Subject: Can I get a Blue Badge with a recent diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis?
Dear All I'm extremely new to the forum and it's great having a place to go with any strange questions (I'm sure I'll have quite a few). I have been recently diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis after noticing a serious decline in my ability to walk over the past year or so. My GP had put this initial to my being overweight (I am... no arguing there and hopefully a bit of weight loss will help someway to easing the pain). I have now formally been diagnosed and this after a rather long journey of aches and pains. I've got to the point where I'm now getting myself into some serious debt trying to get to work (I work in Central London and it costs a fortune to park and quite frankly my wages aren't good enough to swallow the additional cost of parking which is nearly £40 per day plus congestion charge). I have been advised by my occupational health department at work to seriously consider applying for a blue badge. I must say my walking has now got to a point that I can't walk at all without being in considerable pain and discomfort and the thought of being able to use a disabled parking bay near work would be bliss)... I just wondered: A... what my chances are (I don't receive any benefits) B... would I even be considered as I've only just been diagnosed C... is there any help I can receive towards my travel costs (as I say this is something I've never considered before and I'm completely in the dark as to what I can and cannot claim/do). I love my job and can cope with it subject to a few minor changes, but I can't keep forking out paying for parking to get into work.
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