Personal Independence Payment Question Re When No Face to Face Should Be Required

Mandy53

I don,t understand why they do not appoint a doctor as an assessor especially as you say, nurses alone have no experience or knowledge of specific illnesses ,especially rare conditions and what you describe re your visit to out of hours shows a lack of basic understanding of a condition. I don,t think that the DWP are even reading applications and supporting medical evidence properly before appointing an assessor so wonder what the point is in sending medical reports,etc to support PIP applications. Do the independent assessors have the PIP form and all the medical reports,etc before they assess someone?
I also don,t understand why being "relaxed" is even appropriate in assessing the effects on mobility and day to day living problems and obviously side effects of drugs are not even considered. It is my understanding that DWP are meant to check certain medical conditions with a doctor before making their decision and obviously they are not doing this either. They are advised to check NHS choices? for most health conditions which is just a basic explanation of a condition and effects it can have.
I,ve had nurses write that i have Aspergers when i,ve been admitted to hospital which is not the same as Aspergillosis and would expect that they would at least be experienced enough to know the signs of a learning disability such as Aspergers and not confuse it with something completely different. My neighbour,s son suffers from mental health problems and when he went to the assessment centre the assessor noted that he was" clean and tidy" and made good eye contact? He was refused PIP after already being awarded DLA and it is only due to his mum prompting and encouraging him to wash,etc that he is "clean and tidy":did they expect him to be dirty and unkept?.The medications he takes give him some confidence and without his medications he wouldn,t have any confidence at all.

Mandy53

Hi Ames,i did ask for the venue to be changed to somewhere closer but they said that the one they appointed is the closest they have to me and i live in a rural area and they themselves, on checking the medical reports and my application (i think anyway?) ,decided on a home visit.I did ask that they contact my GP or respiratory consultant to confirm a home visit.
I contacted DWP on the advice of my social worker to ask for a review of my DLA to apply for the middle rate of DLA but they said that i had to apply for PIP as DLA had changed to PIP? so it wasn,t a transition by DWP from DLA to PIP. I didn,t know initially that PIP replaces DLA.

GlasweJen

The whole system is a joke.

poppy12345

Mandy53 wrote: »

I don,t understand why they do not appoint a doctor as an assessor especially as you say, nurses alone have no experience or knowledge of specific illnesses ,especially rare conditions and what you describe re your visit to out of hours shows a lack of basic understanding of a condition. I don,t think that the DWP are even reading applications and supporting medical evidence properly before appointing an assessor so wonder what the point is in sending medical reports,etc to support PIP applications. Do the independent assessors have the PIP form and all the medical reports,etc before they assess someone?
I also don,t understand why being "relaxed" is even appropriate in assessing the effects on mobility and day to day living problems and obviously side effects of drugs are not even considered. It is my understanding that DWP are meant to check certain medical conditions with a doctor before making their decision and obviously they are not doing this either. They are advised to check NHS choices? for most health conditions which is just a basic explanation of a condition and effects it can have.
I,ve had nurses write that i have Aspergers when i,ve been admitted to hospital which is not the same as Aspergillosis and would expect that they would at least be experienced enough to know the signs of a learning disability such as Aspergers and not confuse it with something completely different. My neighbour,s son suffers from mental health problems and when he went to the assessment centre the assessor noted that he was" clean and tidy" and made good eye contact? He was refused PIP after already being awarded DLA and it is only due to his mum prompting and encouraging him to wash,etc that he is "clean and tidy":did they expect him to be dirty and unkept?.The medications he takes give him some confidence and without his medications he wouldn,t have any confidence at all.

I'm not sure what gave you that idea but it's not true, that's not what they do. PIP isn't about a diagnosis or the condition/s that a person has. It's HOW those conditions affect you daily and you'll never get 2 people the same. What affects 1 person may not affect another in the same way.

I totally agree that PIP is flawed in many ways but it is what it is and there's nothing we can do about it.

DLA and PIP are 2 completely different benefits and you can't really compare them.

