ESA Home Visit

cit_k

stuart30 wrote: »

That's actually very reassuring...and im pleased i was wrong.

Maybe just bad luck getting a nurse in my case...and i know he was a nurse as the appeal states nurse..:D

They are quite likely to be employing more nurses in the future, I suspect the reason they are touting getting rid of NHS direct is so they have plenty of nurses on the job market.

The reason they need more staff, is they will need lots more staff to cope with the IB to ESA moves, and they seem to have problems attracting doctors.

watsinaname

Yes i have also had this happen to me. Got a phone call at about 10.45am on a sunday morning from someone saying he was a doctor saying he was arriving at 11.00am to give me a medical. Had no letter forwarning me of this. I had visitors and explained this but he insisted that he had to come. I still refused so said he would arrive at 4.00pm ... i was still told that he HAD to come then. He arrived ( had his wife sat outside in the car having used to medical visit on route to a day out) i wasn't shown any ID and he just walked into my house. By this time i was in a mess ( mental health problems ) He spent 5 mins telling me what a nice area i lived in asked how much rent i paid etc. He then started to ask questions about my health which i might add he answered for me.... this took about a couple of minutes then got up to leave..... Yes my application was turned down for ESA and had to go to a tribunial the after 5 mins agreed that i was unfit for work. So in answer to your question yes they do just turn up without any notification.

Ivory_Tinkler

If you have a medical certificate from your GP stating that you are unfit for work, can the medical assessor over-ride that and say that you are fit for work?

healy

Ivory_Tinkler wrote: »

If you have a medical certificate from your GP stating that you are unfit for work, can the medical assessor over-ride that and say that you are fit for work?

Yes they can otherwise there would be no point having a medical assessment.

Ivory_Tinkler

healy wrote: »

Yes they can otherwise there would be no point having a medical assessment.

So possibly a nurse who has never met you or know much about your condition could over-rule a fully qualified GP who has been treating you for years and has issued a medical certificate saying "unfit for work?" I wonder what would then happen if you went to claim JSA instead but showed them a sick note from your GP saying you are unfit for work. All seems a bit odd to me but then I don't know much about benefits, only that you can never get through to the tax credit people by phone!

healy

Ivory_Tinkler wrote: »

So possibly a nurse who has never met you or know much about your condition could over-rule a fully qualified GP who has been treating you for years and has issued a medical certificate saying "unfit for work?" I wonder what would then happen if you went to claim JSA instead but showed them a sick note from your GP saying you are unfit for work. All seems a bit odd to me but then I don't know much about benefits, only that you can never get through to the tax credit people by phone!

Yes that is correct, though obviously people can appeal.

dmg24

Ivory_Tinkler wrote: »

So possibly a nurse who has never met you or know much about your condition could over-rule a fully qualified GP who has been treating you for years and has issued a medical certificate saying "unfit for work?" I wonder what would then happen if you went to claim JSA instead but showed them a sick note from your GP saying you are unfit for work. All seems a bit odd to me but then I don't know much about benefits, only that you can never get through to the tax credit people by phone!

Equally, you could see a GP once who knows nothing of your history but still issues a sick note (either through patient pressure or laziness/ unwillingness to explore the condition further), then see an ATOS assessor who specialises in your condition. Both extreme examples, but both possibilities.

With regard to using HCP's rather than doctors, this can (depending on the condition) be a good thing. For instance, an experienced physio is likely to have more knowledge as to how a musculoskeletal condition could affect your ability to work than a GP is.

WhiteHorse

Ivory_Tinkler wrote: »

If you have a medical certificate from your GP stating that you are unfit for work, can the medical assessor over-ride that and say that you are fit for work?

Yes, this is part of the madness.

You can have the finest medical opinion in the country, but some nasty little nobody from ATOS can certify you completely fit.

And they do:

Atos finds terminally ill patient fit for work.
An engineer in his 50's who had recently undergone a triple bypass for heart disease and was being treated for incurable stomach and liver cancer was found fit for work by an Atos assessor.
Source: Amelia Gentleman 'Flawed benefit system classifies terminally ill man 'fit for work'. Guardian JoePublic Blog 23/03/2010
www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2010/mar/23/employment-support-allowance-incapacity-benefit

Atos finds terminally ill patient fit for work.
Vincent Nestor was diagnosed with incurable stomach cancer when he was sent for a triple heart bypass operation. He later scored zero points during a WCA, and was then told he was fit to work.
Source: BBC News 'Fears new benefits tests will force sick to work' 12/08/2010.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10945510

And another example:

Atos finds terminally ill patient fit for work.
A CAB client who had a genetic kidney disorder and who had had one kidney and part of the other kidney removed. She also had sciatica and spondylosis. She was found not to have limited capability for work. She has since been told that her condition may be terminal.
Source: Citizens Advice Bureau report 'Not Working' March 2010.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/not_working_march_2010_final.pdf

Ivory_Tinkler

Seems to me that there are genuine people being denied assistance yet we see a communities of people who have lived on benefits for years (I know of a family with offspring in their early twenties who have lived off benefits for years, in fact 2 out of 3 of the children have never worked yet seem to be able to run cars and have holidays abroad, all paid for by the state).

I'm quite shocked to read threads like this but then having seen my father spend the last years of his life with terminal illness and other quite serious conditions, with very little support for him and his carer (my mum) then perhaps I shouldn't be so shocked.

themull1

Ivory_Tinkler wrote: »

So possibly a nurse who has never met you or know much about your condition could over-rule a fully qualified GP who has been treating you for years and has issued a medical certificate saying "unfit for work?" I wonder what would then happen if you went to claim JSA instead but showed them a sick note from your GP saying you are unfit for work. All seems a bit odd to me but then I don't know much about benefits, only that you can never get through to the tax credit people by phone!

Yes, because a lot of GP's were just signing people off on the sick time and time again because they didn't want any flack for signing them fit for work, and they don't pay your benefits. You may not be able to go back to your old job, but be fit enough to do A job. I personally think that they should come round unannounced, might get rid of the thousands fiddling their sickness benefit.