The ESA medical for people with anxiety and depression

iluvmarmite

I would like to add something to this old thread, to the girl (stacey I think it was) Who mentioned she went to an appeal on behalf of her Mum, she said it was a court room with a judge and a couple of doctors, well I dont believe that to be the case all the time, and in fact its the first time Ive ever heard of such a thing, my sister went to her appeal hearing and I went with her, the room was in a medical center, bright and sunny room, the panel consisted of a medical person a member of the public, I think he was some sort of governer with the DLA or something, what ever, he wasnt working for DLA so was not biased, and also there was a member of DLA as well.

They were all very nice, very friendly and very concerned and listened to everything that was said. So not all appeal panels are horrendous things and something to be afraid of.

Muttleythefrog

staceyxfx wrote: »

Hi, I suffer from severe anxiety disorder and depression and was on medication but i've found out I'm about 9 weeks pregnant and had to come off it so it's basically went downhill. I've just applied for esa and have sent off the assessment form. I just wanted to know what any of you think e.g will I definately have to go to a face to face assessment and what's my chances of going into the support group? This has all been very stressful for me and I'm worried for my babys health because of it. Thanks for any info

You say you've just applied for ESA... so I presume the assessment form isn't the lengthy ESA50 form but initial application. If so then you'll be put in the assessment phase shortly which should supposedly last 3 months (assuming you meet the basic conditions for assessment phase.. which no doubt you should). I'm certainly no expert on how pregnancy fits in with ESA... someone else can hopefully provide better advice there. However I understand that you will not likely be exempted from medical assessment like most people (unless late stage pregnancy?) and the vast majority are required to attend medical.

Assuming things progress as supposed to then towards end of 3 month assessment phase you'll get ESA50 form to complete and return (send any supporting medical evidence you can.. or take to medical etc) and then soon after be requested to attend medical. The ESA50 and the medical along with any other medical evidence form the basis for your WCA (strong emphasis is usually given to the medical which directly scores you in relation to the descriptors... the benefit criteria). There are no certainties but in all probability you will be called to attend medical. Getting into the support group is largely hit and miss with mental health issues - in fact scoring in relation to the criteria and the experiences of people at medical varies wildly and many genuinely ill mental health patients score as low as zero points on their WCA.

The positive news is political pressures and investigation of how the WCA has worked (poorly) will likely tend to improve the situation. But should all go wrong then like many you should be able to appeal, and many succeed there (40% approx)... indeed until it is heard you can still get ESA assessment rate (assuming you can still get 'sicknotes' from doctor). Tribunals are subject to many months delay currently.

So put in mind the last paragraph as worst case scenario... something always worth doing if you have anxiety issues. Put also in your mind places like here can offer quickfire advice... and there are potentially organisations like the CAB or welfare rights to advise in the process, help filling forms, help appeal etc. The reality is... in all probability (unless tribunals service switches up gear)... that even if things go badly wrong with WCA you'll still possibly be getting ESA by the time you reach end of pregnancy. And that is realistic worst case unless I've misunderstood something. (currently 2 months pregnant.. minimum 3 months for assessment phase.. about 1 month admin relating to constructing appeal/DWP reconsideration etc... many months wait for appeal tribunal hearing). Someone else around here no doubt may even query whether come that time ESA is the most appropriate benefit for you... check.

In the meantime look for sources of medical evidence to support your claim. Even things like recent appointment letters with say a CPN is helpful. But study the descriptors for the benefit before filling in the ESA50 form in due course.. get help filling that in if you think you need it... get together any medical evidence that supports your claim of named illnesses and their effects particularly if they relate to the descriptors... and after returning such.. ESA50 and anything else... if asked to attend medical.. perhaps return for advice on what that might be like. Try not to worry in meantime... hard though that of course will be given the conditions you suffer.

bry66

i am new to this so forgive me if i am in the wrong thread,

i have severe depression and was on esa but failed my atos medical i apealed and was given a date for my tribunal of 1/8/11 but they held it on the 18/5/11 without informing me of this so ofcause i lost as my eviedence [ 2 doctors letters, nhs mental health team's letter and a family freind's letter ] was not submited.

