Incapacity Benefit Appeal Unsuccessful

nannytone_2

StrongWork wrote: »

Sounds dramatic that one finds it 'impossible' to see their doctor.

You can call on Monday, to arrange an appointment for Friday (a week in advance), or for the next week.

at my doctors surgery the only qay to make an appointment is to phone on the day. the ONLY way you can get an appointment in advance is if the doctor requests to see you at a specific time for a repeat consultation.
i think it's a crazy system!

zzzLazyDaisy

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I find it difficult to believe that there are any Dr's surgeries where you can't book, say, a month in advance. What if the Dr has just started treating you and tells you to come back next week to review the treatment -can we really believe that you can't book an appointment?

You may find it difficult to believe, but that is exactly the case at my doctor's surgery. If the GP tells you to come back in a week/month/whatever, it is up to the patient to phone and make an appointment a week/month later. It is not possible to make advance appointments to see a GP.

I can make advance appointments for the diabetic clinic, blood tests, flu jab etc, but not to see a GP, that must be done on the day.

dogfish12

Same at my surgery. Appointments have to be made after 8am on the day.

seven-day-weekend

TheBottomLine wrote: »

Sorry to be going off topic but it's the same at my surgery, you can only get an appointment on the day you call. The only other thing you can do is go to the 'open surgery' on friday mornings. I believe this is so they can show that all patients are seen within 24 hours of asking to see a doctor.

At my Drs you can do the 8 o' clock phonecall thing if you want to see him that day....BUT you can also book a week in advance. He will also talk things through with you.

We must be lucky!

SueP1944

krisskross wrote: »

I am never ever going to move! I can phone our GP's surgery at 10am and be seeing a doctor at midday or sometimes sooner if it is something that shouldn't wait.

Routine appointments for the next day or so if I am not fussy about which doctor. Same day home visits if needed.

When my husband was very poorly a couple of winters ago the doctor came to see him everyday for a week. We are so so fortunate I think.

I know this is certainly going off topic and I am in part responsible.

But please tell - where do you live??????
Then I can have a look on Rightmove for places to rent! LOL

As for a GP coming out yike!!! my other half was in HDU and they let him out after nearly 3 months
- couldn't eat, lost nearly half his body weight in hospital and they expected me to care for him!! Where does one start I said to myself? I got through it without any help, visits or advice from anybody!!!

Sixer

(Sorry, OT also).

Where I live, non-urgent appointments have about a three week wait. However, you can phone after 8am any morning and request an urgent appointment. A triage nurse rings back and we've never yet not had an appointment offered for the same day. Follow ups can be booked as you leave the surgery.

I seem to be one of the lucky ones!

he6rt6gr6m

Amazing amount of responses. So grateful to you all for taking the time out to reply.

Replies coming:

MrsManda wrote: »

Hi I'm sorry I don't know anything about the tribunal/appeals process but I wondered whether part of the reason she's been turned down is because she hasn't seen a doctor recently so has no recent medical reports.

I did feel this could be a problem. Seeing the GP has become a nightmare now, as I've mentioned previous.

With the myriad of problems she's having I would have thought she should be seeing specialists rather than just a GP anyway. It sounds like she needs treatment not just to be abandoned on benefits. Has she been referred to the mental health services?

The last time she saw her GP, it was strongly recommended that she see out the course of medication and come back and discuss the possibility of Counseling. This was with a substitute GP, who was really sympathetic to her situation, and has even taken steps recently to try and get her on at her surgery.

What is the reason no other GP practise will take her? Under usual circumstances you are entitled to register with any GP practice you want to. Have you used the NHS website to search for practices in your area which are accepting new patients?
http://www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx

All the local surgeries say that you simply cannot transfer from one local surgery to another, regardless of convenience or for the benefit of the patient. Boggled my brain, also, but we did mention the NHS' policy on this, and the receptionist advise we wait until Monday to see the person who deals with this sort of thing, who has conveniently been off.

If she cannot get GP appointment because they've gone by the time she calls, has she requested a callback? When I need to speak to someone and either cannot get an appointment or cannot leave the house to get to an appointment I request that the doctor calls me. He usually does this between morning and afternoon surgery. You can have a phone consultation which depending on the issues means they can book you in for a future appointment whilst you're on the phone or arrange a home visit.

This is an interesting point we'd never even thought would be possible! We will certainly try this in the morning!

It may also be worth seeing the practice nurse as he can do a rough assessment and if he thinks you need to see a GP they can get a GP into see you whilst you are with the nurse (you may have to wait a little while).

I hope she gets the care she needs soon

We'd wait all day if it helped. A practice nurse is something we will also ask about tomorrow. Thank you so much.

sunnyone wrote: »

Did you request a written appeal or an oral one?

Written. It was received on this past Monday.

StrongWork wrote: »

Sounds dramatic that one finds it 'impossible' to see their doctor.

You can call on Monday, to arrange an appointment for Friday (a week in advance), or for the next week.

I can assure you, we cannot. My surgery changed their policy for this a couple of years back, as everyone complained about the rigmarole of calling at 8am and all the appointments being gone by 8:15am.

