ESA work capability question

flight747

Cpt.Scarlet wrote: »

You can ask, but you won't be given access to your medical report until after a Decision has been made.

After your assessment

Following your assessment, the healthcare professional will complete the report and it will be sent to the office dealing with your claim. You have a right to see your medical assessment report and they will give you a copy.
The office dealing with your claim will use our report as one piece of evidence to decide your entitlement. They will also take into account any other evidence you personally provide.

cit_k

flight747 wrote: »

After your assessment

Following your assessment, the healthcare professional will complete the report and it will be sent to the office dealing with your claim. You have a right to see your medical assessment report and they will give you a copy.
The office dealing with your claim will use our report as one piece of evidence to decide your entitlement. They will also take into account any other evidence you personally provide.

Yes, but will they delay on purpose until after the decision has been made, or is it possible to get it from the DWP before a decision has been made.

They should be offering you a copy whilst you are at the assessment before it is sent to the DWP, but they dont...

Invalidation

Muttleythefrog wrote: »

Also it is worth noting that you could reduce chances of failing a WCA and being called for face to face medical by sending in some good supporting medical evidence with the form... .

How does one send in "good medical evidence" when as in my case none exist, other than a few meagre letter from the consultant to the Doctor?. The hospital destroyed scans and X rays after 10 years as they are allowed to do, and I was diagnosed with a Degenerative condition in 1993, and promptly dumped by the system after that.
My Doctor is totally useless and doesnt care and probably wouldnt recognise me if he bumped into me

Katykat

Can i ask if the preboard report (ESA 85a) is the same as the report that the HCP fills in at the medical assessment? I had my assessment last friday, so I will be ringing tomorrow to request the report. On the face of it, it went well. I saw a real Dr and he seemed to be quite understanding. He had obviously read my ESA50 , in fact he had it in front of him and referred to it frequently. He apologised when he said he was going to do a few mobility tests and he didn't push me too far. At the end he told me that he was anticipating that I would not have to have any more medicals as it was obvious to him that I have problems. I'm not sure what to make of this. If i take it at face value, then it means that he is going to recommend that my ESA continues, but I'm afraid I have become very sceptical in these matters. My last one seemed a nice person but the DWP still refused and I had to appeal. Fingers crosed.

sxc4eva

Hi Katykat,

I was recently put in the same situation, however I had a medical in May this year for DLA, I also kept all of the information that I put on the DLA forms, much of this is the questions on the form that they have sent you (though the questions maybe phrased slightly differently) So I did a lot of cut and paste into new word documents, which I printed out and enclosed with the form, also I mentioned the date time and the name of the medical officer that I saw back in May.

Today I had a letter saying that I will be moved to Income-related ESA from 31st December (The day after I get income support) And I am about £16 better off per week.

I hope this helps you and others with these long winded forms.

Cat501

Best of luck katykat, I also won a tribunal this year and was put into the WRAG group, in November I had another ATOS assessment and fully expected to have to go to tribunal again, instead I got a letter 9 days later saying I'd been moved to the SG. I have no idea why, I could possibly understand them putting me back into WRAG without having to appeal again (obviously costs money to go to appeal and as nothing has changed, I suppose they figured I'd probably win again). but SG?

I'm guessing that it might have been under the "special circumstances" rule, and that this assessor actually told the truth!! Hope you are as fortunate - I'm still half expecting a letter telling me they've mixed me up with someone else!:o

Katykat

V. Good SX & cat, maybe there are a few genuine ATOS workers still left. Hope mine was one of them. I must say I will be disappointed if he isn't, as he did come across as genuine & I'd hate to think I've been hoodwinked again. Oh, well, I'll post when I have my decision.

Katykat

An update. Well, I sent for my preboard report and was pleasantly surprised by most of it, but also a bit bewildered. In the "Sitting and Standing" category, the Dr has ticked the box which comes out as " cannot, for the majority of the time, remain at a work station either standing or sitting for more than an hour before needing to move in order to avoid significant discomfort". This could be interpreted that I could stand for up to an hour and so would not accrue any points. However, on the next page - under the heading of behaviour Observed During Assessment - he states that he observed that" I needed to rise from sitting after 20 minutes and I had to sit down after 1 minute of standing with some difficulty". These 2 comments seem to contradict each other. although I assume that the first comment is a tick box question and the 2nd has been freetext. He has also commented in the Prognosis column that a return to work is unlikely for at least 2 years because the history and examination indicate that I am unlikely to return to work in the longer term.
I posted a letter today to point this out to the decision maker. however, in the post today I have had a letter from DWP telling me that my ESA is continuing and i have been placed in the WRAG. Also a separate letter informing me that when the new welfare changes come in, I will no longer be eligible for contribution based ESA.
My questions are 1. As my letter does not inform me of the scores I received for each activity, I dont know which comment they have taken into account. I have other problems apart from the standing issue so I am assuming that I scored more than 15 anyway, but am i entitiled to know what my scores were? I would have thought that based on the Drs 2nd comment and on his prognosis, that I may possibly have been placed in the Support group. Which leads me to Q 2. If I appealed and went into the SG, would I then still be entitled to ESA when the welfare changes come in? Or will the 12 month limit still apply?

flight747

I won my ESA ATOS Medical Assessment and placed into support group for 3 years and scored 27points ! Got letter today after decision maker by DWP. I was surprise that ATOs was in favour of me!

Muttleythefrog

flight747 wrote: »

I won my ESA ATOS Medical Assessment and placed into support group for 3 years and scored 27points ! Got letter today after decision maker by DWP. I was surprise that ATOs was in favour of me!

Well done.. I'd get copy of that medical report.. so you know what Support Gp descriptor(s) they think applied and therefore why you should probably remain on the benefit SG in future. Always worth having that knowledge