Esa Issues

Stubpb

Hi all wonder if someone or people can help me.
In 2010 I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy in my hands, arms and legs. I worked full time 50hrs a week from leaving school in 1996 till 2012 when I started finding it painful to do so. So I went on sick with my employer for 8 months to see if things improved sadly they got worse and I left my job. Since 2012 my symptoms have changed and got worse I drop things. I fall over randomly with no warning. My pain levels hit 10 about 2 or 3 times a week. Anyway in 2012 I was awarded ESA and put into the support group with no questions. I just want to add since 2016 I've been on morphine patches thats had the dosage upped two times since I went on them. In 2016 because of this I went for pips and was told no for both parts. In July 2018 I was awarded higher rate for daily living but not enough points for mobility (that was fine to me a bonus getting it) in December 2018 I was called for a medical for ESA bear in mind I've been in support group since 2012 and have morphine in patch format increased twice and low and behold last week I got a letter saying I was being put in the work related activities group. I contacted DWP straight away and the fact my symptoms have worsened and the morphine has been increased twice was not enough to stay in support group. I don't cook myself need help to do it. I have a walking stick I use sometimes. I'm on 19 pills a day with 11 of them pain killers but I'm shocked I've been removed. I've asked for it to be looked at again and DWP have sent the report out to me to add anything I think has been missed. Can anyone advise me because I am in no fit state to work and feel I'm fighting a battle I'm not going to win. I'm genuinely ill with no chance of improvement just getting worse and feel upset by the fact they are asking me to basically prove that I'm actually ill despite the fact that they applyed for all my medical records which says it's a debilitating condition that will get worse. Thank you in advance.

poppy12345

Do you know the reasons why you were placed into the Support Group previously? This will help you write the MR request letter because you can base your reasons for being placed into the group on that. See descriptors here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors


If it's mobilising then they will take into consideration your ability to use a self propel wheel chair.


Being placed into the WRAG doesn't mean you're fit for work, the DWP has decided that your disability or health condition does limit your ability to work right now, but that there are things you can do to improve this.


You’re not expected to look for work, but you can be asked to go to a work-focused interview and then do work-related activities. These activities are things that the DWP thinks will improve your chances of working in the future.


You have 28 days from the date of the decision to request the MR.

Stubpb

The only thing that has technically changed is that I had a health scare at the time where when I had blood taken it came back showing I had contracted (Hep A) but a few weeks later it was found to be a false result and I didn't have it.

Pill wise 6 new tablets have been added.
The morphine patch has been added that started at 5mg a day and is now 10mg a day.
Between now and the end of April I've genuinely got 14 hospital appointments for the neuropathy and I live in Blackpool 13 of the appointments are in Manchester as its a specialist type of neuropathy and 1 appointment is in Oxford.
When I told them at the review last week the health official said she did not care about the pills or morphine or the ongoing treatment in Manchester or Oxford because if I'm capable of getting to Manchester or Oxford I'm capable of doing work. I said to her a friend takes the day off work to come with me has been on this journey since day 1 and is hear today. She just said it can't be taken into account because I can get into the car can travel to Manchester or Oxford therefore I'm well enough to work. The health care I need to keep at a healthy pace is quite specialised and 90% can be done in Manchester the other 10% only two hospitals in the UK can offer it and that's London or Oxford. I also asked her if I got moved to the work group would my appointments be taken into consideration for time off as for Oxford and London I go the day before the appointment and she said I'll probably be sanctioned because I'll be away more than there. Even my consultant in Manchester wrote a letter to dwp and me the same letter advising it would be highly detrimental to my health and could speed up the neuropathy process.

poppy12345

You need to satisfy at least one of the Support Group descriptors the majority of the time or reg 35 here. http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/making-exception


As previously advised, it would be useful to know the reasons why you were previously placed into the Support Group. It doesn't matter how much medication you take, or how many appointments you have.

dreamylittledream

poppy12345 wrote: »

Do you know the reasons why you were placed into the Support Group previously? This will help you write the MR request letter because you can base your reasons for being placed into the group on that. See descriptors here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors


If it's mobilising then they will take into consideration your ability to use a self propel wheel chair.


