Work capability assessment, I scored 0 points.

Iwanttobefree

To be honest, if you want to know how I honesty feel, a huge part of me wishes that when I go to bed tonight, I never ever wake up.

But of course that would mean my wife and kids are left to pick up the pieces and I would never deliberately do that.

I feel even more stressed right now.

I wrote a post on the employment section asking them if I needed to tell an employer if I'm signed off long term sick.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5791997

I kept my initial post short, but I was obviously asked for further info.

Here's part of what I wrote in post 10 of that thread.

The very long thread is here (and I appologise for the circular rants, but I suffer from severe depression and cant handle the slightest bit of stress, stress instantly exhausts me, and I wasn't thinking at all straight in the a lot of those posts)

Most of the replies have been helpful. But there's always a few.

One was

As a part time wheelchair user myself can you explain how sitting in a wheelchair for a few hours a day is any worse than sitting on a chair typing long posts on here, as for putting your health backwards, how exactly has it gone forward in the last 18 years?

You have been off work for 18 years according to your posts, have been in receipt of benefits for 18 years, your benefits have now stopped so I am afraid if you do not want to send your wife to an early grave as you have said then you need to work, simple.

If your wife has been working so many hours for 18 years, and paying the mortgage for the last 18 years as well as looking after the home, I would imagine she is exhausted, you have said you cannot do many tasks in the home so it would appear she bears the brunt of it all, yet she still says you cannot work, as do many other people you said, never mind what other people say, be positive for goodness sake and get a job.

I fractured my spine many years ago, I live on Morphine/Tramadol and they only take the edge off the pain but I deal with it, maybe you need to be a hell of a lot more positive.

I have read your many posts on differing threads, many did not agree with your posts, going round in circles and constantly telling us how many many people say you cannot work, I guess if someone tells you that long enough you believe it.

I found that to be very judgmental, and being as !!!!ed off as I currently am at the moment, on the verge of breaking point, I simply cant take posts like thqat when all I'm, doing is asking for help., not judgement.

and the followup reply to that post was just as bad

Unfortunately for him, the authorities don't agree with his family and friends as he has failed to convince them that he is not capable of any type of work at all.

The whole point of me posting in there was asking for help to get some sort of job, at the same time being honest about what I can and cant do (in fact I didn't mention most of my problems)

If people are going to behave like that, then I simply am going to withdraw from this forum as well as most real world contact.

I hope those people feel proud of themselves.

I never ever swear when I'm typing but I'm really having to control myself from writing in big huge letters "why don't you all just go away and leave me alone" but in a lot worse a way.

I was feeling a little calmer, but after reading that one persons response, I have a knot in my stomach.

Ah well, tomorrows another day.

Thanks for all your help and advice.

Leaving forum now, I simply cant take this

Bye

mycleverbunnies

Please ignore the recent horrible(pointless) replies you had to your employment question. I struggle to comprehend why some people just seem to want to kick you when you're down.
I have had me/cfs for 11 years and collapsed in 2016 after continuing to work full time.My ill health is entirely related to it.
I don't think your cfs/me is cured because I recognise a lot of your current symptoms.Mental exertion/stress exhausting you,physical exertion exhausting you. Memory loss caused by the awful brain fog.Extreme fatigue.Muscle pain & stiffness.I also have a balance problem and I think it's called 'spatial awareness' - mine is flawed making me very clumsy.I can go to pour water in a cup but miss it entirely and pour it over me! My daughter bought me a tassimo to avoid this.Following instructions..There's quite a long list of your symptoms that are common with me/cfs.I hate having it as there is no cure.I find that really hard to accept. I am positive though and just need to take life at a slower pace for as long as it takes.
Stress makes cfs/me worse so I wouldn't be surprised if your health takes a dip and your cfs/me symptoms worsen.Depression can be part of it too.You sound very low.
A long post,sorry, to tell you to please go back to your doctor and tell them how you are feeling.Since you didn't mention your cfs/me before can you reclaim with this condition or worsening of it?.I really don't think it's cured.Maybe you went through a 'better phase' instead of full recovery. It would explain as well,your inability to find the words or the mental effort to answer questions.
I was lucky in my esa assessment to have a neurologist assess me. He was very kind and dived forward to help me when I stumbled over something - probably my own feet.
I am a member of a cfs/me support group and they are great.Could you contact the me association to ask if there's any in your area?
Btw I understand what you mean.Trying to function normally at work is exhausting.Typing at home is also exhausting but you can rest when fatigue flattens you suddenly.You can't at work.
I may be completely wrong about the cfs/me so I apologise if so.
I just wish you all the best.You have a wife & family that love you because you're worth it.

