Terrified - Atos & transfer from IB to ESA Mental health

sooperb

"there still seems to be an issue with "signed for" mail, which isn't getting signed for apparently."

Nothing new there to be honest, a lot of signed for mail doesn't get a signature, especially recorded mail. It just gets pushed into the letter box especially if the postman thinks he knows the people in the house well enough. It's the bane of ebay sellers who pay extra to send recorded to avoid claims of non-delivery!

rogerblack

Justanother1 wrote: »

Thanks once again Sooperb. By the sounds of it then people should mark correspondence with "private and confidential",

"Mail to individuals". You cannot submit your claim to an individual.

mazza111

Whether u believe it to be right or wrong that this mail is being opened at sorting offices, I would just like to remind u that each and every postie has signed the official secrets act. Remember having to sign it at my induction. These sorters will probably have to abide by the Data Protection Act as well.

I have only had good things to say about ATOS so far. Due to me being medically retired from, Royal Mail.... Which was on the cards, ATOS just helped speed it up a wee bit. ATOS work very closely with RM and do their medicals for them. I may find it different now that I've been signed unfit for work tho. I'll let u know when I get that far. The horror stories I have heard have put me off going on the sick for so long that I should probably have done it over 7 months ago.

eskimo26

Justanother1 wrote: »

I am concerned after reading others reports that the Atos employee won't be qualified to take this into account, and if the real qualified people and specialists are convinced I do have overlapping conditions yet the Atos employee doesn't understand this where does that leave me?

Don't get hung up on the ATOS medical, the best thing you can do is take a close look at the new ESA descriptors and see which ones you can get points for.

Send in supporting evidence for the decision maker and they will have enough to make a decision in spite of the medical result, remember the medical is simply one aspect of evidence.

for example:
16. Coping with social engagement due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder

a) Engagement in social contact is always precluded due to difficulty relating to others or significant distress experienced by the individual. 15

b) Engagement in social contact with someone unfamiliar to the claimant is always precluded due to difficulty relating to others or significant distress experienced by the individual. 9

c) Engagement in social contact with someone unfamiliar to the claimant is precluded for the majority of the time due to difficulty relating to others or significant distress experienced by the individual. 6

d) None of the above apply 0

What i did was put descriptor 16.Coping with social engagement due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder on a sheet of A4 then made copies of all evidence from doctors, specialists, clinics, hospitals, nurses, medicine side effects and stapled them to the sheet. I did the same with the other relevant descriptors. It didn't take me long though i it did unfortunately cause a relapse in my fatigue, but that's a different story.

Justanother1

I'm sorry if it came across as attacking yourself Mazza as an ex postie, I honestly didn't mean it to come across that way. I do have genuine concerns over who potentially gets to see the forms. That isn't an attack against yourself, I hope that you didn't think it was.

Thank you Eskimo, seems like another good tip.

mazza111

No offence taken, just wanted to point that out to try and put ur mind at ease a wee bit. RM is very strict on this kind of thing.

I mean how would it look if I told u that I delivered to an MP with his subscription to an adult magazine every month or something like that? The papers would have a field day

Try not to worry about the RM aspect of this and concentrate on what Eskimo said

jayboi2005

This is a very interesting post as i today had my migration to ESA. I have to say im not as worried as i was back when it was my turn to be randomly selected as one of the lucky 12,000 a year. But i understand that there are people out there who fraud the system and all i could do was trust the people making a decision based on my.

I went to ATOS back in April this year, i also only have good things to say about them. But i was mega worried before i went, as i had read so much information online about them i had no faith.

Turns out i did see a Doctor, who was specialized in Disability Mental Health. She as no fool and had clearly seen it all before. Which i was pleased about, because in my opinion when she seen me she seen the real thing. I got an award in April stating indefinatley. So i guess im ok till the big PIP change in 2014.



ESA

So the questionnaire actually confuses the hell out of me, i do not have it yet all i have is a letter stating its my turn for migration. I will receive a call and a questionnaire within 2 weeks. I am not worried, whats the point! It wont change what i have to do. It will just make my mental health worse, i am also visually impaired which is an !!!! Another problem that the person assessing me cannot see but i know!

So i have a DLA medical report form April this year, its very descriptive and completed by a Mental Health Disability DOCTOR what ever that is. However from the report i can see that she did know what she was on about. Should i send that in with the questionnaire? Is APRIL recent enough? I also have endless letters from my fav Shrink lol ! As im a !!!!!! for requesting my medical records all the time im obsessed with knowing what they are saying and thinking as they refuse to give me straight answers.

Any advice here would be good ... sorry its so long!

Justanother1

Will do Mazza.

By the sounds of it you were lucky to see someone specialised Jay. It's good in your case that you aren't worried, but many are genuinely, different people react differently to situations. Best wishes with your case.

On edit, i'm sorry but I was a bit confused when I read your post again Jay you say you went for an ESA and a DLA medical back in April? But you do not have your questionnaire yet?

Editing again as I think I understand now you went for your DLA medical in April and you haven't got your questionnaire yet for ESA? It's all quite confusing isn't it!

sooperb

It has worried me for a long time that a lot of the decision making in the DLA was made by admin staff dealing with claims with no medical expertise whatsoever, so it relied purely on what they thought rather than what they knew. This resulted in some claims being passed that should never have been and others being denied in the face of good medical evidence, it simply isn't fair.

Eskimo while I take your point about the policies in place at RM it doesn't stop them employing shedloads of migrant workers, especially in London, who can hardly speak English and struggle to find their way round the streets, abandoning mail in all sorts of places rather than where they should be delivered.

Any system is only as good as the people in place running it.

rogerblack

jayboi2005 wrote: »

So i have a DLA medical report form April this year, its very descriptive and completed by a Mental Health Disability DOCTOR what ever that is. However from the report i can see that she did know what she was on about.

First, read and understand the ESA descriptors.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/m-06-11.pdf

Now, see if anything in the report addresses these.
If it seems to be helpful, then yes, submit it.