medical report

But that is the failure of our modern culture, if your no use why are you hanging around!!!

Having given up my DLA/PIP, Guarateed Pension Credit, Savings Credit, help with the mortgage interest and Council Tax Support the only thing that the DWP have their claws into me for is the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit. 

I am now 'saving ' the government over £250 a week and after reading about the care home crisis, the lack of council funding for home care and the so called triple lock increase on the State Pension (which they have now managed to get round paying) - I'm waiting for a box to be delivered by the post in which will be a self administered lethal injection! I know I am a drain on society since turning 65 but hey I have tried to cut back on what I was taking from the State.

It breaks basic human rights worth fighting for it i had a ESA face to face won and placed in WRAG  was like a police interview i had mine taped the UN is doing a inqury into DWP 49 deaths because of benefits cuts i would like too know who does the decision making are they just civil servants just done a FOI google and found this info 

" The role of the Decision maker within the DWP is too reach a fair and reasoned decision based on the evidence before them 

This takes form of the evidence both verbal and written provided by the claimant and that of the healthcare professional following their assessments.

THE TRAINING PROVIDED FOR DECISION MAKERS BY DWP IS TO ENABLE THEM TO INTERPRET LEGISLATION AND APPLY THIS TO THE EVIDENCE IN AN UNBIASED AND TRANSPARENT MANNER; AS SUCH DECISION MAKERS WORKING ON BEHALF OF DWP DO NOT RECEIVE ANY MEDICAL TRAINING IN ORDER TO FULFIL THEIR ROLE IN MAKING CONSIDERATIVE DECISIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SECRETARY OF SATE"  

"TO SUPPORT THE DECISION MAKERS'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE EFFECT OF AN ILLNESS ON THE FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITY AN INDIVIDUAL DECISION MAKERS HAVE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE EITHER BY TELEPHONE OR IN WRITING .THROUGH THIS DECISION MAKERS CAN ADDRESS QUERIES OR CONCERNS THAT THEY MAY HAVE WITH REGARD TO THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THEM IN ADDITION TO CONTRACTING CLAIMANTS TO SEEK CLARIFICATION WHICH MAY HELP THE DECISION REACH THEIR DECISION END 

so its office staff with no medical traning , they have vague guildlines set to work from which they can ignored if they choose too 

 

It doesn't really matter what you put on your claim form or what evidence you send in - in the majority of cases the DWP will always accept the assessors report as being the most accurate.

Not many DM's will want to or indeed have the time to weigh up all of the evidence in a proper manner, seek extra clarification of unclear or possible erroneous or contradictory justifications.

Given that for PIP, it is written in the legislation that they are responsible for gathering evidence both in support of your claim and in challenging the assessors report - 

what should happen is far far from what actually happens - you are doomed from the start.

As I have said before it really doesn't matter what you tell the assessor they are more likely than not going to write their report as they see fit with or without you answers or intervention.

With respect Les it does matter what is put in assessment form. Yes the assessor might choose to ignore it but it seems a Tribunal can interpt it differently (see Poll below)

The appeals process is costing more to the Tax Payers than the so called 'scrounges' who give us genuine cases a bad name. 

I agree that the costs of appeals are escalating.

You would think that the DWP should be looking into why so many appeals are getting through. Maybe the Decision Makers are not up to the job. Unfortunately the DWP don't do what appears to be logic, they are now spending £millions on new staff who will sit with the Tribunal to prosecute the DWP's case.

It is hoped and expected by the DWP that either people knowing that they will be facing  'expert' counsel for the DWP will not bother appealing and those that do are to get a rough ride from the DWP Presenting Officer. The DWP don't like to lose and certainly don't like to look idiots with so many appeals going in favour of the claimants.

The only way that justice would be done is if the claimant had someone on their side who was also an expert who could argue the finer points of law against the DWP.

Those going on their own with no representation are more than likely to be 'shafted'.

Have you had the reasons from the Tribunal yet?

You have done well getting a positive result but the fear I have is it's only an 18 month award. We have seen countless cases where the Tribunal grants a short term award only for the reassessment process to start again 12 months BEFORE that award is due to run out.

In your case that would be in only 6 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously I have no knowledge why the Tribunal has given only 18 months but at a guess I would say their logic is that is enough time for your shoulder to recover from the surgery.

I understand you have a 10 year history Fibromyalgia but it is my belief it is a condition being targeted by the DWP (along with diabetes, epilepsy, depression etc) where the pain and disability can be controlled by medication and therefore no personal care is required. I not saying that’s true or should be the case but we see so many of those conditions having problems with the PIP process that it has to be more than co-incidence.

 You have won a battle but I fear the war is far from won.

I agree that it is clear that certain conditions are at the top of the list where PIP is concerned. I would add one more - Arthritis (as a global subject)

All of the conditions you have mentioned including Arthritis are wide open to abuse simply because no one can for sure give a medical opinion as to the limitations that the claimants claim to have.