Being placed into the WRAG doesn't mean you're fit for work, the DWP has decided that your disability or health condition does limit your ability to work right now, but that there are things you can do to improve this.


You’re not expected to look for work, but you can be asked to go to a work-focused interview and then do work-related activities. These activities are things that the DWP thinks will improve your chances of working in the future.


You have 28 days from the date of the decision to request the MR.

Its a calendar month from date of decision rather than 28 days

And practically its actually 13 months as on a practical basis later MR requests are almost always accepted within the absolute time limit providing reasons for lateness are provided.

From the OP's description of their symptoms I'd suspect that they were awarded one of the upper limb descriptors at Schedule 3 previously rather than mobilising but requesting the decision making history and previous reports from the DWP would answer that.

dreamylittledream

poppy12345 wrote: »

You need to satisfy at least one of the Support Group descriptors the majority of the time or reg 35 here. http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/making-exception


As previously advised, it would be useful to know the reasons why you were previously placed into the Support Group. It doesn't matter how much medication you take, or how many appointments you have.

Just in reply to that last point for the purposes of Reg 35 it really can matter what medication you take - some one who is continually dosed up on a very high level of opiate pain kilers could well be at risk in engaging in work related activity which would invoke Reg 35

poppy12345

dreamylittledream wrote: »

Its a calendar month from date of decision rather than 28 days

And practically its actually 13 months as on a practical basis later MR requests are almost always accepted within the absolute time limit providing reasons for lateness are provided.

From the OP's description of their symptoms I'd suspect that they were awarded one of the upper limb descriptors at Schedule 3 previously rather than mobilising but requesting the decision making history and previous reports from the DWP would answer that.

Indeed you do have 13 months in which to request the MR. However, why would you want to leave it this long because the longer you leave it the longer the OP will be without money, unless they claim UC.

poppy12345

dreamylittledream wrote: »

Just in reply to that last point for the purposes of Reg 35 it really can matter what medication you take - some one who is continually dosed up on a very high level of opiate pain kilers could well be at risk in engaging in work related activity which would invoke Reg 35

I disagree, based on a carton of liquid.... 4. Picking up and moving or transferring by the use of the upper body and arms (excluding standing, sitting, bending or kneeling and all other activities specified in this Schedule).
Cannot pick up and move a 0.5 litre carton full of liquid.



As the OP falls over randomly then mobilising could possibly be the descriptor that would best suit them. Of course self propelling a wheelchair would be included with this.

dreamylittledream

poppy12345 wrote: »

I disagree, based on a carton of liquid.... 4. Picking up and moving or transferring by the use of the upper body and arms (excluding standing, sitting, bending or kneeling and all other activities specified in this Schedule).
Cannot pick up and move a 0.5 litre carton full of liquid.



As the OP falls over randomly then mobilising could possibly be the descriptor that would best suit them. Of course self propelling a wheelchair would be included with this.

Sorry you lost me there - you were suggesting that it doesn't matter what level of medication a person takes and I was disagreeing.

How does that link to activity 4?

Mobilising considers a persons ability to reliably and repeatedly mobilise a distance - occasional random falls are probably not going to significantly impact this for the majority of the time which is what the Schedule 3 descriptors consider.

Anyway we know relatively little about the OP's condition, I was mainly extrapolating from the fact that they emphasised the neuropathy in their hands and the fact that no mobility component of PIP had been awarded...

dreamylittledream

poppy12345 wrote: »

Indeed you do have 13 months in which to request the MR. However, why would you want to leave it this long because the longer you leave it the longer the OP will be without money, unless they claim UC.

I wasn't disputing this.

Just pointing out that the time limit is not as tight as you were suggesting

poppy12345

dreamylittledream wrote: »

I wasn't disputing this.

Just pointing out that the time limit is not as tight as you were suggesting

You seem quick enough pointing out my comments. Yet you never did return to answer where you got your stats from on another thread. Which were clearly incorrect.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75508517#Comment_75508517


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75513266#Comment_75513266