Does the personal advisor at esa work focussed interview have your medical details?

needmorehelp

Hi there,

If I am placed in wrag for esa I am aware that I will have to go to work focussed interviews, though likewise they could knock me off ESA altogether with the support group having a slim chance of being placed in.

To be honest I don't mind discussing in broad outline terms the details of my disabilities including mental problems (which I did in detail with the doctor at the WCA) and just wondering is the personal advisor given full access to that report from my WCA maybe including my ESA50?

I do realise that like everyone else I will have to jump through the hoops, but at the same time I don't want to discuss in detail all the details of my mental health problems with someone who is not medically trained. Do I have any choice in this or how much of my medical problems do I have to disclose to them, if they haven't already got that information?

Thank you

rogerblack

They do not.
They do not have any special training in most disabilities.

You need to understand what they can do.

They can choose to refer you to work related activity, up to and including full-time unpaid work placement in some cases.

You need to help them understand what your limitations are, and agree with them any reasonable steps that might make you able to get work in the future.

needmorehelp

Thank you Roger,

So in effect what you are saying is, they will have no information whatsoever as regards my ESA50 or WCA medical report, and it is up to me to disclose or not all my medical problems to them.

If I don't disclose some mental health problem (which I feel embarrassed about talking to them) they may well set some work related activity for me to do which possibly I couldn't, but this would be my fault due to not wanting to tell them.

The crux of the matter is, I don't mind talking about physical problems (to an advisor who could well know me in a small town) but don't want to go into too much detail about mental health, unless of course they might have all that info anyways from esa50 and wca report.

Thank you for reply Roger

rogerblack

needmorehelp wrote: »

If I don't disclose some mental health problem (which I feel embarrassed about talking to them) they may well set some work related activity for me to do which possibly I couldn't, but this would be my fault due to not wanting to tell them.

Pretty much.
As a very general point.
DO NOT assume everyone has read all your documentation, even if it has been supplied to them.

If you possibly can, raise serious problems.

If you find you know the advisor, then request that you see someone else as you are unwilling to disclose personal information to someone you know.

TELLIT01

The advisor at the WFI will probably have access to the ESA system and will therefore be able to see what your medical condition is. They will not generally have access to the full medical report.

needmorehelp

Thanks for replies everybody.

Generally speaking do people find the WFI ok and overall manage to get through them, even for a person who would be quite nervous at meeting people?

Thanks

Confuseddot

needmorehelp wrote: »

Thanks for replies everybody.

Generally speaking do people find the WFI ok and overall manage to get through them, even for a person who would be quite nervous at meeting people?

Thanks

My advisor is great and despite my reservations he has been nothing but supportive and never pushed me to do anything. He has suggested a few volunteer opportunities and things like that but no hassle and great guy.

rogerblack

Speaking personally, all the WFIs I have been involved in have been conducted by staff who did all they could - but simply had no reasonable thing to suggest for me.

I note that to be eligible for the support group, you do not have to be unable to complete the tasks in question for personal care.

It is at least arguable very strongly from the legislation that in order to be not qualify for the support group, you have to be at least not negligibly likely to be able to be assigned work-related-activity that has a not trivial chance of improving your ability to keep, or obtain work.

That is - you do not have to be unable to move 50m several times a day.
You have to be unable due to your health condition to be able to be found activity that is likely to help you keep or obtain work, with that activity requiring you to move 50m several times during the day.

And activity has to be at least plausible for _all_ the descriptors.

I note this is not a position the DWP are likely to agree with, but seems inarguable from the legislation as I see it.

needmorehelp

Thanks once again. Just one last question, if through extreme nervousness if a person in the wrag found it too distressing to their mental health to go to any future work focussed interviews (having tried it) I suppose a note to that effect from their GP would be of no use whatsoever.


You simply would not be excused for that reason.
Once again thanks for all the helpful advice.

rogerblack

needmorehelp wrote: »

Thanks once again. Just one last question, if through extreme nervousness if a person in the wrag found it too distressing to their mental health to go to any future work focussed interviews (having tried it) I suppose a note to that effect from their GP would be of no use whatsoever.

They can conduct WFI over the phone, in principle.
If you can't conduct WFI, that would raise questions on if you might meet:
'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. '

Always here does not quite mean always - but 'on the vast majority of occasions'

System

I had a WFI before i was laced in the support group and she wasn;t aware of my health problems (well...she was in a way due the fact she found me having a panic attack and meltdown in the waiting area ), she was however very nice to me and took me to a private room, she explained at that point that there were possibly courses to help with my mental well being and that we should focus on that before we looked into anything else. I onyl had that one appointment though as was placed in the support group not long after.

My advice would be, as hard as is it, try and be honest about you mental health and try and convey what limitations it might have on you, they can only try and help if they have a fuller picture. I know its not an easy thing to talk about, but please don;t feel ashamed or anything, MH problems affect 1 in 4 of us at some point in our lives and talking about it is a positive step.

In regards to finding it too distressing, there is a support group desciptor that takes into account that if a person (or others) would be at risk in undertaking work or work related activities that may mean they have a limited capability to work (sorry not sure of exact wording), this was the reason i was placed in the support group, do you feel this applies to you?