Thousands will lose benefits as harsher medical approved

Trialia

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Surely most disabilities are invisible; not everybody's in a wheelchair or carries a white stick!

That's not exactly what I meant - medically invisible, or nearly so. EDS, which I have, can't be genetically tested for despite being hereditary, and most of the DWP doctors aren't trained to check joint hyperextension and such things. Chronic pain can't be tested for without equipment they don't even try to have (AFA I've seen). Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis of exclusion and almost impossible to treat in some people - some have it mildly, others can't function most of the time. They almost never ask for claimants to be examined by a psychiatrist for mental health issues, and if you have depression and anxiety issues, unless you have friendly doctors who will provide documentation, you're almost completely out of luck with them nowadays.

Oldernotwiser

Trialia wrote: »

That's not exactly what I meant - medically invisible, or nearly so. EDS, which I have, can't be genetically tested for despite being hereditary, and most of the DWP doctors aren't trained to check joint hyperextension and such things. Chronic pain can't be tested for without equipment they don't even try to have (AFA I've seen). Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis of exclusion and almost impossible to treat in some people - some have it mildly, others can't function most of the time. They almost never ask for claimants to be examined by a psychiatrist for mental health issues, and if you have depression and anxiety issues, unless you have friendly doctors who will provide documentation, you're almost completely out of luck with them nowadays.

So, you don't claim benefits for all these things?

Trialia

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

So, you don't claim benefits for all these things?

You know I do, though I have bipolar disorder, not depression. I also have half a dozen other things wrong with me as well as EDS and fibromyalgia - and believe you me, I had to fight tooth and nail to get DLA at all, and I have hardly any spare energy to do that.

I have friends in other areas, however, who have similar problems to me and could not get DLA because the DWP doctors either didn't believe them or didn't bother to investigate properly. My younger sister has chronic clinical depression, severe anxiety and agoraphobia along with chronic bursitis of the hip, and she is in Derby, and she was completely denied it. It's another postcode lottery - weighted on the negative side, as most of the media coverage on invisible physical illness and mental illness is also.

Oldernotwiser

Trialia wrote: »

You know I do, though I have bipolar disorder, not depression. I also have half a dozen other things wrong with me as well as EDS and fibromyalgia - and believe you me, I had to fight tooth and nail to get DLA at all, and I have hardly any spare energy to do that.

Sorry, how would I know that you claim benefits?

If your claim has been successful and you're a genuine claimant, doesn't that show that the current system works?

Trialia

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Sorry, how would I know that you claim benefits?

If your claim has been successful and you're a genuine claimant, doesn't that show that the current system works?

Because we've talked in other threads and I've mentioned it to you there? I guess you don't remember.

No, because plenty of the people I know who are also genuine claimants have had unsuccessful claims. It's a flawed system, and it needs to be fixed, not made more difficult for the genuine claimants to be approved for it, which is what they keep doing. It's fine for the fakers - they have the energy and mental cohesion to cope with it! Not everyone does.

WhiteHorse

cit_k wrote: »

It seems the DWP can avoid all fairness, openness, transparancy, even the FOI act, by simply contracting things out to a third party, then hiding behind contractual secrecy agreements, and saying releasing information would put future contracts at risk.

Yes. This is one of several reasons that government is now so keen on third party contractors. Deniability is as important as cost.

WhiteHorse

nogginthenog wrote:

Also people talk about appeals as though it is akin to buying a quarter of midget gems at the corner shop. It is a stressful thing to do if you are ill. The people who are trying to scam the system, will gladly play the system to its full, appealing at every level.

Yes, this is one of the cruellest ironies. Bogus claimants are actually more likely to get through the system.

WhiteHorse

cit_k wrote:

Odd, another branch almost a year ago told me to put in a claim, which I did, but it seems to have been 'lost' as I never heard anything after sending the form.

I too have had more than one experience of claims being 'lost'. A whistleblower admitted to me that this is quite common.

Even mail sent Recorded Delivery will go missing. I submitted a claim on behalf of my dying wife. That was binned. No doubt they hoped that she would die before they had to pay out.

The threat of publicity focussed their minds however.

[Deleted User]

if this thread was on the benefits forum it would long ago been moved to DT,why has this not happened here?

Oldernotwiser

woodbine wrote: »

if this thread was on the benefits forum it would long ago been moved to DT,why has this not happened here?

What a VERY good idea!