ESA work group to support group appeal

tiddlertot

olias wrote: »

Hi, and thanks. Yes I do realise that - the descriptors which fit my wifes conditions (Bipolar and Borderline personality disorder) are these:

11. Initiating and completing personal action (which means planning, organisation, problem solving, prioritising or switching tasks).
Cannot, due to impaired mental function, reliably initiate or complete at least 2 sequential personal actions.

12. Coping with change
(a) Cannot cope with any change, due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder, to the extent that day to day life cannot be managed.

13. Coping with social engagement due to cognitive impairment or mental disorder
Engagement in social contact is always precluded due to difficulty relating to others or significant distress experienced by the individual.

I guess we need to somehow explain to the GP that if, as he states, he believes my wife is unfit to work due to her conditions, then the system dictates that he must align that with one or more of the above descriptors in his report in order to satisfy the present system. Difficult to do in the space of a short GP appointment without sounding like we are trying to push him into saying something specific.....

Olias

Which is exactly what you are trying to do!!!

olias

Myself and my wife have both had well paid proffessional careers throughout our lives and have paid our taxes. We had scrimped and saved and done without and managed to buy our own home through hard work to avoid having to rely on social housing and to be able to stand on our own two feet.

If you knew anything about the changes to the benefit system, you would know that the work group only pays ESA for 12 months, then nothing - potentially meaning a drop in our income in real terms by nearly 50%. My wife has been unable to work for 10 years during which time she has been in and out of hospital, and recieved various types of treatment and has tried very hard to return to the work place through attempting permitted work and voluntary work, but unfortunately is still very ill. What makes the government (or you for that matter) think she will suddenly be miraculously cured in less than 12 months??????

I have at no stage mentioned 'bending the rules' as you put it. The simple fact if you cared to research the subject, is that ATOS have developed a tick box system of testing what they consider to be a persons ability to work, when the simple fact is that a human beings health, particularly mental health is not a simple matter of yes/no, but a complex area with a lot of variables. That is why a huge number of charities, welfare rights groups, MPs, and others are campaigning hard about injustices in the system as it is being implemented.

Or are you one of those who thinks that anyone on benefits is a malingerer? If so, then I sincerely hope you never become seriously ill, or have to care for a loved one who does.

Olias

HB58

I know (because he told me) that my ow GP has no knowledge of the ESA rules, descriptors, worl relatedgroup or anything else. He believes that it should be sufficient for him to state that I am not fit for work and that expeting someone in that possition to carry out 'work related activities' is ridiculous. He knows that I was doing a well-paid and responsible job until very recently and that I would be doing that if I were able. He has stated that he is not prepared to waste more time writing the DWP if they do not believe what he has put on the 'fitnote' (ie, that I am unfit for work).

I am sure that I am not the only person in this situation. I do not see that it is bending the rules or putting pressure on the GP to explain the workings of ESA and how one has to meet the descriptors in order to qualify for the groups.

olias

Thanks HB58, your post is absolutely spot on!

Have just had a look at tiddlertots other posts and it seems they are somewhat of a troll, with a bee in their bonnet about people who have to claim benefits, so I wil not worry myself again over any of their comments.

Olias

HB58

olias wrote: »

Have just had a look at tiddlertots other posts and it seems they are somewhat of a troll, with a bee in their bonnet about people who have to claim benefits, so I wil not worry myself again over any of their comments.

Olias

You are quite right, I think that (for the sake of my own sanity) I will take a leaf out ofyour book and ignore their comments.

tiddlertot

olias wrote: »

Thanks HB58, your post is absolutely spot on!

Have just had a look at tiddlertots other posts and it seems they are somewhat of a troll, with a bee in their bonnet about people who have to claim benefits, so I wil not worry myself again over any of their comments.

Olias

Ah so in your world no one should criticise benefit payments?
Right, so as long as we join your train and agree that it is right to take as much as you can get out of the system you are happy?

You view others along the line that if they don't agree with you and your vision of the benefit system they are either stupid, ignorant or a troll?

I'm not a troll but a taxpayer who is not very happy that the more I seem to pay in, the more it is leaking out due to a dubious and outdated benefit system.

It seems that we are viewing the same thing from a different angle. You take it out and I pay it in to enable you to take it out. Don't you think that we both should have an equal right to an opinion instead of how you see it only?