Dla new rules and atos medicals

tammajock

Wife has had an ATOS medical done and in his infinite wisdom based on his OPINION. He said my wife can walk 800 metres at a normal speed before feeling severe discomfort. Yet he had done no examination on my wifes legs as she was in too much pain to stand. I find this a bitter pill to swallow taking in the assumption that he could guess at this length of walking.
She has had awards without the use of ATOS for the higher rate of mobility and care based on CLINICAL findings rather than opinion. My wife suffers from Grand Mall Epilepsy ( 2-3 fits daily), severe arthritis, asthma and hypertension as well as being incontinent.
When DLA wanted a ATOS medical done i have to admit I feared the worst taking into account some of the horror stories on this forum and now it has come to pass with our situation. It had taken 19 weeks for them to come to their descision as well. My wifes award has now been demoted to middle rate care and lower rate mobilty which is similar money but it means we have to hand back the mobility car. The award though has been awarded for an indefinate period but what exactly does that mean?
My wife has had enough of these processes where you are at your wits end worrying over the help that we have currently been enjoying. Her health has deteriorated that much that we have been visiting hospitals practically on a fortnightly basis. She sees the fact that indefinate means life but im unsure that when these forced medicals come into force in 2013, does that mean regardless of this INDEFINATE award that we have to endure one of these ATOS doctors once again?
The ATOS doctor even stated that she does not take and need help for her fits during the night!! Must be the first woman that has epilepsy that only kicks in when the sun comes up!.
Thank you in advance of any POSITIVE responses made.

Indie_Kid

Indefinite means that whilst they can look at it from time to time, (apart from the first 12 months) they may not. So, whilst someone who is awarded DLA for 5 years will be assessed just before the 5 years is up, someone on an indefinite award can be assessed whenever.

nogginthenog

tammajock wrote: »

Wife has had an ATOS medical done and in his infinite wisdom based on his OPINION. He said my wife can walk 800 metres at a normal speed before feeling severe discomfort. Yet he had done no examination on my wifes legs as she was in too much pain to stand. I find this a bitter pill to swallow taking in the assumption that he could guess at this length of walking.
She has had awards without the use of ATOS for the higher rate of mobility and care based on CLINICAL findings rather than opinion. My wife suffers from Grand Mall Epilepsy ( 2-3 fits daily), severe arthritis, asthma and hypertension as well as being incontinent.
When DLA wanted a ATOS medical done i have to admit I feared the worst taking into account some of the horror stories on this forum and now it has come to pass with our situation. It had taken 19 weeks for them to come to their descision as well. My wifes award has now been demoted to middle rate care and lower rate mobilty which is similar money but it means we have to hand back the mobility car. The award though has been awarded for an indefinate period but what exactly does that mean?
My wife has had enough of these processes where you are at your wits end worrying over the help that we have currently been enjoying. Her health has deteriorated that much that we have been visiting hospitals practically on a fortnightly basis. She sees the fact that indefinate means life but im unsure that when these forced medicals come into force in 2013, does that mean regardless of this INDEFINATE award that we have to endure one of these ATOS doctors once again?
The ATOS doctor even stated that she does not take and need help for her fits during the night!! Must be the first woman that has epilepsy that only kicks in when the sun comes up!.
Thank you in advance of any POSITIVE responses made.

I think a doctor has to have a very good reason to award a indefinate award in the first place.

In the second place i think ATOS or the decision maker have to have a even better reason to overturn the origional doctors opinions.

The goverment have raised the crossbar as far as eligibllity
is concerned, should it apply to claimants who have a indefinate award from the past?, i think yes.. but it is not in the spirit of the law.

There is a school of opinion that says new Medicine and new treatments can now help conditions that could not be helped in the past.

I think it as also true in my own opinion most people i know with a indefinite award have seen their condition worsen as time goes by.

Bottom line is now pertaining to benefits is that you have to be prepared in your mind the first place to attend a tribunal.

The whole ethos of the system is to put obsticles in the path of claimants.

