ESA GP Letter Problem!!!!!!!

lemontree

DWP rang my Son on Thursday to say he had failed ESA Medical and was asked if anything had changed. He told them he had been admitted as an emergency twice since the medical. The lady who rang him said"That is nothing to do with me I will send you a form and you will have to get a letter from your Doctor"
He has been admitted 14 times in 12 months with constant vomiting and severe pain. Despite seeing several specialists(and due to see yet another) his condition is undiagnosed. He has had several scans and the Hospital which is 15 miles away say they can only treat his symptoms by putting him on a drip to rehydrate and give him morphine for the pain.
He saw his GP on Friday for his fortightly blood test and he was shocked. He told him to collect a letter on Monday to send in with the form. Today he is vomiting again and it looks like he will be in Hospital again.
Please can anyone advise?
He has rung me but does not want me to see him so ill and says I cant help him.
I live 30 miles away but would be quite happy to drive to his home as I visit him frequently.
Would the DWP speak to me regarding sending in a GP letter and the form which as not yet arrived as there could nowbe a delay1

BrettMorganxD

lemontree wrote: »

DWP rang my Son on Thursday to say he had failed ESA Medical and was asked if anything had changed. He told them he had been admitted as an emergency twice since the medical. The lady who rang him said"That is nothing to do with me I will send you a form and you will have to get a letter from your Doctor"
He has been admitted 14 times in 12 months with constant vomiting and severe pain. Despite seeing several specialists(and due to see yet another) his condition is undiagnosed. He has had several scans and the Hospital which is 15 miles away say they can only treat his symptoms by putting him on a drip to rehydrate and give him morphine for the pain.
He saw his GP on Friday for his fortightly blood test and he was shocked. He told him to collect a letter on Monday to send in with the form. Today he is vomiting again and it looks like he will be in Hospital again.
Please can anyone advise?
He has rung me but does not want me to see him so ill and says I cant help him.
I live 30 miles away but would be quite happy to drive to his home as I visit him frequently.
Would the DWP speak to me regarding sending in a GP letter and the form which as not yet arrived as there could nowbe a delay1

Medicals often fail, I failed mine. You should appeal, they will reinstate benefit until the appeal reach a decision. Don't worry they get it wrong so many times. My counciller's dad had no legs and they wrote on the form "you have no difficulty in walking"

lemontree

Sorry Nasa wasn"nt sure if this was sarcasm!

sunnyone

BrettMorganxD wrote: »

Medicals often fail, I failed mine. You should appeal, they will reinstate benefit until the appeal reach a decision. Don't worry they get it wrong so many times. My counciller's dad had no legs and they wrote on the form "you have no difficulty in walking"

Legs dont come into it, its mobilisation and if he can use a manual wheelchair to mobilise the required distance he will not be entitled to ESA.

thegirlintheattic

Have you checked to see if your son meets the ESA requirements? Even if he is very ill it doesn't always means he meets their requirements for benefit.

This might help http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/moneyandlegal/otherbenefits/Pages/ESA-claims.aspx

dark_lady

sunnyone wrote: »

Legs dont come into it, its mobilisation and if he can use a manual wheelchair to mobilise the required distance he will not be entitled to ESA.

They wrote on the form "You have no difficulty with walking" not "you have no difficulty with mobilisation"

The key word in the statement was "walking"

People do tend to interpret statements in the way they want to see them and this is a good example of that.

BrettMorganxD

dark_lady wrote: »

They wrote on the form "You have no difficulty with walking" not "you have no difficulty with mobilisation"

The key word in the statement was "walking"

People do tend to interpret statements in the way they want to see them and this is a good example of that.

Thank for explaining that one to them for me, dark lady. But the OP should deffo appeal

lemontree

My Son attended a Medical with DWP about 9 months ago and was told not to send any more Medical Certificates in for 1 year.
He is on Income Support. He would love to work as he always been well but for the last 18 months he has been on very strong painlillers and anti sickness medication. He needs emergency treatment on average every 14 to 18 days.

BrettMorganxD

lemontree wrote: »

My Son attended a Medical with DWP about 9 months ago and was told not to send any more Medical Certificates in for 1 year.
He is on Income Support. He would love to work as he always been well but for the last 18 months he has been on very strong painlillers and anti sickness medication. He needs emergency treatment on average every 14 to 18 days.

Hiya he should defnatly have passed the medical then! Write an appeal letter to get it reinstated, then go from there. Speak to the CAB they will put you in touch with a benefits advisor.

Also I see you mention he has been like this for 18 months. He could be entitled to disability living allowance by the sounds of it.

Brett

Muttleythefrog

lemon... sounds like he needs to appeal this... as above I always caution that with the fact some people who are very ill may not qualify for ESA even if accurately assessed. Sounds like the form they'll be sending will be the GL24 appeal form. Regarding doctors letter.. not sure what is meant by this. But doctor perhaps knows as he's constructed a letter. He might need 3rd party legal advice.. help to appeal... CAB or welfare rights perhaps.. there may be some case to be made that special circumstances apply for ESA.. hard to tell.

ESA can be extremely badly administrated... their communications poor and plain wrong... so getting such communications second hand from your son who wants to keep you at arm's length might make your ability to help difficult. Hopefully they can get to the root cause of this terrible illness soon.

Ideally he needs to request a copy of all the evidence they have used to make their decision and ask for a statement of reason for the decision... then he knows what he is facing. Also might help if he has historical evidence that qualified him for the benefit in first place.

If he appeals (should get 4 weeks to do that from date of decision.. plus 2 more weeks if requesting statement of reasons) then the DWP will automatically carry out a reconsideration and use any additional evidence sent in. If they don't change their minds then he can expect to wait a few months for appeal tribunal hearing... best to opt for oral hearing... assuming he can get there!

lemontree

Thanks Muttley for the trouble you have taken to advise! We are very close but he says that when he feels really bad he wants to be alone.
I know I fuss too much and understand that must annoy him when he is feeling really ill.
Does he need to start sending sick notes in either from GP or the many Hospital Specialists he has and still is seeing?