Refused IHER

cazziej

Hi, not sure if this is on the correct board, so please feel free to move it if it isn't.

My husband is 43 years old and for the past 2 years has been on long term sick leave as a labourer for the local council.

He went on sick leave with severe back pain and was referred for physio and to the pain management clinic and also to a neurosurgeon. He had an MRI scan which confirmed a prolapsed disc impinging on a nerve, which was the cause of the pain. The neurosurgeon is not keen to operate as he is not having pain in his legs, which the op would cure, but pain in his back and buttocks.

He is unable to walk very far without the pain kicking in, he is unable to sit for very long without pain, and he is unable to stand for any period without pain, basically, everything causes him pain in his back.

For the first 6 months off work he received full pay, followed by half pay for 6 months, he is now on incapacity benefit of £183.50 per fortnight.

A few months ago he had an appointment with the council medical officer who said he would write to his GP for his opinion. The consent form my husband filled in asked if he wanted to see the report, to which my husband ticked "no".

We have today received a letter from the council saying "The recent memorandum from the Medical Officer (see attached)(nothing attached, but have contacted them to send it on!) states that he considers you fit to undertake office work and therefore you do NOT meet the criteria for IHER. The Medical Officer has considered information from your GP when giving his response."

They have called another meeting, at which it looks like my husband will be dismissed on the grounds of capability. He has worked outdoors for the past 25 years of his life, and is the most unlikely person to ever work in an office you could meet. He is just not academic and would not be suitable for office work.

The thing is, he HAS actually seen the report that his GP sent in and it clearly states that walking/sitting/standing causes him back pain, and that whilst attending a computer training course which the council sent him on, he was unable to manage sitting for any period, and that due to this he did not think an office environment would be suitable for him. He has now asked the GP for his own copy of this report.

Can I have your views on this? Is it usual to be refused IHER the first time? Does it look like the Medical Officer has just ignored the views of his GP, who has known him for many years, or do you think that as my OH ticked that he doesn't want to see the report, the Medical Officer wants it to look as though my OH GP agrees with the MO? "The Medical Officer has considered information from your GP when giving his response".

Another thing, when my husband saw the MO, he told him that he was awaiting a further MRI scan. When he had his next meeting with his manager, he told him he had the date of his MRI scan (which was now 2 weeks ago, although obviously we don't have the results yet). His back symptoms have worsened an awful lot since his original scan and I am presuming that the results will reflect this. Do you think they are trying to get all this out of the way before he gets his results?

By the way, he had worked there for 8 years before going on sick leave.

Sorry this post is so long, but we are now worried about him being dismissed, :eek: and the implications this may have. He has just filled in the forms for DLA and we are going to submit these to the GP.

Hope you can help.

Thank you

Cazzie.

cazziej

Just wanted to nudge this up and to add that after applying for DLA and being refused, my husband appealed and found out last week that it has been awarded at the higher rate:j

For several months now, he has not heard anything from the Council regarding his position, so today he emailed them to ask what was happening and to inform them of him being awarded DLA.

They responded that they had written to his consultant at the Neurosurgery clinic but hadn't had a reply, so they had contacted his GP (?why, they already did this last year and had his report).

My main query is, is being awarded higher rate DLA for mobility likely to have any bearing or influence on the likelihood of him now being approved for ill health early retirement? Prior to this, in most of the communication copies he has been given, they seem to be very reluctant to allow him to have IHER and are edging towards dismissing him. I can understand it from their point of view, he is only 43, and (hopefully!!) has many years ahead of him. BUT he is genuinely constantly in pain. As soon as he sits down, he has pain, if he stands up he has pain, and much more so when he walks.

Anybody have any thoughts on this??

Thanks

Carol
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Debt_Free_Chick

cazziej wrote: »

We have today received a letter from the council saying "The recent memorandum from the Medical Officer (see attached)(nothing attached, but have contacted them to send it on!) states that he considers you fit to undertake office work and therefore you do NOT meet the criteria for IHER. The Medical Officer has considered information from your GP when giving his response."

What, exactly, is the criteria for IHER? Often, you need to be completely incapable of doing any work at all and likely to remain incapable, for the foreseeable future.

The difficulty with back pain, like this, is that it can "come & go" - do you really think he will "never work again" - as that may be the criteria.

Find out what the criteria is.

Separately, has your OH seen a chiropractor or osteopath, as they can often provide relief from a prolapsed disc - I know how unbearable it can be :eek:

cazziej

Hi, just another update and to see if anybody in the know can give me any advice.

He has today received a letter from work saying "I have received a recommendation from the Council's Occupational Health Physician that you should be retired from your employment with the Council on ill health grounds". It then goes on to say that a meeting has been arranged for him and that he can take a trade union rep or friend with him. It goes on to tell him that in law retirement on ill health grounds amounts to termination of his employment with the Council and that he is entitled to 1 weeks notice for each completed year of service, to a maximum of 12 weeks.

What exactly does this mean, is he being dismissed with notice and that is it, or will he get a pension?

Any views appreciated.

Thank you

Carol

CAE

I assume that as he has been off sick for such a long time that he is currently not receiving any pay. It would appear that he is now being given official notice of termination of his contract, and as such I believe he is entitled to be paid for his period of notice. I guess this will affect any benefits he might be getting.

I am assuming that your husband is also a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme, and therefore if the Occupational Health Physician has certified that he should be retired on ill health grounds he will be entitled to an ill health pension. If the employer has got their act together details of his entitlement should be available at the meeting that has been arranged. If not available at the meeting, just ask for an estimate to be provided.

Hope this helps.

cazziej

Hello CAE

Yes, you are right in your assumption. He is now on benefits. So does this mean, that if he gets paid for his notice period, his benefits stop altogether for this period?

He is a member of the Local Government Penson Scheme. Would you know if the 2 years he has been off will count towards his length of time served, and also therefore will count in the number of weeks notice he will be given?

Thanks for your help and advice so far.

Best wishes

Carol