Medical records on CD

zaksmum

Just received my medical records to send as evidence for my PIP claim. They are on a CD.

I've asked for my records from several different hospitals and don't know which one this is. They are sending a password separately - without this I can't play the CD.

I have heard the DWP will not accept medical records sent in this format - is this right?

I was first awarded DLA in 1986 after a serious road accident and this is a DLA-PIP transfer. Will my medical records, Xrays etc still be in existence from that date? And if so, would DWP accept them or is it too long ago?

Thanks

calcotti

Swamping the DWP with medical records, in whatever format, is not necessarily helpful. The award of PIP is not about what health conditions you have had diagnosed but about how your health affects you.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/your-supporting-evidence/

poppy12345

They will need to be paper copies. I also agree that sending piles of evidence isn't needed, less is very often more.

Flugelhorn

sounds like you might need to print them out and send in the relevant ones.

they may well be all of the GPs record, likely to have hospital letters attached

zaksmum

Thanks calcotti and poppy. I will email the hospitals and ask for paper copies

Flugelhorn

zaksmum wrote: »

Thanks calcotti and poppy. I will email the hospitals and ask for paper copies

they may well decline as you have them on CD - to send paper as time consuming + cost.

TELLIT01

Flugelhorn wrote: »

they may well decline as you have them on CD - to send paper as time consuming + cost.

I agree with that. If you have requested your medical history it could run to 100's of pages, most of which will not be relevant to your claim anyway.

calcotti

Unfortunately I think you need to go through the CD, decide what information is helpful to you and then print it off yourself.

Much of it is likely to be repetitive, later letters will often include a summary of your previous history anyway. The letters that are most helpful are any that highlight how your health affects you - unfortunately medical letters are often light on this.

poppy12345

zaksmum wrote: »

I will email the hospitals and ask for paper copies

There could possibly be a charge for this. It's free to receive digital copies only.

pollyanna_26

I agree with calcotti and poppy. You will be assessed on your current health conditions and how they affect you now.
We actually have paper copies of my dds full medical history from birth. She has been with the same surgery from birth so they tracked and printed everything. That was to track the medical notes from MH services when she was 13 to challenge a wrong diagnosis .


You will notice from the notes with the form they say they do not want a GPs letter sending. I ignored that and our Gp sent a Doctors report detailing her diagnoses, medications, treatments and how her conditions impacted on her day to day life. We received the Decision Makers report last week and she said she made her decision based on the medical evidence from her gp and other health services. She went against the assessors pretty dire report and dd got enhanced daily living and mobility once again.


I would get a report from your gp. Attach that to the form along with any recent letters about your conditions from consultants , clinics and others including mental health if relevant and ot and other departments such as physio etc.


I always send the back pages of her most recent monthly meds stapled together and pinned to the form. She has 15 on monthly repeat and they are shown on the tear off sheet. As she's immune supressed our Dr often needs to add extras to fight infection and these are added to the tear off sheets.


If you haven't already take a look at the descriptors for PIP. I'm afraid I've no idea how to post a link but there are helpful people on this forum who can . Look through the descriptors and consider how they relate to your life. What you can or can't do, what the effects of your illness are on day to day life. Sometimes things become a normal when they're coping mechanisms which may impact on your wellbeing.


Keep things to the point and make sure there's a good description of your difficulties. You need to consider if you can do things safely, reliably and repeatedly when working through the descriptors.
Good luck
polly


ETA A list of all diagnosis typed and stapled to the form also helps. Remember to print a copy of the completed form and any attachments before sending the form away in case it;s needed.
Other may not agree but I send it back next day signed for . I'm aware it has a way to go until it reaches the destination but to see it's with Royal Mail on the online checker does help with peace of mind.

poppy12345

Not sure if it's been posted in a previous thread by the OP but this link has great information about the PIP descriptors, what they mean and the criteria. Well worth taking a read. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria


Definitely advise you to go through those medical records.