i was told to write to the tribunal service and ask for my case to be put aside and to signe on job seekers.

i was told by jcp i was too ill to work and to reclaim esa wich i did and they told me i could not claim again for depression and to re-claim jobseekers .

jcp told me they could not except my claim as i was not fit for work.
please any advice as i have had no money since the 18/5/11 and the whole ordeal is making me much worse and stressed even more than i was i feel sick and can't take no more they have made me feel like some sort of dole cheat when i am not.


any advice.
thanks bry.

Muttleythefrog

bry66 wrote: »

i am new to this so forgive me if i am in the wrong thread,

i have severe depression and was on esa but failed my atos medical i apealed and was given a date for my tribunal of 1/8/11 but they held it on the 18/5/11 without informing me of this so ofcause i lost as my eviedence [ 2 doctors letters, nhs mental health team's letter and a family freind's letter ] was not submited.

i was told to write to the tribunal service and ask for my case to be put aside and to signe on job seekers.

i was told by jcp i was too ill to work and to reclaim esa wich i did and they told me i could not claim again for depression and to re-claim jobseekers .

jcp told me they could not except my claim as i was not fit for work.
please any advice as i have had no money since the 18/5/11 and the whole ordeal is making me much worse and stressed even more than i was i feel sick and can't take no more they have made me feel like some sort of dole cheat when i am not.


any advice.
thanks bry.

Goodness gracious. The tribunal was held 2.5 months before the date they gave and you weren't informed? I presume you didn't ask for a paper based appeal.. i.e. that you would be present for the tribunal. This all sounds highly irregular. Don't the tribunals service accept you were not informed?

This is messy because I think you have to wait 6 months (from date of DWP decision) to re-apply for ESA... hopefully someone will verify this as I'm not sure. But you're being told not to apply for JSA because you're ill. They cannot have it both ways.. they've declared you fit for work (although this of course is not likely true in reality).. they can't then surely say you can't get JSA because you're unfit for work.

I presume you will be able to successfully claim JSA. And you really need to see out the legality of the tribunal issue... if you had a tribunal date and were expecting to attend.. they must surely give notice of any change to that date so you can attend. If it is paper based appeal only then that might not be the case - and your extra evidence they may have assumed does not exist if not presented timely.

Better advice than I can give is needed here. "i was told to write to the tribunal service and ask for my case to be put aside" sounds like sensible advice.... explain to them you weren't informed of the new date and were as a result unable to attend (if that was your indication of intent) and present additional evidence you were gathering for well in advance of the tribunal date. I hope something goes your way soon. If you get no good advice here... I think you're going to need the CAB or welfare rights or similar... to look particularly at the issues and events surrounding the appeal and how it might be challenged/struck out... possibly regarding an error of procedure.

bry66

thank you muttley.

it was a paper hearing but i had told them i was sending in my evidence i was waiting for nhs mental health team report i thought they would have told me they were moving it forward i got my nhs report come in the post the same day as my tribunal dicission came.

the tribunal service have said they have recieved my letter to ask for my case to be set aside and have marked it as urgent but nothing as been done yet.

on friday i re- aplied for job seekers the adviser got her manager and he rang esa while i was there and spoke to someone and he told me to go to my doctor and ask him for a letter to say my condition had got worse,
my doctor gave me a letter to say my depression has got worse due to stress of the jobcentre and having no money. i rang esa again and they rang me back today to say i can not re-claim for depression again.
thanks bry.

cit_k

bry66 wrote: »

thank you muttley.

it was a paper hearing but i had told them i was sending in my evidence i was waiting for nhs mental health team report i thought they would have told me they were moving it forward i got my nhs report come in the post the same day as my tribunal dicission came.

the tribunal service have said they have recieved my letter to ask for my case to be set aside and have marked it as urgent but nothing as been done yet.

on friday i re- aplied for job seekers the adviser got her manager and he rang esa while i was there and spoke to someone and he told me to go to my doctor and ask him for a letter to say my condition had got worse,
my doctor gave me a letter to say my depression has got worse due to stress of the jobcentre and having no money. i rang esa again and they rang me back today to say i can not re-claim for depression again.
thanks bry.

