Face-To -Face Cancelled

If your son is so severely disabled as to be taking morphine, why are they asking you to travel at all ?

?That is news to me - I didn't think that medication would play any part in whether you travelled to a centre or not?

?I have been taking MST (12 hour lasting Morphine for years - since 2004 together with Oramorph (oral Morphine).

?For the past few years the dosage has been 100mg every 12 hours + as much Oramorp as I need.

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?I have always had to travel (ESA, DLA & IIDB) (apart from the last AA assessment) 20 miles or so to the centre. Getting there was either by car if my wife was up to it or bus (two buses and a 10 min walk). I have never been offered a home visit because of taking Morphine.

That's what I'm getting at.  If he has a severe level of disability then you should be able to get a home assessment.  If you have a decent GP, tell them what has happened and ask for support in getting this - if your son has to double up on his morphine to travel that may be enough.  Our support group secured a home assessment for someone who had diffficulty in travelling due to limited mobility and wearing callipers to both legs.  GP evidence to support this was required, but she got the home assessment.  If you don't ask you won't know, and if your son has this level of difficulty and has been put through this twice, you ,ya be successful.

Lately ATOS seem to be a lot more amenable to home assessments - I can only speak from experience in our area, but they will offer one where it can be shown that the claimant has pain or other difficulty and would suffer during travel.  Not sure about other providers but ATOS seem to be softening their position - I'm not saying it's completely altruistic because from their point of view it allows them to arrange appointments at short notice. I've seen two examples in the last couple of weeks where claimants have been phoned at home and offered a home appointment within a couple of days.

​You had me thinking that home visits are also arranged if you happen to be prescribed Morphine.

I know what you mean about increasing the dosage. I have a selection of 50 & 30 mg tablets and in the past I have had to take an extra 30mg whilst having the assessment making120mg that morning in total. The assessor was not too pleased with being asked by me for some water to take them and made a comment on his report that I appeared to be trying to sabotage the assessment.

Thanks Pam

Son sees his doctor once evey 6 months, he has so far been able to go to the surgery -late appointment 7.50pm when the waiting room is empty.

Therefore he didn't want to ask for a letter to be written on his behalf  in asking ATOS for a home visit. 

Absolutely not - I think the level of pain relief is an indication of the extent of the problem, and I definitely think it SHOULD be a consideration but I'm not niaive enough to think that the DWP would agree !!  The main problem here is that this ladys' son has been put through this journey twice to no avail and if he has to double up on pain relief to get through the journey in the first place then I think ATOS are being unreasonable.  They have a lousy reputation for this kind of thing and seem to be trying to make amends, so my point was that it might be worth a try.  

Yes I agree with you and this lad's situation and having the assessment cancelled twice is wrong on all counts.

But this is far from rare, especially where ATOS are involved. Reading other posts it seems that it could be said to be 'normal'.

?However, one of the side effects of Morphine - is for me anyhow - becoming drowsy. It is a lovely warm and relaxed feeling as the hit arrives. So yes they should take into account the type and dosage of medication when conducting an assessment if only to explain why the claimant might appear to be on a different planet! On that particular day I don't even remember much about the assessment, what I said or the questions I was asked. I do remember falling into the passenger seat of the car, my wife putting the heated seat on and me drifting off on the way home.

I have never seen any reference to the drugs that I take in any of the assessor's reports so I presume that it doesn't figure in any of the decision making.

Hi 

I took my son for his 3rd attempt for his Face to Face interview on 14th December. He  was treated with respect and when questions were asked; he wasn't rushed in any way to answer.

Today 31 December  my son recieved a letter stating that he has enhanced living needs and mobility needs and they will contact him after

December 2026 to make sure nothing has changed.

I know my son is entitled to the full rate, but even after 5hrs of finding out we are still in shock  " I cannot believe it"

We have had tears and a little laughter, then hubby -who never has very much to say came back from shopping with some cream buns - which made me cry again 

This is the best  New Year Gift we could have had.

Fantastic news! So happy to hear someone's good news for a change. Well done and the max amount of award time too. Now you can relax, and enjoy your new year!

Thank you Denise,

I am grateful that we don't have to fight anymore, at least for another 10 years. The turmoil it has caused my son and me as his carer has been awful and it will remain with us a while before we are able to relax.

 When I hear PIP being mentioned on the news my stomach turns over knowing that there are many people out there still fighting.  I will be 80yrs old when I have to start filling in the questionnaire again- nothing is really settled - the government have this iron grip on us as they try to cut expenses from the needy instead of finding ways elsewhere. We are like a red beacon to them that always glows; reminding them that we are an easy touch.

I’m hoping that if there is any goodwill in these people that they will now stop changing the goal posts so that even as we suffer with our illnesses we have at least peace of mind that we can put order into our lives without having to go cap in hand begging to be understood.