the dreaded esa rollercoaster starts..

dazza-mac

Hi,
Got a letter last week informing me 'I'm up next' and to ring DWP to give them my number, they will ring back and answer any questions I may have.

Once I do so, they ring me and tell me that I shall be sent a form and that I must fill it in or benefit will stop. Then I'm told that I may be sent for an assessment by a health care professional.

I asked if this HCP will be a doctor. Only to be told not necessarily. I then ask how can they decide on my work capability if they're not specialists with knowledge of my ailments? She replied that it's not a medical, just an assessment to see if I can do any work. So again I asked how could that person assess me on what work I could do if they have no knowledge or expertise in an individuals health problems? She then said that in some parts of the country some of them are doctors!...
I asked what type of professions these assessors have. She then said well you can ask all these questions when they ring you. To which I pointed out that I thought she was meant to answer any questions that I may have as stated in my letter.

I said that I've been worried sick about this 'medical' and she said not to worry and not beleive all I read in the papers!!! I was so flustered I forgot to mention that a friend of mine with many health problems and who had a brain heamorrage (sic) is now classed as 'fit as a butchers'.

Any advice most welcome as I shall be getting my form within days. I asked if I should enclose any other paperwork from hospitals etc and she said there was no need as that is usually done at the appeals procedure. Is this correct?

rogerblack

dazza-mac wrote: »

Any advice most welcome as I shall be getting my form within days. I asked if I should enclose any other paperwork from hospitals etc and she said there was no need as that is usually done at the appeals procedure. Is this correct?

Adding evidence of particular conditions may well improve the likelyhood of a good outcome before an appeal which may take over a year.

Send any relevant evidence in along with the ESA form.
Photocopy anything you send, and only send originals if required.
Always send recorded or special delivery.

Do not expect them to spend much time gathering evidence - they have half an hour per decision!

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/m-06-11.pdf - this contains the specific criteria that you are assessed against.

It is _NOT_ a medical to determine your overall health.
It is NOT to investigate how employable you are.

It is only to determine if you meet enough of the specific descriptors that you are eligible for ESA.

For example - if you cannot put either hand into a upper jacket pocket, you are entitled to be put into the support group - even if you are fully fit otherwise.

Muttleythefrog

As per Roger... sound advice as usual. I would additionally buy yourself some time and efforts if you have access to a printer (as ultimately you'll need to print off the form and sign/date/post it) by using the pdf version of the form you are being sent (ESA50). Re-assessment is regular and so therefore is usually completion of the form... electronically you can obviously more easily correct errors, make changes and have clarity of print.

If you do use it, save a copy to your local machine and work on that otherwise changes won't be saved. When you complete the various sections regarding your difficulties have the 'corresponding' descriptors at hand so you present appropriate information in addition to what seems to be prompted by the questions.

Good luck.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@money/documents/digitalasset/dg_195544.pdf

Oh and yes... if you are required to attend a face to face medical then the healthcare professional could be from various backgrounds... many at ATOS are nurses. The argument the state (or ATOS) would use is that these are not medicals in the conventional sense but assessment of your day to day disability in relation to the descriptors laid down in law for the benefit. Training can be minimal and the face to face medical is driven by software... the HCP will throughout be banging away on their PC.

symikins

ask for the assesment to be recorded , it may delay your assesment as they do not have many recording machines but thats neither here nor there , your benefit wil stay the same whilst your waiting for the new appt and always take someone with you to back up whats being said/done during the assesment
my assessor lied and twisted everything as usual but this time it was totally outragous and my sister was there to witness that and will be complaining to my MP and to atos direct this time .
l can lie for atos at a fraction of the cost per hour that these HCP:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: get paid :mad:

good luck x

wants.to.be.debt.free

Good luck in filling in this form, i completely answered mine wrong 2 years ago when i was asked to fill one in www.benefitsandwork.co.uk have brilliant guides to help you fill in the forms and plenty of great articles on esa,dla etc

When you do go for a medical take someone with you and dont go on the bus, if needs be get a lift or use a taxi.

Good luck

wants.to.be.debt.free

symikins wrote: »

ask for the assesment to be recorded , it may delay your assesment as they do not have many recording machines but thats neither here nor there , your benefit wil stay the same whilst your waiting for the new appt and always take someone with you to back up whats being said/done during the assesment
my assessor lied and twisted everything as usual but this time it was totally outragous and my sister was there to witness that and will be complaining to my MP and to atos direct this time .
l can lie for atos at a fraction of the cost per hour that these HCP:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: get paid :mad:

good luck x

I agree my examiner twisted everything i said also, he also said i refused to bend and squat. I told him i couldn't because of pain. Definitely get it recorded.

mynameistallulah

dazza-mac wrote: »

I asked if this HCP will be a doctor. Only to be told not necessarily. I then ask how can they decide on my work capability if they're not specialists with knowledge of my ailments? She replied that it's not a medical, just an assessment to see if I can do any work. So again I asked how could that person assess me on what work I could do if they have no knowledge or expertise in an individuals health problems? She then said that in some parts of the country some of them are doctors!...
I asked what type of professions these assessors have. She then said well you can ask all these questions when they ring you. To which I pointed out that I thought she was meant to answer any questions that I may have as stated in my letter.

In some (many) cases HCPs are actually more qualified to comment on your suitability for work. For instance, a physio may have more expertise than a GP at assessing a bad back, and equally a mental health nurse may be more capable of assessing MH problems than an orthopod.

The process is daunting, and ATOS is far from perfect, but getting yourself hung up on irrelevant information is not going to help you.

wants.to.be.debt.free

sangio wrote: »

Why not? Not everyone can afford a taxi and not everyone has someone willing to take them there and take them back.
You sound like a friend of mine - he doesn't 'do' public transport!

I went on the bus - in fact two buses! - 85mins plus a (10 minute walk normally - took me 50 mins).

For your information, i go on public transport all the time although it takes me a while because of breathing problems, painful bones etc.

Benefits and work suggest even though you may tell Atos you came alone on the bus and describe your anxiety in doing so or that it took you a long time, because of physical problems they just tick the box "the claimant came on their own using public transport" on their computer and they will award you 0 for that particular question.
(the computer cannot take into account the other information)

Muttleythefrog

mynameistallulah wrote: »

.. a mental health nurse may be more capable of assessing MH problems than an orthopod.

I'm tempted to say I've met arthropods who could definitely do a better job than an ATOS nurse..lol

System

Muttleythefrog wrote: »

I'm tempted to say I've met arthropods who could definitely do a better job than an ATOS nurse..lol

Mine didn't even know what bipolar was..and i had to spell out my medications..

Muttleythefrog

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

Mine didn't even know what bipolar was..and i had to spell out my medications..

Shocking really... since we are talking about medical professionals. I think if I had bipolar and someone wasn't aware of what it was I'd amuse myself by telling them stories of magnets and being affected by metal objects. Perhaps start with the cause of the illness having been being left next to a large capacitor when you were born.