Iwanttobefree

mycleverbunnies wrote: »

Please ignore the recent horrible(pointless) replies you had to your employment question. I struggle to comprehend why some people just seem to want to kick you when you're down.
I have had me/cfs for 11 years and collapsed in 2016 after continuing to work full time.My ill health is entirely related to it.
I don't think your cfs/me is cured because I recognise a lot of your current symptoms.Mental exertion/stress exhausting you,physical exertion exhausting you. Memory loss caused by the awful brain fog.Extreme fatigue.Muscle pain & stiffness.I also have a balance problem and I think it's called 'spatial awareness' - mine is flawed making me very clumsy.I can go to pour water in a cup but miss it entirely and pour it over me! My daughter bought me a tassimo to avoid this.Following instructions..There's quite a long list of your symptoms that are common with me/cfs.I hate having it as there is no cure.I find that really hard to accept. I am positive though and just need to take life at a slower pace for as long as it takes.
Stress makes cfs/me worse so I wouldn't be surprised if your health takes a dip and your cfs/me symptoms worsen.Depression can be part of it too.You sound very low.
A long post,sorry, to tell you to please go back to your doctor and tell them how you are feeling.Since you didn't mention your cfs/me before can you reclaim with this condition or worsening of it?.I really don't think it's cured.Maybe you went through a 'better phase' instead of full recovery. It would explain as well,your inability to find the words or the mental effort to answer questions.
I was lucky in my esa assessment to have a neurologist assess me. He was very kind and dived forward to help me when I stumbled over something - probably my own feet.
I am a member of a cfs/me support group and they are great.Could you contact the me association to ask if there's any in your area?
Btw I understand what you mean.Trying to function normally at work is exhausting.Typing at home is also exhausting but you can rest when fatigue flattens you suddenly.You can't at work.
I may be completely wrong about the cfs/me so I apologise if so.
I just wish you all the best.You have a wife & family that love you because you're worth it.

Yes I agree 100%

I came to realise this a while back.

What happened is, because following an operation I went from being almost totally immobile, asleep all day, puffy faced, unable to read a 1/4 of a page etc

to:

waking up not puffy faced, being able to go out and walk the dog, not having a constant heavy woozy head, I became ecstatic and said I was cured.

The realist is, well while I know you will understand, I'm not sure it will be clear to others.

If a normal person has 100% energy, before my op I had 10%, after my op I had 40% so compared to how I had been, I was convinced I was cured and on top of the moon.

I got the feeling by the questions from the doctor at my tribunal, that they simply didn't believe me.

Rather than trying to help me, she appeared to be trying to catch me out. And asked what I thought were odd non related questions.

I mentioned how tired I was (and to be honest anyone looking at me could see I was struggling to stay awake) , she said "but you said your CFS/ME was cured"

I responded "no, I said I no longer suffer from the tiredness from the CFS/ME, but the reality the tiredness is just not as bad as it was, at the time, suddenly feeling less tired I thought I was cured, however it soon became apparent this wasn't the case"

They both asked how often I go out, I took that to mean socialise, go to shops etc, not go visit the GP or do physio.

She then said "but in your notes you say you go swimming".

I responded "yes, the physio said I should try to do so, and it's the one place I can move around relatively pain free, if I could live my life in a pool it would be perfect"

She then asked "Do you go to your local pool or do you belong to a health club?"

I said "I looked at my local pool, to go swimming there two or three times a week worked out a lot more expensive than joining the health club near my house, plus the health club pool isn't very packed, plus it has a stairway down into the pool and is used by a lot of people with joint problems as part of their rehabilitation"

Well this is what I tried to say, but the judge kept butting in along the lines of "yes yes yes, lets talk about..."

