59 year old failed 2nd medical for ESA after passing first....

diolch

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I think it is excelelnt customer service for the DWP to provide one.

The DWP are obliged to! They didn't do it out of the goodness of their heart - where ever that may be!

diolch

sunnyone wrote: »

Thats great news, thankyou for posting it because we have for to long been the place to come for free health care and free benfits for all and it must stop.

Why must it?

You seem to forget that we support countries like India, Pakistan etc with financial aid to fund health centres - so what is the difference if they come over here for it for free instead?

diolch

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

No visa renewals for those who claim benefits they weren't entitled to, either.

They have also just bought in a deception clause, for those who use the NHS when they aren't entitled to free NHS. Deception means a ban from the uk for a number of years: the number of years of the ban, depends on how quickly they exit from the UK when told to do so.

I can see these being challenged in our courts. They are putting up unreasonable barriers to genuine immigrants. I would like to see those from Pakistan and India rise up and take this to court. Our forefathers gave them a right to hold a British Passport and freedom to travel to this country in exchange for the Independence from the British Empire.
Likewise, those from Afganistan, Iraq etc should be allowed here. We are part of and the making of the problem they suffer from. It was us that invaded their country and displaced them!

eskimo26

Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »

Apparently as soon as you have been failed it stops - what happens whilst you appeal may be ESA at JSA rate. However we were advised that many people who are refused ESA cannot cope with or understand the JSA system due to their disabilities so will be without any money if they fail to sign on.

Good lordy 3 pages and the closest accurate answer for the OP is the above?!

OP listen very carefully, you have one month and one month only to lodge an appeal from the date of the decision. When you lodge your appeal your father will continue to receive ESA at the non-assessed rate until the date of his tribunal (he will not get the premium that you get from being placed in a group). The tribunal service is packed up at the moment, 4 months plus last i heard and its probably a lot more now...

Before you go to tribunal you can ask for the decision maker to reconsider and look again too i believe.

With regards to the decision to fail I would consider the following:

Did you provide relevant evidence to the decision maker such as medical reports, doctor's notes, details of specialists, hospital visits etc.?

If you did not the DM would have no choice but to base there decision off the ATOS medical.

I would ask for a copy of last years successful appeal so you can see where he got his points! That way you can compare to the current appeal and point out inaccuracies (presuming his condition is the same or worse from last year). I'd imagine this would make life a bit easier.

I was successful in my application first time but will ask to see it anyway so i know where i got my points and what was relevant from the mountain of evidence i sent in as i don't want to have to do that again if the need arises.

Good luck.

SailorSam

This is a copy of an email i've received with advice about making a recording when you have a medical/assessment. I hope you may find it useful.

ESA Tip 6. Can you tape record your ESA medical? Dear Bill,
You’ll see it on forums all over the internet. People outraged that their medical report for employment and support allowance seems like it’s about someone else. Angry that things they said haven’t been included whilst things they would never have said in a million years are there in black and white.
Some people try to get round this by taking their own notes at their medical, but that can be very difficult to do whilst you are being questioned and examined.
Others bring a friend or relative and ask them to take notes.
If you do this, a legal warning is likely to be read out to you – there’s more about this in our members guides.
But, unless you can do shorthand, notes can never capture everything that was said and it will always be your word against the Atos health professional’s.
As a result, lots of people would like to record their medical in exactly the same way that the DWP routinely record telephone conversations and interviews with you.
However, Atos and the DWP place almost impossible to meet conditions on anyone who wishes to record their medical. It’s fine, it seems, for the DWP to record the things they want to record, but there are other things they definitely aren’t keen on anyone having an accurate record of.
So, Atos/DWP require you to bring along – believe it or not - your very own professional sound engineer and a properly calibrated tape machine that records two copies of the examination at the same time. This has to be done at your own expense. These are outrageous conditions which they don’t apply to themselves when they wish to record something. In addition, the doctor or nurse has to agree to being recorded. .
And as one of our members discovered, even if you do provide the engineer and equipment as he did, Atos simply tell you that none of their doctors is willing to be recorded.
So, it’s virtually impossible to openly record your medical.