I beleive you can claim again for a condition that has worsened.
You cant claim for the same condition with the same symptoms, but if your doctor backs up your condition is worse than the time of the last decision then you should be able to claim again as far as I know.

Someone else may know for sure, whatever you do, do not trust what the DWP tells you as gospel.

Muttleythefrog

bry66 wrote: »

thank you muttley.

it was a paper hearing but i had told them i was sending in my evidence i was waiting for nhs mental health team report i thought they would have told me they were moving it forward i got my nhs report come in the post the same day as my tribunal dicission came.

the tribunal service have said they have recieved my letter to ask for my case to be set aside and have marked it as urgent but nothing as been done yet.

on friday i re- aplied for job seekers the adviser got her manager and he rang esa while i was there and spoke to someone and he told me to go to my doctor and ask him for a letter to say my condition had got worse,
my doctor gave me a letter to say my depression has got worse due to stress of the jobcentre and having no money. i rang esa again and they rang me back today to say i can not re-claim for depression again.
thanks bry.

Ouch. However... it might be worth saying your medical evidence may have been rejected anyway as they'll look at evidence that applies around the time of the decision (you're appealing against). I don't know the technicalities but it is quite possible if you've flagged paper based appeal then they'll slip you into any gap in schedule available that arises.. I think had you been intending to be there in person... or someone on your behalf... then they would have not moved it forward by such a large time and would have given warning. But you've asked for it to be set aside and hopefully you'll get a response soon. I would predict it could take a month or so.

This page should be helpful to you.. it explains about the circumstances of making a re-application. If your condition has significantly deteriorated or you have a new condition then you should be exempt from 6 months time restriction to re-apply. This is where the confusion is arising... the DWP are pretty useless at advising on ESA... you can expect to be given lacking information or incorrect information.
http://www.cpag.org.uk/cro/wrb/wrb213/ESA.htm

I think you might be best advised trying to put tribunal disaster out of mind.. since you're waiting for response anyway on that and it may take time. Look at the possibility of a new claim given worsening condition... it sounds like you should have GP backing for this... if he can give a statement to join your initial application that says your depression is significantly worse since you last applied for ESA then it might help. However, I think you should try to get corroborative advice here.. from CAB or the like.. or someone 'switched on' here.. because this is probably a little explored route - few of us will have experience of re-applying immediately following a recently failed appeal. Presumably if they accept your special circumstances (condition signficantly worsened) then GP support regarding 'sicknotes' won't be a problem to get from your GP and you'll end up back in a position for waiting period then WCA.. by that time hopefully you'd expect the appeal issue resolved for better or worse in terms of whether it is set aside. This could get messy (an appeal for an old claim.. WCA for new). 3rd party legal support might help you here.

bry66

the doctor gave me a letter today wich reads

TO WHOME THIS MAY CONCERN

MR XXXXX IS REGISTERED AT THIS PRATICE AND IS SUFFERING WITH DEPRESSION WHICH IS WORSE TODAY DUE TO PERPETUATED STRESS FROM THE JOB CENTRE,HIS PHQ9 SCORE SHOWS HIS DEPRESSION IS BECOMING WORSE,ON 10.5.11 HIS SCORE WAS 19/27 AND TODAY IT WAS 24/27.

i dont think that will help me really.

thanks bry.

Muttleythefrog

Yeah I agree... I don't think the DWP will regard this as exempting from the 6 month issue. Might be worth you calculating just how far from that 6 month since DWP decision you are.

bry66

the first decision was 12/1/11 dose that mean 6 months from this date or 6 months from the tribunal decision on the 18/5/11 thanks for your time muttley.