Esa

uolypool

Hi everyone, as you would be able to tell from my previous posts regarding ATOS and ESA I am in a right confusion.I have an appointment with ATOS on the 11th Nov and I requested a home visit as I will be unable to attend due to mobility reasons.My request was refused by ATOS and they have said that I will need a detailed report from my gp which I have been told by my gp secretary will cost more than £25 and that is money I simply don't have spare .I phone the BDC who deals with my ESA claim and explained it all to them and they said to appeal to them and they will pass it through to ATOS .So I wrote a 4 page letter detailing all the reasons I would be unable to attend the medical at the medical centre, sent it off and am just waiting to hear back the result. I also spoke to my Mp but there was apparently very little he can do to help me .Basically I know that there is no way I can attend the medical due to my medical condition , I have never hid that fact to either ATOS or DWP but what will happen to my claim.I know that they can sanction me for not attending but in theory they have known this all along and have had ample time and oppertunity to arrange something else.I am expecting to get jumped on for that comment .Are they likely to sanction me for not going given all the letters that have been going back and forth between us.Am very worried .

bunny999

They can stop your benefit if you don't attend.

dmg24

If the think about the long term benefit the doctors report will do, £25 is nothing in the big scheme of things.

uolypool

dmg24 wrote: »

If the think about the long term benefit the doctors report will do, £25 is nothing in the big scheme of things.

I appreciate this ,but at the moment I havent got that spare , I have had to replace a fair few things over the past few months and that has Left me with a budget that I cannot sway on at all, believe me if I could I would.I have even asked if I can borrow the money but everyone is in the same boat and tightening their belts .I asked at the drs if I could pay over a couple of weeks but the policy apparently is not to do this :mad:.If there was anyway I could manage to get there then I would but I physically cant manage the journey:(

dmg24

Could you sell something on ebay? It is amazing what people will buy.

celinepatricia

Maybe after they have read your letter and the reasons that you cant attend they may change their minds. £25.00 is a lot of money when you are living on benefits, I think these doctors have got a cheek charging so much, they will probably get the receptionist to run off a report and I think doctors earn plenty anyway without taking money off the less well off.

MrsManda

Did ATOS say why they couldn't provide a home visit?

Is the medical report so you don't have to go to the medical or to provide proof that you cannot travel to the medical?

How far away is the medical centre? Are your mobility problems such that you could get there if you could take a taxi?

Do you receive DLA for mobility?

Have you actually spoken to your GP or just the secretary? My GP has been good in the past at writing letters for me without charging anything but I've had to make an appointment to see him face to face to discuss it.

Try not to despair there will be a way.

uolypool

MrsManda wrote: »

Did ATOS say why they couldn't provide a home visit?

Is the medical report so you don't have to go to the medical or to provide proof that you cannot travel to the medical?

How far away is the medical centre? Are your mobility problems such that you could get there if you could take a taxi?

Do you receive DLA for mobility?

Have you actually spoken to your GP or just the secretary? My GP has been good in the past at writing letters for me without charging anything but I've had to make an appointment to see him face to face to discuss it.

Try not to despair there will be a way.

The centre is about 25-30 miles away I am not exact on the distance and any travel that far would cause me a massive deal of pain.Even by taxi, as this is the method I use to travel to my gp and this causes pain and it is only a 10 min max drive.I spoke to both the secretary and the gp and he said that the practice were tightening up on the non fee letter writing and all needed to be charged for now.He did try to waiver it but wasn't allowed to do so:(My DLA claim was denied and have asked for a reconcideration then an appeal I will presume.As for the medical they have just said this is what I need to get for a home visit to be concidered and when I explained that I could not afford to get one they said to talk to the DWP as they could not help me.:mad:.Iam making myself sick with the worry of my benefit being sanctioned as I am unable to attend the medical.

MrsManda

uolypool wrote: »

My DLA claim was denied and have asked for a reconcideration then an appeal I will presume.

Why did your DLA claim get turned down? If you are in so much pain when you move I'm surprised it was denied. Do you have a specialist other than your GP who you see for your problems? Could they write you a letter?

uolypool wrote: »

they said to talk to the DWP as they could not help me.:mad:.

Have you spoken to the DWP?

uolypool

MrsManda wrote: »

Why did your DLA claim get turned down? If you are in so much pain when you move I'm surprised it was denied. Do you have a specialist other than your GP who you see for your problems? Could they write you a letter?



Have you spoken to the DWP?

yes have just spoken to the DWP the person who told me to appeal he decission is not there till tomorrow so got to wait for a call back from her.But I asked the bloke what would happen for non attendance and he has said that possibly the claim will be stopped but as there is a trail of letters and calls back and forth the claim prob wont be sanctioned but it would be bought to a head and a decission concerning the medical would be made for oce and for all .As for the DLA well what can I say I'm not the first person to claim to be turned down :cool: and the report that was sent in from my gp surgery wasn't even from the gp i saw and didn't really relate to me IYKWIM so having a reconcideration for that at the mo the I presume it will go to appeal:mad:.I did go to a Rhumatologist whom made the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia but she was more than happy with what my gp was prescribing and said I could go back to him for my care if I wanted to as as the hospital is 45 mins away by car I thought it would be best to stay with my gp.Hindside thinks this may have been the wrong decission to take.

Gemstar30

Hello

Just had a read of the thread and there is a list of illnesses/disabilities that ATOS should look at in order to decide who goes and who doesn't go for a medical at one of their centres.

In that list, and if I am correct in saying that you are suffering from Fibromyalgia then you appear in Category 3 - one that says you are tentatively to be invited for an assessment at the assessment centre.

Cat 1 is when you should never be invited, Cat 2 is for a decision to be made by a medic first, Cat 4 is that you must go and Cat 5 is for any other illness not quoted for whom a medical decision should be made first.

3. Tentatively invite to Medical Examination Centre.
Agoraphobia (offer taxi)
Anorexia Nervosa
Ataxia
Bipalar Affective Disorder / Bipolar Disease Manic Depression
Burns
Cardiomyopathy
Cerebrovascular Accident / CVA
Cerebrovascular Disease
CFS
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Crohn's Disease
Diabetic Neuropathy
Eating Disorder
Fibromyalgia
Haemopphilia
Heart Transplant
Hemiparesis
Learning Difficulties
Leg Ulcers
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / ME
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Peripheral Neuropathy
Phobic Anxiety
Sickle Cell Anaemia
Social Phobia
Spina Bifida
Stroke
Subarachnoid Haemorrage / SAH
Ulcerative Colitis
Varicose Ulcers



So it would seem that you will have to persuade them NOT to send for you by using medical reports/letters. You may be offered a taxi, at their expense as it seems to be that they consider that people in Cat 3, do have some difficulty but not enough to warrant a home visit. On the bright side, at least you are not in CAT 4 as you would have no argument!

Gemma