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Arg

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Just because he walks with a stick, doesn't mean that he can't do any work. I think it's really accommodating of the organisation that an interpreter was arranged; I can't see how you could object to that.

Wasting money on an interpreter that wasn't asked for while trying to deny him having a companion in what appears to be an attempt to defraud him out of ESA.
I think we can see exactly what there is to object too as well as your stupid post.:T

CFC

diolch wrote: »

You are coming very close to being a racist!! No one in this country should be made to speak, read or write English if they don't want to.
.

Grow up. Try to get a grip.

peteretc

To the OP.I am disgusted you were not allowed to help your father.I assume the help wasn't just for translation but due to his frailty/condition.An appeal is a must as whilst you wait he will still get some benefit.I would ask for all copies of compiled reports and also speak to his GP and ask if they were requested to fill out the form they are sent prior to the assessment (forgot the name).Ask the gp if they are prepared to draft a report confirming his condition which you can submit to the Appeals.Though you will probably have to pay the gp for it.Start to put together all his previous reports, speak to his specialist and request an uptodate report too.

Its a shame you were not forewarned you couldn't provide assistance due to 'their' lack of facility.They could have carried it out at another centre which did have sufficient space.

Its important when called for assessment for all people needing help (not just translation) to check on the ATOS website which lists all their centres, locations, size,parking,access and floor levels..yes 'floor levels'. As far as I am aware its your right to have someone with you.Its also wise to speak to CAB and similar.

You would also be well advised to contact the DWP and request to make formal complaint.Remember they are the DM (decision makers.)
I would also seek out a local community office dealing with people of your fathers ethnicity.

I have read of so many cases of people suddenly getting zero points awarded at assessment and then as if by a miracle upon appeal having those points raised.

If you wish to pm me, you can request any info you would like me to find for you.


Add: The form sent to your GP prior to assessment is ESA113 I will pm you it

SailorSam

Another ESA claim tip email i've received.


ESA Tip 8. Don’t get caught by the TV trap!

If you have to have a medical as part of your work capability assessment (WCA) for employment and support allowance, it may seem like the doctor or nurse is just having a friendly chat with you.

The truth, however, is that every question the doctor or nurse asks is being prompted by computer software called LIMA (Logic Integrated Medical Assessment) and very unfair assumptions may be made based on the answers you give.

For example, one of the questions you will be asked is whether you watch TV and what programmes you enjoy.

If you say that you like watching the soaps, the doctor or nurse may well assume - without asking you any further questions - that you can sit comfortably for at least thirty minutes without having to move from the chair. This means you will score zero points for problems with sitting.

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21 points for ESA
”We wanted to say a huge thank you – just received the news that we won the ESA appeal. My husband is still recovering from a back operation. We went from 0 points to: 6 pts for walking; 15 pts for standing; 21 points in total = We Won!

It was all done with your invaluable help in letter writing, understanding the process and the ESA system and the Appeals procedure. We did have an extremely nice Judge and Doctor who were just simply sensible. Our relief and thanks is huge.”
Jess and Nick More feedback

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In fact, the law says the sitting test is based on how long you can sit on a very specific sort of chair: a chair with a high back and no arms, like a dining chair or the sort of chair you might find in an office or at a supermarket checkout.

And the truth may be that you can watch Corrie for half an hour. But you probably don’t do so sitting on a dining chair. In fact, if you have back problems you may not sit at all, but lay on a sofa instead. And in that thirty minutes you may get up and stand several times or even walk around the room during the adverts, to relieve your back pain.

But the doctor or nurse is paid on a piece rate for every medical they carry out. So they are very unlikely to take the time to ask you all the additional questions they would need to in order to build up an accurate picture of how long you can really sit on the correct type of chair.

That being the case, it’s up to you to make sure you volunteer the information that they need rather than waiting to be asked.

This applies whatever your condition: there are assumptions lurking behind every question.

chinna

Do you still receive employment and support allowance at the basic rate during the appeal? And do you need to send in a sick note as they told us not to send anymore in, unless asked.