Had I been given the chance I could have pointed them towards a newspaper article where when the local council pool was refurbished, the paper printed an article about me, asking why it was it was cheaper for me to go to the health club than the local pool, but it never got that far.

And then they talked about my depression. I had written them a full description of how my depression affects me, especially how I interact with others (see link to me giving a full description of my depression at end of this post).

Even though I stressed I avoid talking to people in real life at all costs, they were insistent I give recent examples of where I've lost it with people. Which of course, making sure I'm not in that situation, I could only think of one.

My wife reminded me of another this year where I lost it with another customer in Morrisons. I explained what happened, they wanted to know if I was escorted from the shop etc. I said the shop staff didn't intervene.

As I said in one of my previous posts, the judge then said "so, lets make sure we're understanding, you cant work 16 hours a week because you feel there's a slight chance you will be rude to someone".

and again, "The judge woman said "surely if you are at work, you will be concentrating just as much hence you will be fine"

And simply didn't seem to grasp what my mental health is like.

I wasn't going to do this, as I didn't want people to know everything about me, but I've reached the point of not caring.

This thread on this depression forum is mine, all of the info in posts 1, 2 and 6, 7, 8, and 9 of this thread explain my depression in full and was given to the tribunal in advance of the case (re-written, much shorter, most examples left out etc).

http://www.dealingwithdepression.co.uk/showthread.php?15176-Not-sure-what-I-am-I-argue-with-my-thoughts-a-lot

Iwanttobefree

They are still at it on the employment thread I asked for advice about employment on.

Normally I would ignore it, but am so stressed at the moment, the last thing I need is for someone that knows nothing about how my health is, to accuse me of basically lying.

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

Yet another case of 'the truth hurts'

just makes me feel like giving up on this forum altohether.

I know you tell me to ignore the trolls, but all I did was ask for advice on getting work while signed off sick, people asked follow up questions and I replied.

Getting told the truth hurts, when they have no idea of the truth, is more than annoying in my current state of mind.

Issy005

They just lie.... or make things up. I got assessed as 0 points recently. The first thing to do is to appeal.

pmlindyloo

Issy005 wrote: »

They just lie.... or make things up. I got assessed as 0 points recently. The first thing to do is to appeal.

He has appealed and the decision found 'fit for work' was upheld.

Iwanttobefree

PLEASE NOTE: If you are going to accuse me of enjoying a life on benefits or make sarcy comments about the tribunal agreeing with the DWP assessment, please DO NOT respond here, if you do I will report your post and ask for it to be deleted. I have never reported posts before, but last week I reported a thread I created asking for employment advice, and got the whole thread deleted for the simple reason a few people were telling me that I am enjoying a life on benefits (all£0 of them currently and all £5k a year when I was getting them) and I also reported a few posters in it too (and some of those posters have been active in this thread)

This is too serious a matter and too stressful for me to put up with such people, normally I wouldn't care, normally I hate people who report threads, but with the stress I'm under I simply don't need it and cannot react to it in a reasonable and level headed way. I'm not saying no one can say I'm doing things wrong, far from it, it's just those few people that think they know my health better than me, my wife and my GP

Penitent wrote: »

I know you're worn out and !!!!ed off right now. That's exactly how I felt after my FTT came back (mine was paper-based) and they'd basically just rubber-stamped the initial decision. This was set aside by the Upper Tribunal. Please do consider asking the Tribunal for their statement of reasons as you may be able to challenge it at the Upper Tribunal (e.g. if they favoured one piece of evidence over another without adequate reasons, if they chose a certain descriptor without giving adequate reasons).

Just to let you know, this is now in progress, awaiting their reasoning.

They asked me some really strange (well to me) questions in my short hearing.

For example, as part of my physio for both my spine and my back, I go swimming twice a week (well try to).

They asked me if I did this at the local pool or a health club. I told them a health club, but they shut me up and moved on and wouldn't let me explain.

If they had, I could have pointed them to a newspaper article in my local paper about a year ago, that is about my local council pool being refurbished, being run by a so called charity and bumping the prices so high, that it's far far cheaper if I wanted to go swimming twice a week, to belong to my local heath club (well it's a holiday resort)

The article is the paper interviewing me (I'm mentioned by name numerous times) , as I need to use the pool for medical reasons, and the charity claiming they help those medically in need, but basically using the council pool as a money making exercise, and how I save money by joining a private club.

