PIP criteria and descriptors

OneHubbyOneSon4Debts

It states age 16 - 65, what about children under the age of 16, won't they be allowed to claim the new PIP ?

jetta_wales

OneHubbyOneSon4Debts wrote: »

It states age 16 - 65, what about children under the age of 16, won't they be allowed to claim the new PIP ?

I think it means they stay on DLA.

GlasweJen

I'm not sure where blackouts come into this either hope that isn't the final draft lol

jetta_wales

GlasweJen wrote: »

I'm not sure where blackouts come into this either hope that isn't the final draft lol

Me too seems full of some pretty big holes at the moment.

rogerblack

bertiebat wrote: »

Some of the major changes seem to be in the changes in definitions.

A meal can now be a frozen prepared meal as I read it. So preparing meals can now mean removing the packaging and film I presume and cooking can include microwave. Lifting pots and pans possibly no longer taken into account.

It's depressing.
I vaguely recall there to be case-law around saying that the 'main meal' test was not really about the preparation of a main meal, it was a representative of daily tasks.

Someone who can manage without danger to themselves a cooked main meal is a lot less disabled than someone that only needs to perform:

Locate freezer.
Open lid.
Remove ready-meal (the same one every day to avoid needing to read it).
Carry ready-meal to microwave.
Place in microwave for specified period. (having chosen ready-meal to not need turning).
Close lid.
Remove and eat.

This needs vastly reduced attention, and the potential dangers are also much reduced.

The threshold of disability for this just went way up.

anguk

We're constantly being told to eat healthy food and that ready meals are full of fat and salt and bad for you so we should all cook from scratch yet here we have the powers that be stating that it's okay for disabled people to eat ready meals every day! You couldn't make this up!

clemmatis

Yes, this is really disgraceful. Of course, it's all about saving the government money, not about the rights of disabled people.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

bertiebat wrote: »

Some of the major changes seem to be in the changes in definitions.

A meal can now be a frozen prepared meal as I read it. So preparing meals can now mean removing the packaging and film I presume and cooking can include microwave. Lifting pots and pans possibly no longer taken into account.

Bathe means bath OR shower, so being able to get into/out of a bath would prove irrelevant.

The most confusing area seems to be the mobility and it could be that wheelchair users who are able to self propel over 50 meters will be in a different bracket to those below 50 meters. Very difficult to pin down what they actually mean. They would certainly need to review the wording in this whole area or give examples of what they mean.

Falls seems to have been removed.

I suspect that anguk may be right about the carer component only applying to the higher rate, but one would hope that someone that really relies on a carer would be placed in that bracket.

I read the definition of a "simple meal" to not be a 5 minute microwave special. It says a one course meal using fresh or frozen ingredients".

So I see this as meat either fresh or frozen and then adding fresh or frozen veg.

Things to consider:

* If the food is frozen has the disabled person allowed it to thaw properly or is there danger this may not have happened and therefore a risk of food poisoning?

* Is there a risk of injury during the preparation of the meal. Either accidental or self injury?

* Is the disabled person able to open the packet of frozen vegetables - could they injure themselves using a knife or scissors to do this? If there is spillage can they adequately clean this up either through bending or suffering dizziness or not have energy to do this?

* Can the disabled person tip the frozen food into a pan or bowl to cook - and then carry it to the microwave/hob

* Can a mental health problem put the person at risk of food poisoning through careless cross contamination?

As far as I am concerned if you have a mental health condition and cannot choose food or are too fatigued to cook then option (g) is the only suitable answer. There appears to not be a (h) Cannot prepare or cook a meal at all

Perhaps the new form will allow you to tick the appropriate descriptor and then provide more information - as the old form does.

Another interesting fact is the reminding about medication. It does not seem to allow for such medicines as Depot Injections where you are reminded by a healthcare professional to turn up to receive it. This occurs generally once a month. However, mental health patients using these medicines are generally severely disabled.

I hope these are simply the parts similar to the DLA form regarding washing, bathing and for how long and that a section will be added to the PIP form regarding self injury, falls, blackouts, voices, risk of self neglect.

I have been assisting an adult with Autism with his DLA form and reading these PIP descriptors he may not fit into some of the categories but has significant needs.