,700. That can be absolutely life-changing money this winter. We don’t judge, we just help."