2nd ESA Medical in 6 months!!

geministar2008

ok so during my second medical do i bring up permitted work? I know the person assessing me on the day does not make the final decision and i know that the ESA team know about my permitted work. But if i remember rightly one of the questions on my last assessment was what do you do with yourself on an avergae day? I want to make clear that my permitted work is helping me slowly get back to normal, that where i work my employer is completely understanding to my situation (another employer may not be) they do not mind if i cannot work or have to change my shifts regularly, where i work i can see from my home i do not have to endure public transport which i cannot do. I could not yet awhile do a full time average 40 hours a week job, i would end up setting myself back and be claiming ESA again from scratch once i am unable to work again.

would just like someone to advise on how to say things, i think that sounds ok. I didnt want this not to be bought up as when the ESA team decide the outcome they may think yeh but she is working. If they dont know the full ins and outs of the situation. Hope i'm making sense?

thanks everyone

qwertyuiop12345

I'm afraid I don't know anything to help you, but I wondered if you would mind answering a question for me?

Can you tell me what actually happens when you are put in the work related activity group? I understand about work focused interviews, but I have never been able to work out exactly what work related activity actually is. I have found vague and general answers, but have not been able to find any specific examples or experiences.

geministar2008

i am in the work related activity group. This i believe means you are supported in slowly tryin to get back to work. It is for those i guess who may be able to do some type of work and are likely to be able to go back to full time work soon. In this group you can do permitted work of up to 16 hours a week earning no more than around £93 a week i believe and still keep your full benefit entitilement. You can do this for a maximum of 52 weeks i believe. When i started my permitted work Pathways would call me and ask how i was gettin on and someone came out to my employer to ensure i was ok and not being expected to do too much. Hope that is of some assistance. Maybe give your Pathways advisor a call to run through the details?

andyandflo

geministar2008 wrote: »

ok so during my second medical do i bring up permitted work? I know the person assessing me on the day does not make the final decision and i know that the ESA team know about my permitted work. But if i remember rightly one of the questions on my last assessment was what do you do with yourself on an avergae day? I want to make clear that my permitted work is helping me slowly get back to normal, that where i work my employer is completely understanding to my situation (another employer may not be) they do not mind if i cannot work or have to change my shifts regularly, where i work i can see from my home i do not have to endure public transport which i cannot do. I could not yet awhile do a full time average 40 hours a week job, i would end up setting myself back and be claiming ESA again from scratch once i am unable to work again.

would just like someone to advise on how to say things, i think that sounds ok. I didnt want this not to be bought up as when the ESA team decide the outcome they may think yeh but she is working. If they dont know the full ins and outs of the situation. Hope i'm making sense?

thanks everyone

Hi, I don't really understand the problem here. You have been asked to fill in an ESA50. OK, that's fine, it's just to keep the DWP up to date on how you are progressing. Tell the truth on it, saying how much better you have become and that you are now working some hours hoping to increase them. You would have had to obtain acceptance from DWP before you started the Permitted Work on form PW1. They will want to see how much better you have become now that you are managing some work - they may think that a few more hours than what you are doing at present would be possible for you to do. Eventually you are hoping to increase your working hours upwards to full time work level - they just want to see when by.

If they want some expert advice they will ask you to have a medical. With that advice they can then make a valued judgement on your abilities. Increasing your working hours at the rate of say 4/5 hours per week over a period of say 6 months will bring you back into full time employment.

If you aren't happy with what they decide you can always appeal and have the assessment rate paid to you.

The idea of ESA is surely a short term benefit, for most, to get you back into work as quickly as possible.
As the figures show - approx 75% of all ESA applicants are actually fully fit for work, although it may not be their normal job. If unemployed they should actually be claiming JSA and if employed, there are regulations that the employer should abide with to make it easier for you to get back to work.

jenn-1

Hi geministar2008

Don't forget to include any new medical conditions you have on your ESA50. Being sent for a medical twice in a short period of time is not uncommon.

qwertyuiop12345 -
When you are put into the WRAG (work related activity group) you are required to go to appointments at the Jobcentre with an advisor to see how they can best prepare/get you back into work. If you don't attend these appointments you can have some of your benefit stopped.

Robbie64

andyandflo wrote: »

Hi, I don't really understand the problem here. You have been asked to fill in an ESA50. OK, that's fine, it's just to keep the DWP up to date on how you are progressing. Tell the truth on it, saying how much better you have become and that you are now working some hours hoping to increase them. You would have had to obtain acceptance from DWP before you started the Permitted Work on form PW1. They will want to see how much better you have become now that you are managing some work - they may think that a few more hours than what you are doing at present would be possible for you to do. Eventually you are hoping to increase your working hours upwards to full time work level - they just want to see when by.