Fibro cannot be tested for - it is a case of being a default condition. 

Diabetes is so easily controlled by careful management and the right drugs.

Depression & Anxiety is a self assessed condition.

Epilepsy is so varied and unpredicatable that no one can categorically say that it does and always will have the care needs as being claimed.

Likewise with Arthritis. Only the claimant knows their limitations. There is no medical evidence that states the level of pain and difficulties.

So yes the DWP have to be careful when dealing with these conditions as it would be so easy for the claimant to suggest that the needs are greater than they actually are and no one can prove it either way.

As a matter of interest I am a Type 1 Diabetic with difficult to control levels. This is because I am not a 'normal' Type 1 - my Pancreas is only 20% intact (the rest is calcified due to chronic pancreatitis) it stops and starts with no reglarity. I have no idea how much insulin it may produce or when. Hence why I have so many hypos. The DWP know nothing of this as I could not prove that I have these needs for someone to watch over me at all times and regulate my medications as well as to give me an injection that I carry at all times if i am unconscious. It would be my word against theirs.

As for Depression and Anxiety - the DWP are not aware of those either. I choose only to tell them about the 'provable' conditions & needs caused by frontal lobe brain damage which is referenced by scan results and medical opinion.

Fibromyalgia can be tested for by a rheumatologist at a hospital. They also go through your archival medical  symptoms. I saw four top neurologists at different hospitals before I saw a  rheumatologist and  finally got the diagnosis. On the NHS we are entitled to various medication that makes you feel very spaced out, sick and headaches. As I have two quite energetic young sons and am a single mother it has been very challenging to keep going  as we are also prone to depression. But yes it is an invisible condition but one that will last all our lives. To get it at 42 was a real shock. We have 18 tender points on our  back. Lack of sleep, aching muscles, irritable legs where you want to stretch them all the time, stiffness in our joints. I was told by the Bath Mineral Hopital that the Govenment now recognise and respect that Fibromyalgia is a disability and it has definitely delayed my healing process. We get stressed out and get overwhelmed  very easily and we find it hard to stand or sit for a long time. 

I'm not disputing what you say - what I was pointing out that all of those conditions can be exagerated and no one can prove otherwise. They can test for Arthritis but no one can disprove if I tell them that I am in agony every day.

Likewise for Fibro, you can get a diagnosis but the difficulties you claim that exist cannot be disproved by anyone.

Hence why the onus is put on the claimant by the refusal of the DWP to award anything. On MR/appeal it is the responsibility of the claimant to prove on the balance of probabilities with indisputable evidence that the needs and difficulties actually exist at the level you claim they do.

It is far easier to refuse a claim than it is for the DWP to show on the balance of probabilities using evidence that you don't have the needs/difficulties that you claim.

The onus of proving moves from the DWP to the claimant - a nice touch!!

Hence the reason why I used to pick and choose which conditions I have that created the difficulties/needs I CAN prove.

There was no point in trying to prove the problems surrounding Diabetes, Anxiety or Depression as there simply is no evidence as to the level of needs I have. I can prove medically that they exist, but not the symptoms.

Correct Fibromyalgia is recognised as a disability but as Les has quite rightly stated the level of disability can vary widely with the condition so there is no automatic right to PIP simply for diagnoses.

Earlier you stated that PIP descriptors were not fit for purpose. There might be some truth in that but if you take the Governments rationale into consideration you can see what they are trying to do.

Due to the austerity brought in after the global financial crash in 2008 it was decided to target help to those who needed it most. The original idea of DLA/PIP was to compensate for the extra cost of disability. Having to buy aids/appliances, cost of personal care and mobility are the greatest strain on those who require help.

Therefore PIP is a cost cutting exercise because the Government can no longer afford the level of support it used to give. Those who now fail to get support were not ‘scroungers’. Further the most needy suffer with conditions which are far more debilitating than Fibromyalgia such as motor neurone disease. It is a horrible truth but that is the reality.

Probably what is needed is more support for those who are in the Support Group which is a natural fit for suffers of Fibromyalgia, diabetes, depression, arthritis etc,

I agree fully with you Les.

Motor neurone disease, cerebral palsy, spina bifida are conditions which speak for themselves.

Fibro, diabetes etc. can vary so much in their symptoms and level of disability. That said if on the balance of probabilities a claimant can show that the symptoms affects them to the point of requiring personal care then quite rightly they should receive extra support via PIP.

I know that Fibromyalgia is a very painful condition but the symptoms can be controlled by medication and that is why in my opinion it is one of the targeted conditions. Same goes for diabetes and depression.

I fully understand Polls difficulties but under PIP she is really going to struggle with claiming PIP as a standalone condition. It was probably the addition of a frozen shoulder which tipped the balance in her favor but now she has had surgery that condition will be disregarded once the healing is completed in 18 months time.