That is one simple example of how I felt the hearing to be unfair, Asking me if I go to a private health club, not letting me explain, then making assumptions.

Then there was the question about my knees. When I said how the pain from my spine and knees wake me up constantly through the night, the doctor said "but the surgeon said there is no residual pain". Again I tried to explain, but they had already decided they simply didn't believe me.

The simple fact was, when I saw the surgeon and he asked me about the pain following my two new knees,

before I had the two new knees, the arthritis pain was so bad in them, I felt like I wanted to literally hack my legs off, I've never experienced pain like that. I could get through a whole large tube of deep heat in one day, it was that bad.

And that arthritis pain has gone (the constant 24/7 throbbing pain) I do get a twinge of the arthritis pain in certain weather (rain) but on a completely different scale. Hence I said to the surgeon the arthritis has totally gone, I told him I still get pains when I lie on my side that often wake me up, , but that's a different pain altogether. And he said that for some people, that goes away after a few years, for others they always have it.

And its those pains when I lie on my side that wake me up.

Asking me a question about me waking up at night, and when I say lying on my side causes me to have sharp pains through my knees like an electric shock, and they then cut across with "but your surgeon says you have no residual pain" and then not giving me the chance to fully explain (and can see by the expressions on their face what they are thinking), well if there's no legal reason to get this appeal reheard, then the system stinks.

There were two DWP observers there, my wife said when we all left, she heard one of them say to the other "how on earth is he supposed to remember what he did on a particular date a year ago"

I await the report with interest.

Iwanttobefree

Well today I've just got my letter explaining the reasons. I have family coming later so will look into if I have grounds to appeal next week.

Not impressed, they have basically accused me of lying.

The fact they are wrong doesn't actually help, because there has to be a legal reason for me to appeal, I'm thinking on them not correctly applying the evidence I supplied?

I will quote you some of it and give you some of my comments, but I'm not sure how legally this gives me reason to appeal, just showing you how a hurried appeal can lead to a complete misunderstanding:

(EDIT: I put a few blank lines in the quotes to make them easier toread instead of walls of text)

There is at page 27 a GP report. This is dated 26th July 2017 in which the GP has limited knowledge insofar as he has been the GP for "the past year".

It is confirmed that Mr X struggles with many medical problems including CFS and severe osteoarthritis.

He has been under the care of the Orthopaedic Department with the knee problem and the GP refers to lower back and problems with the legs and at the time in July 2017 had been referred to a neurologist for further investigations.

The GP describes Mr X as tired most of the time and he has a lot of problems with mobility. He is not able to "walk any long distances and even struggles to get himself to the surgery".

Page 29 is the Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon's report following a clinic appointment on 6th June 2017. The clinical notes states: "More than six months post right total knee arthroplasty. Mobilising fully weightbearing unaided without support. Knee flection from zero to 95 degrees. Check x-ray done today is satisfactory with no signs of loosening. Pleased with the outcome as he has no residual pain. No futher intervention required at this stage. He will be followed up in the Joint Review Clinic as routine"

So because my surgery merged with another and a load of GPs left, I'm getting marked down so to speak because through no fault of my own, i was assigned a new GP?

GP report 13th March 2017. Last seen at GP 19th December 2016 with reference to chronic fatigue syndrome 03-04-02 symptoms and signs, tired all the time, problems with memory, recurrent sore throats, muscle/joint pain, headaches, insomnia. ....And within the GP's knowledge a difficulty is identified with walking or moving. Does the patient have a history of threatening or violent behaviour? No.

Again they imply by saying "within the GP's knowledge" that tht GP knows nothing about me.

Almost every single time I've seem my GP (already about 6 times this year) my CFS is mentioned.

When I was under the hospital when my CFS was at it's worst, I had to complain to my MP, Health minister, local trust etc because they stopped my annual 30 min appointment due to lack of funds, it's a pointless exercise making appointments just to talk about CFS with my GP as it's been diagnosed and nothing really can be done. I've been lucky enough for it to improve.