Lastly...Stay Strong.

tammajock

Cheers for the replies...In truth the gp's have now got a responsibility to put more information on these reports sent by the dla to help prevent these atos doctors coming to the house. How apart from the obvious fraud cases out there can Atos opinions overule clinical findings?
My wifes previous award which was only less than 2 years ago, has she made that much of a recovery to walk round an athletics track twice without severe discomfort and that assumption is made without an examination specifically for the legs. The doctors only move was making the wife get to her feet which she had to ask for my help and the aid of her walking stick. He asked her to outstretch her arms like in the crucifix kind of way and do small circles with her arms which she had to ask to sit down within seconds as she was in too much pain so he didnt do the so-called legs test so how can he make the assumption of the 800 metres.
The guy rolls up in a sporty top of the range merc, didnt know gp's get paid so much these days?
We moved to an adapted property, 26 miles from the nearest relative may i add, basically for the needs of the wife as she cant walk up stairs and the thought of washing hard to reach places and basically all movements. We live in a small village where one bus passes through every hour so how they expect us to get on a bus to run errands without the use of the car? god only knows.
The re-consideration and the appeal phase is going to see this report made from the ATOS doctor as well and our thoughts are, do we accept this award as the wife cant see herself going through the same stress.

GlasweJen

Your wife wouldn't have been asked to attend a medical unless you never put enough information on the application form, her nominated health professional never answered their request for a report or the report didn't match with what you wrote on the form (or if your wife requested on). At the moment ATOS medicals are not routinely used for DLA, is it possible that your wife's GP doesn't think that she should have the walking problems that she claims to have?

sunnyone

where you live and the bus service their has absolutly nothing at all to do with DLA, why on earth would you think it did?

Indie_Kid

GlasweJen wrote: »

Your wife wouldn't have been asked to attend a medical unless you never put enough information on the application form

I think on the last (the long one; not the 4 page one) form I filled in, there was an option to not fill the care part in and opt for an assessment instead.

tammajock

sunnyone wrote: »

where you live and the bus service their has absolutly nothing at all to do with DLA, why on earth would you think it did?

I never meant that it did, i was merely stating that we moved to this village because of the adapted housing that was being built and the needs that my wife had to have. I was merely pointing out the fact that the mobility car based on where we live is more of a necessity now rather than where we were previously living.
How the dla expect me to take a woman who has grand mall epilepsy and the disabilities that she has along with either messages and running errands based on the lack of amenities around us. On a previous comment as well...the atos medical was asked for because of the lack of information rather than clinical findings that was mentioned on her gp's report.
The very fact that i had to take my sons away from schools friends and family to help me assist my wife with regards to her needs and taking into account that they had awarded an award that is only less than 2 years old.
Point i am failing to make is that these cutbacks across the board are not only unfair but unethical as these atos doctors regardless of clinical findings are clearly marked on their reports based on OPINIONS.

Indie_Kid

tammajock wrote: »

How the dla expect me to take a woman who has grand mall epilepsy and the disabilities that she has along with either messages and running errands based on the lack of amenities around us.

That's not the DWP's problem. DLA is based on the help someone needs - not whether they need a car because of where they choose to live.

tammajock

GlasweJen wrote: »

Your wife wouldn't have been asked to attend a medical unless you never put enough information on the application form, her nominated health professional never answered their request for a report or the report didn't match with what you wrote on the form (or if your wife requested on). At the moment ATOS medicals are not routinely used for DLA, is it possible that your wife's GP doesn't think that she should have the walking problems that she claims to have?

To quote my wifes gp, "if they have not moved the goalposts by the proverbial mile then ur wife should walk through it based on her disabilities and the strength of her medication and more importantly, her health needs", with regards to the lack of information we provided. If you have knowledge of the pack that they send you then you can maybe appreciate the length of time taken to fully give over the needs of my wife. Also, my wife has had awards for the past 10 years based on her previous gp's reports and the information that we provided.
Listen at the end of the day, whilst i accept that there are cynical and non-constructive people out there. It is my family that have to cope at the end of the day. It is unfair to be put through the stress of these lengthy and pointless procedures as the medical and clinical findings are there for them to see and they are not in doubt.
i dont need to bloody justify myself as u dont know me so whilst i appreciate that this is a forum, i would appreciate some constructive help rather than just pointing the finger as if we are another pair of useless scroungers claiming benefits

GlasweJen

But DLA isn't about health needs, it's about care needs. There has been no repositioning of the goal posts as yet, the criteria is identical to how it was the last time you applied.