SueP1944 wrote: »

In my surgery the telephone lines open up at 8am sharp. It can take up to an hour to get through because everyong else is doing the same. You cannot make any 'forward' appointments. Once the slots for that day are booked up you are told to ring again the following morning hoping that you are more successful. This can go on for many days at busy times - winter, school holidays etc. This is the same as the CAB - they will only see the first 10 people in the queue, and in ours, only if you qualify for legal aid.

As for walking in off the street, you are told to go into town and sit in A&E if you think you need to see a doctor urgently (within 3 days).

As regards the original question, it does sound very much like a written appeal. The statement of reasons will make the situation clear when they get it. But I wouldn't hold out any hope of that happening within the next 3 months! Statements of Reasons seem to be treated as very low priority. They did for my other half - over 3 months wait!! Maybe she should now claim ESA???? I don't know what the rules are on this.

Having said that, it is not at all surprising that people are getting 'lost' in the system and being told that they are fit.

Has she not thought about claiming JSA and restricting any job search and working hours to fit around her illness? She isn't the first to have this happen to her and she certainly won't be the last!

Three months for a piece of paper they should really supply with the decision. Quite amazing, really.

JSA is an option, as is ESA, apparently, but we're so confused as what the rules and options are currently.

Hope your wife is okay. It's a shame that this system is as flawed as the rest in this Country.

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I find it difficult to believe that there are any Dr's surgeries where you can't book, say, a month in advance. What if the Dr has just started treating you and tells you to come back next week to review the treatment -can we really believe that you can't book an appointment?

As for the appeal, I agree that she should see her Dr first and maybe ask him/her to write a letter to put in with her next appeal?

As mentioned above, this is the case with quite a few surgeries across the Country. If you're not in at 8am, you'll be lucky not to get anything. Then the process starts again the next working day.

I'm going to suggest we try this "call back" option. If he doesn't comply with it, honestly, I'm probably just going to take matters into my own hands. She isn't being treat like a human being. And he's not being helpful to her situation at all, yet he knows the complete history of what she's been through.

SueP1944 wrote: »

And as for sitting down with your GP to talk things through and maybe get a letter or something to support a claim - forget it. It's like the production line in a car factory. It is plainly obvious that the GP after a few minutes, wants to print out a prescription and get rid of you.
When I was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic - I was in and out with prescription, leaflet and kit and told to read the instructions/information within less than 5 minutes. I didn't have a clue on how to inject myself. What I now know I have picked up from pamphlets and the net. As for continual support - have a check up every year with a nurse.

Treat like a number. A target, set by the GP. It's really disgusting, especially for something as serious as Diabetes.

Thanks again to everyone.

melbury

krisskross wrote: »

I am never ever going to move! I can phone our GP's surgery at 10am and be seeing a doctor at midday or sometimes sooner if it is something that shouldn't wait.

Routine appointments for the next day or so if I am not fussy about which doctor. Same day home visits if needed.

When my husband was very poorly a couple of winters ago the doctor came to see him everyday for a week. We are so so fortunate I think.

Your doctor sounds absolutely wonderful.

Where I live we have start phoning at 8.30am when the lines open and keep hitting redial until, if we are lucky, we get through. Amazingly I find even if I get through at 8.32 that nearly all of the appointments have gone and all that is left is something quite late in the morning. They do have a few pre-bookable appointments available, but unless you book about 6 weeks in advance you haven't got a chance of getting one.

It is a totally cr*p system and I hate it, even more so because I have to leave for work by 8.25am and so it always makes me late. However, if I leave it until I arrive at work at about 8.45am there are no appointments left - total rubbish.:mad:

munchings-n-crunchings

Can I just clarify one of your answers.

You confirmed you requested a Written Appeal Hearing?? or

Did you request the appeal in writing ??

These are 2 different things.

If you requested to have a 'Written Appeal' then you do not have the opportunity to sit before the tribunal panel, and put your case, and have the chance for them to question you further.
So this would be why you didn't receive notification of when the tribunal would be, as you wouldn't be attending.

An Oral hearing is one that you attend in person.

Regards

Munchie

sunnyone

krisskross wrote: »

I am never ever going to move! I can phone our GP's surgery at 10am and be seeing a doctor at midday or sometimes sooner if it is something that shouldn't wait.

Routine appointments for the next day or so if I am not fussy about which doctor. Same day home visits if needed.

When my husband was very poorly a couple of winters ago the doctor came to see him everyday for a week. We are so so fortunate I think.

we have a wonderful GP and I dont think that my husband would still be with me if it wasnt for her, she always has plenty of time for us and will even stay on after surgery for us and its not uncommon for us to see her for an hour every other week.

The other GP's at our practice are good but she always goes the extra mile.

One thing for those of you with problems getting to see your GP's, do you have a local walk in center?

Our trust looks at the number of patients per pratice attending ours and why they are their, if the patients complain that they are at the walk in center because they cant see their own GP the trust take a very dim view of it, it might be worth visiting yours and making sure that the walk in center know why you are their.