Mr X invited the tribunal to put him in the support group

Upon inquiry Mr X has in the past failed with an application for dissability Living Allowance. He has not pursued a claim for Personal Independence Payment

Around 10 years ago or more when my CFS was so bad I was housebound for months at a time and was like a zombie most of the time I was advised ti try for DLA, not sure why that is relevant today. I didn't think I qualified for PiP until this group advised me to try.

There has been a referral to physiotherapy who remarked that Mr X was out of condition with a recommendation that he should walk and exercise and there will then be a gradual improvement.

He exampled a walk of 5 - 6 lamp posts. Such a remark is not entirely helpful insofar as there appears to be no fixed distance between lamp posts.

It is understood however that they are no greater than 120 feet approximately 40 yards between each to a maximum of 150 feet approximately 50 years (I presume they mean yards) between each.

Notwithstanding the recommendations and the indication given that there will be signs of improvement, Mr X sees no sign of improvement. However contrary to this there has been no further referrals and for example no pain clinic referral

.........

The medical report at page 29 in June 2017 stated "Pleased with the outcome as he has no residual pain". Despite such a clinical record Mr X indicates that he still has pain in the knees and this causes broken sleep at night

I was asked at my tribunal about what the surgeon said and I explained to them that I told the surgeon that I had none of the constant 24/7 rheumatism/arthritis that made me feel like cutting my leg off , but I am still getting other pains, especially when lying on either side while sleeping and it often wakes me up, and the residual pain he is talking about was the rheumatism/arthritis, and he said the other pain sometimes never goes away, other times it goes away after months/years.

Them using the words "despite" to me makes me feel like they think I'm lying

I explained to them it was an ongoing thing and my GP was trying a different medication that does something to the nerves to hopefully help with the pain, in other words it's still being investigated.

I also explained to them that the physio said to only walk a few lamp posts every day until I can do it with no pain, and that while the pain will never go away, hopefully over time, at least a year, it will get to the point where it is bearable enough for you to consider some sort of work. And if there's any problems, to comeback and see him or see the GP.

And I have gone back to the GP and she's increased my pain meds from 60g to 90g a day to see if that helps (I believe she did this just before the tribunal hence I told the tribunal this, but am not sure)

in-front of me I have some letters.

One dated 8th March 2019 with my appointment to attend a sleep clinic as they are trying to get to the bottom of me waking up in pain constantly.

One dated 23rd March confirming I'm on the waiting list for a Positive Pain Management workshop and confirming my depression scale at 18 and my anxiety scale at 13.

They are also considering whether Cognitive behavioural therapy might be useful to me due to the weird thoughts I have.

In terms of functional ability Mr X on a day to day basis has an ability to drive. He exampled driving between half an hour and one and a half hours depending upon tiredness and fatigue which are the features that limit his driving

No, implies I said something I didn't. SOME days I can drive but ONLY if my wife is with me (unless it's a 3 min journey somewhere local). They are referring to a long journey we made to see my son where I dove part of the way to give my wife a break, but as soon as I got tired, she took over.

9 times out of 10, even if we are going to the local shops and my wifes worked all day, I will say "can you drive please as I hurt to much"

note the word "hurt". I have awful back pain both lower and upper which along with my knees wake me up at night. I do have joint pains, foot pains etc and more often than not, they ache too much to drive.

he had experienced a broken arm

True but fails to mention that I happened to see the same surgeon who did my knees and when he found out what had happened, said it's impossible (knee gave way) and it was him who said I must insist my GP refers me about my back as if I don't get it sorted, it will keep happening.

He is able to go to the local supermarket,he will push a trolley around in the supermarket, he is able to go out of the house and he exercises.

He will go swimming, he would like three times a week but in fact goes about three or four times per month. He attends a local health club, he is able to access the facilities, he has easy access to the pool, he swims on his own and tends to be dropped off and picked up by his wife. He will walk his dig ten minutes most evenings

Well at least she didn't say I can pick things up from the lower shelves or carry heavy bags etc.

I go out of the house only when I have to, I try to avoid people.

My wife gets up at 5am takes two dogs out for a long walk, then comes back and takes our other dog out. So when she's worked a full day, regardless of pain, I insist on taking one of our dogs on a very short walk while she takes the other two dogs. A max of 200 yrds and I have to rest twice, and often I am feeling crippled by back pain by the time we get home.

