Medical Evidence /Reports For PIP Application/s :Time Frame?

Mandy53

Hi, i just wondered if anyone can advise regarding medical evidence /reports for PIP applications and if the DWP will not and do not look at nor consider medical reports from doctors,etc which are more than 5 years old? Reason i ask, is i just had a face to face carried out by an Atos " nurse" who made Nurse Radchet look like Florence Nightingale.She was here for 2 and a half hours and demanded my employed carer sat throughout the entire face to face to answer her questions . During the face to face, i presented old medical reports from doctors and a district nurse which were for when i applied for DLA and ESA some from 2011.I didn,t include these with my PIP application as thought the DWP would already have theses reports and consider them as part of my PIP application . The nurse refused to look at them and take them with her saying firstly that the DWP do not accept nor look at nor consider any medical evidence /reports which are more than 5 years old? On checking the PIP information booklet it does not say anything about this " 5 year rule" only that supporting medical evidence doesn,t need to be recent.?
I told her that i thought these reports should be considered as it shows how my health has exacerbated over the years and they provide supporting medical evidence from different doctors and my old district nurse. She contradicted herself by then saying that they/Atos and DWP already have these reports.I also had more recent reports which i hadn,t included with my application as obtained them later and she claimed that she,Atos and DWP had these too and refused to take them with her. I know for certain they don,t have these as i checked with the consultant who provided them and he has not heard from anyone at Atos or DWP nor has my GP. I was diagnosed with another "unusual" lung infection the day before after submitting 2 sputum samples some weeks ago for testing and was told by my GP the day before the Face To Face that i have Mycobacterium Avium in my lung which was initially suspected to be TB. He has contacted a specialist and i,m waiting to hear about treatment.
I told my GP about the Face to Face and he understood that the illness is causing me to become very exhausted and breathless on exertion. He wrote a short letter to give to the Atos nurse explaining my most recent diagnosis, lung specialist input and said he would appreciate if she took this into account and believed it reflected my pulmonary reserve. I presented his letter to her at the beginning which she dismissed saying she might look at it after the assessment. When she eventually did look at it she just smirked. I will be lodging a complaint with Atos as there were many issues with this nurse during the assessment.

BorisThomson

Older evidence can be presented, but it will only affect the award if it is relevant to your current condition. A letter stating you have no arms dated 2011 would still be relevant, a letter from 2011 describing a condition that may improve would not be relevant.

w06

As Boris says, old evidence for a permanent unchangeable condition is accepted - my audiograms were. But evidence from 5 years ago for something that changes, especially where there is newer evidence too, understandably isn't valued as evidence.

You may find that you letter about mycobacterium avium will result in any award being very short - because it's a treatable infection and so the assessor will rightly expect that your limitations are likely to change over the next few months.

poppy12345

Never assume the DWP have any past evidence, always send it yourself. It's very rare for them to contact any medical professional about your conditions, it has been known but it's still very rare. Always send the evidence with your form, just incase the assessment provider doesn't accept it on the day, which is what happened to you. There's nothing you can do about it now as it's too late send it in. My advice would be to keep hold of it incase it's needed for the Mandatory Reconsideration.

A diagnosis makes no difference to a PIP claim because it's not about that. It's how those condtions affect you daily.

You can ring DWP and ask for a copy of the assessment report. Once they recieve both copies they'll send one out to you. This will give you some idea what the decision will be as mostly they go with that report, it's rare if they go against it. Good luck.

Prinzessilein

Older evidence can certainly be submitted...I believe one of my reports was 10 years or so old.

The assessor referenced this in their report....using it as the basis for awarding me points for certain activities....and they also pointed out each time that the report is very old, but refers to an ongoing condition, so is still deemed valid.

The reports for physical conditions were accepted...those that referred to mental health issues were completely ignored....but this pretty much reflects the whole assessment process - it is MUCH easier to get the necessary points for physical conditions.

I would always recommend sending in all reports at the initial stage,...rather send one too many than one too few...they need all the proof you can muster!

TOBRUK

poppy12345 wrote: »

Never assume the DWP have any past evidence, always send it yourself. .... My advice would be to keep hold of it incase it's needed for the Mandatory Reconsideration.

A diagnosis makes no difference to a PIP claim because it's not about that. It's how those condtions affect you daily.

Mandy53, I agree with what poppy12345 and Prinzessilein has said :

I would always recommend sending in all reports at the initial stage,...rather send one too many than one too few...they need all the proof you can muster!

Mandy53, I am sorry that you have had a distressing time with your face to face assessment. However, any application you make has to include everything you have regarding evidence etc, otherwise they do not necessarily look at it. In my recent PIP application I also included evidence which was 5-6 years old and this was accepted. I think if it is relevant, they will look at it - but you must send it in with your application.

Even if you have sent previous applications to the DWP, never assume they have that information at hand, or if they will look for it. I had a face to face assessment for ESA just 3 months before receiving my PIP forms. I stated this on my PIP form in the 'other information', as they are different departments.

I remember years ago when I had to go to a tribunal and at that time I had added problems which were post application that they had received - they pointed out that these would not be looked at as they could only look at the information given on the date when the application was made. Fortunately for me I was successful at that tribunal.

ATOS is no longer, it is 'CAPITA' now that they use. It is a distressing time I know. Whatever the outcome for you, I would keep your evidence and add your further changes in circumstances (if applicable to changes in your condition/difficulties) later.

antrobus

TOBRUK wrote: »

ATOS is no longer, it is 'CAPITA' now that they use.

I thought it depended on where you lived.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pip-postcode-map-uk

poppy12345

TOBRUK wrote: »

ATOS is no longer, it is 'CAPITA' now that they use.

That's incorrect. ATOS is now called Independant assessment services. It depends where in the country you live. My daughter had a home assessment with these almost 2 weeks ago.

Mandy53

Older evidence can be presented, but it will only affect the award if it is relevant to your current condition. A letter stating you have no arms dated 2011 would still be relevant, a letter from 2011 describing a condition that may improve would not be relevant.


Yes, the older evidence is relevant to my current conditions and it is noted in the reports that it is expected my conditions /things would remain that way for the foreseeable.

Mandy53

That's incorrect. ATOS is now called Independant assessment services. It depends where in the country you live. My daughter had a home assessment with these almost 2 weeks ago.

Hi Poppy,
That is very interesting as the assessors name badge had Atos on it in orange letters ? I note that the appointment letter,etc states Independent Assessment Services so just wonder if it is actually still Atos just going under a new name ?

Mandy53

As Boris says, old evidence for a permanent unchangeable condition is accepted - my audiograms were. But evidence from 5 years ago for something that changes, especially where there is newer evidence too, understandably isn't valued as evidence.

You may find that you letter about mycobacterium avium will result in any award being very short - because it's a treatable infection and so the assessor will rightly expect that your limitations are likely to change over the next few months.

I applied for PIP for the other chronic health conditions i have for which i have carers and a paid P.A via SDS and this before i was diagnosed with MAC. I have other lung conditions which have exacerbated over the years (Bronchieatatis, Persistent Eosonophilla, Asthma, Previous Aspergillosis ,P.E. and also have a chronic spinal condition and joints ,history of blood clots, recurring chest infections and urinary problems .I do understand that the MAC is treatable and involves long term treatment and it should clear up however the damage is already done to my lung from the previous condition and on going conditions and is non reversible (as stated in a letter from my respiratory consultant). My spirometry readings show an 8 % decrease in my lung function since 2015 before i contracted MAC.