Taking a rest from advocacy Activist health, well-being, welfare & work #LongCovid #FBLC @WorkingWithLC Retired occupational therapist, PhD #SuicidePrevention
Joined November 2015
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Will you wear a mask please ?
Hairdresser: “yes”
Vet: “yes”
Carpenter : “yes”
Never a NO from anyone I ask until this:
#NHS #nurses : “No it’s our right not too”
#COVIDisAirborne
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Exercise is an important part of health promotion. Yet, we have more of the population than ever before who paradoxically may be harmed by exercise. So, to avoid leaning into blatant ableism and healthism, today’s challenge of physical activity promotion is to find that balance.
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
As it happens, none of this happens in people with post exertional malaise, such as from ME/CFS and Long Covid. In fact, the exact opposite of what’s described in this talk happens. There’s no beneficial feeling. There’s prolonged recovery time. There’s cognitive dysfunction.
“Exercise is the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today."
t.ted.com/Ksl2UZH
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
🚨 Are UK infection prevention guidelines protecting healthcare workers and patients?
Our new briefing to the UK’s Chief Nursing Officers identifies 10 critical concerns and calls for an independent review.
📖 shh-uk.org/uk-infection-prev…
#SafeAir4All #PatientSafety
🤖 Made with AI
ALT SHH-UK graphic showing healthcare workers in a hospital corridor alongside the cover of its new briefing to the UK’s Chief Nursing Officers. The graphic asks whether current UK infection prevention guidelines adequately protect healthcare workers and patients. Includes SHH-UK logo and #SafeAir4All.
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Kemi Badenoch claims that a population the size of York has “signed on” to disability benefits and asks why they wouldn’t when “sickness benefits pay more than the minimum wage.”
But applications are not awards, and PIP is not an out-of-work benefit. It helps with disability-related costs and can be claimed by people who are working.
In the latest quarter, only 34% of normal new PIP claims were awarded, down from 41% a year earlier.
A full-time minimum-wage worker earns more than £2,000 a month before tax. A single person over 25 receiving standard Universal Credit and the new lower health element gets around £642 before any housing or household-related support.
Disabled people do not choose illness because benefits are more attractive than employment. This is inflammatory rhetoric built on misleading comparisons, and we deserve better from the Leader of the Opposition.
#KemiBadenoch #DisabilityRights #PIP #WelfareRhetoric #PoweredByExperience
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
i still havig the same issues nowmpast 4 months and its hard not to have any help, ive got chest pain nausea and feelng badly.unwell on exertion even standing etc, i wake.20 times in the night with pains in my heart area and lower back and have palpatations. not sure where to go.
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
🍂 Our November schedule
Our online support groups provide a safe, welcoming space for healthcare workers and former healthcare workers living with with Long Covid to connect with others who understand.
For more details on the sessions, visit our website.
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
It needs to be good and sustainable work. Not everyone can work, or do any job, and the wrong approach can damage a disabled person's health. There shouldn't be such a lack of knowledge and insight, and an employment minister should understand the barriers disabled people face.
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
I’ll point out that for folks with severe ME who look like this every day, rolling PEM is still PEM.
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
New DWP FOI reveals % of claimants who are at Substantial Risk (physical or mental) if they are found "fit for work" who tried & failed to qualify for Daily living PIP has risen to 31%
Yet Labour plan to make Daily Living PIP the sole gateway for incapacity & disability benefits
ALT DWP FOI dated 5 Oct 2026 (FOI2026/93104) revealed that a total of 575,310 claimants qualified under the Substantial Risk (SR) route by August (UC claimants) & March (ESA claimants) this year (2026) in England & Wales Of those, 215,930 (38%) were also in receipt of the Daily Living PIP award by the end of March 2026 (DWP FOI Ref: FO12026/102820) This leaves 359,380 (62%) SR without Daily Living PIP Of those SR who attempted to qualify for Daily Living PIP (312,240: 54%), 96,310 failed to qualify which equates to a failure rate of 30.8% (DWP FOI Ref FOI2026/931 04)
ALT https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timms-review-of-pip-terms-of-reference/timms-review-of-personal-independence-payment-terms-of-reference GOV.UK Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment: Terms of Reference Published 30 Oct 2025 We have also outlined future plans to remove the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Following that, the PIP assessment will become the single gateway for health-related and disability benefits, placing additional importance on this element of the system.
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Disabled people will have to wait until next month, and possibly December, to discover the government’s plans for cuts and reforms to their support through the social security system, after this week’s budget offered few new hints.
#Budget26
disabilitynewsservice.com/bu…
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
PIP review member delivers powerful rebuttal to research by colleague that called for cuts to child DLA
#PIP #DLA #TimmsReview
disabilitynewsservice.com/pi…
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Alarm bells ringing after minister @AndrewHWestern says all work is good for health, and he wants ‘everyone’ to get a job
disabilitynewsservice.com/al…
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Disabled people praise shocking TV care home experiment that mirrors Nazi rhetoric
#TheExperiment #Channel4 #AktionT4
disabilitynewsservice.com/di…
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Budget is ‘miniature sticking plaster’, disabled people warn as they await Timms and Milburn reports
#Budget26 #TimmsReview #AlanMilburn
disabilitynewsservice.com/bu…
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Just this week, consultants in England announced plans to strike. With the Government's budget containing no significant investment in the health workforce, how does it intend to resolve this dispute?
Read more on a disappointing budget for the NHS: thedoctor.bma.org.uk/article…
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
Taxing Wealth grahamscambler.com/taxing-we…
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
“Corridor Care” label is hiding the true scale of the @NHS crisis
We need to be honest with patients about the risks they face
My latest BMJ Opinion
bmj.com/content/395/bmj-2026…
#MakingEverySharedAirContactCount
Nurse arrived at my door with valved #FFP3
🤔 explained not safe for us as she breathes out into our air, so she agreed to wear our #FFP3
But came back next day with a #FFP3 with no valve
#NHS care can be safe at home
@cv_cev
@SafeDavid3
#MakeEverySharedAirContactCount that’s what we do as advocates
Unpacking shopping at front door with #FFP3 on. I gave the driver a #FFP3 for future use as he said he caught flu of someone he trained recently ie sharing air while driving …
#CleanAir
@Dr Jenny Ceolta-Smith PhD RetiredOT 💙💛 retweeted
I think the path toward understanding how decisions are made in clinical trial design in ME and ME-like conditions is making public the minutes from meetings involving the stakeholders. Somebody should be organizing things and taking notes. Transparency is key.