And sometimes when I've been in the house for days I will go to the supermarket just to get a bit of exercise (again with my wife, never alone)

My physio, my dietitian, etc all said that swimming is a good exercise and as it's the ONLY exercise I can do where I'm relatively pain free, it obviously makes sense to follow their advice.

I do belong to a local health club (well a gym in a local holiday resort), and there's two reasons for that.

They seemed to have a problem about that, judging by the way they asked me about it.

1) The council gave the running of their pool over to a new company that refurbished it and massively raised the prices so that if I go twice a week, it's cheaper to pay the £35 for the place I go to.

I also have the local newspaper article before I joined my health club where after the reporter interviewed me via email, she printed my complaint about how the council pool prices were far more expensive than joining a private gym, a half page article with my name attached

2) The council pool is full of kids etc and due to my depression, i don't like interacting with others if i can avoid it. Plus it has communal changing rooms which I detest

Whereas my private gym has two pools, one for the little kids, and there's certain times a day when kids are not allowed in the main pool. I can usually time it right (when the resort is serving lunch) so that I either have the main pool to myself, or there's just 2 or 3 other people in there. In other words, I can do my swimming in peace without kids or adults getting in my way.

I get dropped off at the door to the resort (Potters in Hopton nr Lowestoft) and I can happily spend an hour or more there waiting for my wife to pick me up. When I've finished swimming, I can take a sauna, or I an sit in a comfy chair and watch bowling or whatever is going on there completely undisturbed.

Two out of the last three times I've been, once I left the pool early because the only other swimmer in there kept trying to talk to me, and the other, I'd had my swim but had time to kill before my wife arrived so went into the sauna, someone came in about 3 mins later, , started talking to me and I said "that's it, I'm cooked, see you" and left.

There are occasions when he will go out for a meal, he attended a funeral early in 2017, he attended a graduation in 2017

Not sure what to make of that, no way I'm missing my own sons uni graduation, likewise I'm not missing one of my best friends funeral.

I told them the only times apart from swimming, supermarket, walking dog I go out are:

Once a month I see a friend when my wife cuts his hair.
About 3 times a year I see another friend when wife cuts his wifes hair.
A friend comes around about twice a month but occasionally I will go round to see him (with wife, usually when she's doing his hair)
GP/Dentist etc

And on my, wifes, son, daughters birthday, sometimes we go out for a family meal.

That's it. I don't go out ever apart from those times.

The reason I don't go out is due to my depression and part of it is I currently do not interact with people very well

He describes adverse behaviour when he is stressed because he is tired and when he lacks concentration he can on such occasions swear, he can then calm down.

He is considered by the Tribunal generally in control of his behaviour insofar as he has an awareness and although he will snap, he is apologetic.

There have been no incidents with his GP, there was an incident when crossing the road, there has been incidents with dogs jumping up, there was an incident in the supermarket when he had chosen some reduced priced items and another customer went for the same goods and a remark was made "don't be a greedy git"

I included about 6 pages in my conclusion about how my depression affects me and why it is I avoid people. They seem to take it that because the incidents are only 3, it's not that serious but the only reason it's only 3 is because I avoid people all I can.

I think I linked to my depression post on another forum in an earlier post so wont repeat it, but I did say that if i'm concentrating on keeping my calm, such as at my GP, at this tribunal, that I will be able to remain calm . The judge said words along the lines "surely when your at work you would also be concentrating just as much" I tried to explain but didn't get anywhere.

Regarding the three examples in the report, they don't really give the picture I told them.

One of my dogs totally without warning jumped up at a woman walking past who had a thin dress on and his claws obviously hurt her. I was more than apologetic, kept saying how sorry I am etc, but she kept saying he's a dangerous animal and needs muzzling. I said I accept it's my fault, but whether he was muzzled or not wouldn't have made any difference.

After about the 15th time of her telling me he needs to be muzzled, I snapped and told her where to go in a very loud way, the sort of uncouth way that your likely to see a youtube clip of a chavvy type arguing with their neighbours. And the police became involved due to it although no further action was taken.