You may need a supporting letter from your GP for a home visit stating the reasons why it's needed. They often refuse without this and i highly doubt that they would contact a GP for reasons theirself.

w06

As Poppy says diagnoses and underlying causes are almost irrelevant in PIP assessment. Their only relevance is in corroborating that the picture painted is likely genuine. It's the end result, the impact on everyday life, that the PIP assessment is supposed to assess. It's not perfect but it's the yard stick used to assess us all

Mandy53

Re the points outlined relating to DWP checking medical conditions and when to seek advice from a doctor, ,i found this but unfortunately cannot post the link to show you as it says i,m not allowed to on here? : A-Z of Medical Conditions
 In April 2012 the DWP replaced the previous 'Disability Living Allowance Handbook' with guidance to
help correlate conditions relating to a disability.
 The guide provides signposting to the specific NHS Choices and other DWP webpages for more detail
about a condition.
To view a condition, simply type the word into the “Find” or “Search”.
Source:
Reviewed: 25 Feb 2013 (E&D Officer)
I,m not sure if the A-Z conditions to be checked also relate to PIP as they did for DLA and AA but note it was reviewed in 2013? I do understand that a condition can affect people differently and that DLA is not the same as PIP so the guidelines may not be applicable for PIP. I just thought that DWP can make a decision in certain cases if they want to based on all the information that is presented to them and it coincides with everything said on the PIP form. Example being when a doctor or consultant states in their report that a patient cannot walk any more than 10-20 yards on the flat with an aid and a condition limits their day to day living tasks and that coincides with what is said on the form then such would enable DWP to make a decision type thing ?

poppy12345

Mandy53 wrote: »

Re the points outlined relating to DWP checking medical conditions and when to seek advice from a doctor, ,i found this but unfortunately cannot post the link to show you as it says i,m not allowed to on here? : A-Z of Medical Conditions
 In April 2012 the DWP replaced the previous 'Disability Living Allowance Handbook' with guidance to
help correlate conditions relating to a disability.
 The guide provides signposting to the specific NHS Choices and other DWP webpages for more detail
about a condition.
To view a condition, simply type the word into the “Find” or “Search”.
Source:
Reviewed: 25 Feb 2013 (E&D Officer)
I,m not sure if the A-Z conditions to be checked also relate to PIP as they did for DLA and AA but note it was reviewed in 2013? I do understand that a condition can affect people differently and that DLA is not the same as PIP so the guidelines may not be applicable for PIP. I just thought that DWP can make a decision in certain cases if they want to based on all the information that is presented to them and it coincides with everything said on the PIP form. Example being when a doctor or consultant states in their report that a patient cannot walk any more than 10-20 yards on the flat with an aid and a condition limits their day to day living tasks and that coincides with what is said on the form then such would enable DWP to make a decision type thing ?

That guide does not relate to PIP as it's for DLA and AA and they're completely different benefits.

It's very rare to have a paper based decision but it can happen. Most people have an assessment, even for a review.

cantcope

Mandy53 wrote: »

Re the points outlined relating to DWP checking medical conditions and when to seek advice from a doctor, ,i found this but unfortunately cannot post the link to show you as it says i,m not allowed to on here? : A-Z of Medical Conditions
 In April 2012 the DWP replaced the previous 'Disability Living Allowance Handbook' with guidance to
help correlate conditions relating to a disability.
 The guide provides signposting to the specific NHS Choices and other DWP webpages for more detail
about a condition.
To view a condition, simply type the word into the “Find” or “Search”.
Source:
Reviewed: 25 Feb 2013 (E&D Officer)
I,m not sure if the A-Z conditions to be checked also relate to PIP as they did for DLA and AA but note it was reviewed in 2013? I do understand that a condition can affect people differently and that DLA is not the same as PIP so the guidelines may not be applicable for PIP. I just thought that DWP can make a decision in certain cases if they want to based on all the information that is presented to them and it coincides with everything said on the PIP form. Example being when a doctor or consultant states in their report that a patient cannot walk any more than 10-20 yards on the flat with an aid and a condition limits their day to day living tasks and that coincides with what is said on the form then such would enable DWP to make a decision type thing ?

If only... then i wouldnt have to be appealing mine and waiting for a hearing date (its been 15 weeks so far!).
DWP decided they know my capabilities better than my MS nurse who had written a report. I was assessed by a paramedic. it sucks but nothing we can do about it. i now have reports from my neuro and gp that i've sent in too.
DWP did not contact ANYONE to ask about my capabilities