If they want some expert advice they will ask you to have a medical. With that advice they can then make a valued judgement on your abilities. Increasing your working hours at the rate of say 4/5 hours per week over a period of say 6 months will bring you back into full time employment.

If you aren't happy with what they decide you can always appeal and have the assessment rate paid to you.

The idea of ESA is surely a short term benefit, for most, to get you back into work as quickly as possible.
As the figures show - approx 75% of all ESA applicants are actually fully fit for work, although it may not be their normal job. If unemployed they should actually be claiming JSA and if employed, there are regulations that the employer should abide with to make it easier for you to get back to work.

This "75% of all ESA claimants are actually fully fit for work" figure is not strictly true andy. You are being fooled by the inventive use of statistics the DWP have fed the media as part of their PR exercise.

38% of all ESA applicants were found fit for work at the end of the assessment stage and 37% closed their ESA claim before the assessment stage was complete. That is the 75% but it does not equate that 75% of all ESA applicants were fit for work at the time they first claimed.

For example, 15% of all working adults do not qualify for SSP and will need to claim ESA if they are unfit for work. They may only claim for a few days, a week, a few weeks, whatever. As they ended their claim before the assessment phase came to an end the DWP have let the media think this 37% were on the run once a medical was arranged. This is blatantly not true for all - some may have ended the claim when called for a medical but the figures are not as is being portrayed. Most simply went back to being fit for work. Plus of the 38% that do have their claim to ESA ended by failing the medical approximately 50% are having it reinstated after winning an appeal.

Don't be taken in by everything you read in the media. They and the DWP have a vested interest in making you think it's catching out a lot of "shirkers".

dancingfairy

Hi Geministar - my experience is very limited but I would tell the truth - explain that the work is helping but you are far from 100% fit and explain that you are now passing out/blacking out as well.
I would not worry about telling them about the permitted work - 1) as you say the decision maker is going to know anyway and 2) they let you do permitted work for a reason - they know it helps people and they should know that being able to do one job, part time is clearly not the same as being able to work full-time somewhere else and having to deal with public transport etc.
I would not worry about what happens if you 'fail' the medical - one step at a time. Keep doing what you're doing, go to the medical and wait and see. IF (and I mean IF) you fail the medical then presumably you can appeal but I would give them all the facts as best you can.
Good Luck
df

geministar2008

thanks for your thoughts everyone.

geministar2008

Well today i had my 2nd medical assessment in 6 months. And what a mess it was. The toilet in the waiting room was "out of use for today". The woman on the reception desk spent most of her time in another office with the main desk closed, which meant people waiting for their assessment were stood waiting for some time to sign in.
As i was sat waiting to be called in i could clearly hear someone elses medical assessment under way, being asked to do various exercises, i think this was due to all the windows being open! My appointment then ran a little late, when i was called in. The woman was far different to the woman who had conducted my first assessment 6 months ago. She was harsh to say the least, and i would say obnoxious, she made me feel like i was in a police interview after committing a serious crime. Was almost like she was trying to slip me up. Did not give me time to answer most questions. Felt like she was mocking me in a non direct way. I have development other health symptoms and her attitude was why are you being sent there when you have that wrong with you? How should i know. She got me doing exercises to see how i could stretch and bend. What this has to do with mental health i do not know? When i was speaking she regulary said i cant type that quick and would then move on to her next question. One question was when did you last work? I have been doin permitted work and i have found this helps my condition, i am lucky my employer is very understanding to my issues if i call in sick or have to have medical appoinments. I can see my place of work from where i live, so i do not have to endure public transport (which i cannot cope with). I feel this small amount of work helps, but couldnt work say a 40 hour week, it would put me right back. I am not ready, not yet! Anyway i tried to tell her this and she told me to slow down and didnt let me finish. At the end i said can i add something? She was like sorry??? as if this was unheard of. I said well i wanted to say more about my work but you said you couldnt type that quick but didnt let me finish, you moved on to the next question. So she allowed me to add this. Wherever or not this was added i do not know? Also during this assessment she did not have next to her my medical assessment form i had filled in. The lady on my previous assessment did. I was in and out in 15mins. And i know i will fail! They say they do not make the decision but i am sure they comment on the paperwork after what they thought of the patient. And no doubt for opening my mouth at the end, that will go against me. I guess i will now have to wait for the decision, within a fortnight i was told. I guess if i appeal i will need to obtain medical notes from my doctor again. Does anyone know where i will stand with these if i am still doing my permitted work?

geministar2008

and what a surprise i failed the medical assessment. What makes me laugh is that the paperwork that arrived said i had scored ZERO on information from my medical assessment form i had filled in and also to the assessment that was carried out. Over half the questions that were on this medical assessment result form were all linked to mobility, completely irrelevant to my mental problems. So what next... who can i complain to? As the woman who carried out the assessment was intimidating and made me feel like a criminal so regardless of what happens next i would like to make an official complaint.