DWP letter arrived

colin13

finally the DWP,have sent me a letter about moving on to ESA,I have progressive MS,cant stand ,sit both bladder and bowel unpredictable,soon i will be deemed fit to works,,looking foward to the mirical that is ATOS

[Deleted User]

dont jump the gun,in fact if you are incontinent then you may well be placed in the support group

sunnyone

colin13 wrote: »

finally the DWP,have sent me a letter about moving on to ESA,I have progressive MS,cant stand ,sit both bladder and bowel unpredictable,soon i will be deemed fit to works,,looking foward to the mirical that is ATOS

You dont know what will happen yet, I was transfered over a few months ago and went straight into the support group (for the maximum time allowed 3 years) based on my form alone.

The best thing to do is to go and see the doctor you are registed to and update them on your current condition as it is them who get the ESA85a (I think it is) and not the doctor you usually/prefer to see, also make sure you always get copies of all letters sent between your consultants and your GP, its free and the best way to gather evidence to support your claim.

Then read the support group criteria and make sure you understand them (ask for help if you need it, especially about the mobiliseation criteria as it seems the most commonly misunderstood from the posts on here), I sent one letter from the relevant specialist to support each support group criteria I felt applied to me eg. one from my wheelchair therapist to prove Im a full time powerchair user who cannot self propel a manual wheelchair or transfer from on seated position to another without help, one from my urologist to prove I have a supra pubic catheter etc.

Good luck.

benefitbaby

It is also worth seeing if your local MS Society has a benefits adviser who can support you through the process

Horseunderwater

colin13 wrote: »

finally the DWP,have sent me a letter about moving on to ESA,I have progressive MS,cant stand ,sit both bladder and bowel unpredictable,soon i will be deemed fit to works,,looking foward to the mirical that is ATOS

Hi Colin

With ESA it is not about the illness, but about how it affects your everyday life. And if you take medications, their side effects need to be included too.

I take it that you are in a wheelchair - is it one you use manually or is it powered? If it is powered - do you have the strength to manually move one? If not, that alone should get you into the support group. I have a similar autoimmune disease that stops me from using a manually propelled chair - no upper arm strength - so I cannot do more than 6-8 meters walking with a stick - but they did what is called the push and pull test on me at my medical. I could not push the Dr's hands back much at all. And pulling them was not much better. I am also incontinent more than once a week and have trouble lifting things due to strength again.
http://pseudo-living.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/esa-descriptors-and-points.html
That link gives the support group descriptors - have a read and see what applies to you and your situation. Then if you are refused or at best popped into the WRAG - you can appeal using the GL24 form, citing why you think they should think again. Try not to worry about it too much. Hard to not do I know.