I was 1/4 of the way across a zebra crossing near my house and a car went over the other side without stopping, I shouted at the top of my voice along the lines of "your supposed to stop at the crossing you stupid f-ing c" and everyone in the vicinity had stopped to stare at me.

And finally a few weeks before the tribunal I had gone shopping with my wife. There is one particular women who is in there every single time I go, has a large trolley filled to the brim with every reduced item going (items reduced for quick sale), she barges past people, grabs what she wants, the staff call her the flower lady as every day she has all the reduced flowers etc.

The baker was reducing two identical cakes, she stood right next to him one side, I stood right next to him the other.He placed the two cakes down, she went to grab then both but I grabbed one and our eyes met for a split second.

She said to me in a very stern voice "Don't you look at me like that"

I responded very loudly "if your going to be such a selfish greedy git, I'll look at you any way I want to"

She repeated "don't look at me like that "

I said "well don't be such a greedy pig then, others also are short of cash and would like some of the reduced stuff" and i walked off.

Oddly, 3 other customers came up to me at separate times(which I hated) and shook my hand etc and said they were glad someone had finally said something to her, but I didn't tell the tribunal that bit.


(note I made some of the following quote bold, wasn't like this in the letter)

In addressing the areas put to the tribunal; mobilising, initiating and completing personal actions, coping with social engagements, appropriate behaviour and regulations 29 qnd 35 - the Tribunal accepting the back problem, the knee replacements and the CFS is satisfied as a mater of fact that his walking ability is not restricted to such an extent that there can be an award of points under activity 1, and clearly not to the extent as claimed by Mr X that he cannot mobilise more than 50 meters.

He was observed to have a normal gait, he walks on a daily basis ten minutes, he accesses the swimming baths at least once a week on average but not necessarily every week, he accesses supermarket with the use of a trolley as a walking aid. He engages, he attends social events , he attended a university graduation.

He is able to go out for a meal. He can act spontaneously. He may have the effects of tiredness and fatigue but he is able to initiate activity. His concentration can be diminished and this can lead to him reacting adversely by unexpected events. However he had awareness and he is in control.

The tribunal is not persuaded that he cannot mobilise 50 meters, He clearly walks in excess of 200 meters.

He is able to initiate and complete personal actions. He is able to engage socially and he has an awareness and an ability to behave appropriately.........

The Tribunal is supported in this conclusion by the GP evidence (p.27) and whilst it is accepted that Mr X has CFS and severe osteoarthritis and his back and legs are affected, there have been no ongoing neurological investigations.

The referral back to the GP and physio recommendations were to exercise and although the Tribunal accept tiredness, the GP is non specific in terms of the mobility problems and states that he is "not able to walk any long distances and struggles to get himself to the surgery".

On the contrary, he accesses swimming baths, he accesses supermarkets, he dog walks on a daily basis. The Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon reported a positive finding from the past surgery with Mr X being mobilisiing fully weight bearing unaided without support, no signs of loosening, no residual pain and no intervention.

The Tribunal addressed regulations 29 and 35 and there was no evidence to indicate that Mr X would be a substantial risk to himself or others if he was found capable of work or work related activity.

There could be consideration as to the effect upon Mr X mental health. However there was no input in this regard. There is no psychological referrals, there was no specialist support and the indication throughout is that with the ability to gradually build up activity, stamina and tolerance, his capabilities would improve and albeit not to the full expectation of Mr X having improved to such an extent that he is no longer entitled to Employment and Support Allowance

Well that ended up most of the refusal letter.

To be honest, what was the point of me going, they've ignored every single thing I said, what they say in the last quoted section, in my opinion some of it is libelous.

Ah well, it's nice to be really depressed for Easter. we currently have minus £100 for all our bills without paying our creditors anything, last week my wife who is never ill, was in bed for 3 days with blood pressure reading of 200/115, I wonder why.

Aah well. It's her birthday this weekend, so we are going out to dinner again as I'm so good with my social engagements.

poppy12345

Not applying the evidence correctly is not an error in law.

BorisThomson

I only got so far and had to give up. There's certainly no problem with your cognitive function!

The tribunal are not saying that they do not believe you, but rather that the evidence from your consultant contradicts what you say and what you have told your GP. On the basis of the evidence presented to them, their conclusion would appear reasonable.