Who can 'back up' a DLA application?

gorgeous_gwen

I have a friend who wants to apply for Disability Living Allowance as she is suffering with depression and is having difficulty looking after her children. Luckily (or not so luckily) I have experience of depression myself so I know a lot about how the condition can affect someone on a day-to-day basis, and have been reading about how to fill in the forms, who to ask for help etc.

What we're not sure about is the part where you can fill in someone's details if any further information is required. My friend has a referral pending for mental health services (her GP provisionally mentioned a psychiatrist or a Community Psychiatric Nurse but as the referral is pending she hasn't actually seen a specialist yet) but we've been reading about how it's best if you can get someone 'professional' and specialised, ie the higher up the better.

She saw her Health Visitor the other day, how would the HV be as someone of suitable standing to put down the details of? We don't want to wait too long as I gather applications can take a while to be processed but would it be better to wait until she's seen someone 'specialised' or not? Obviously this could mean she might lose out on some money if she waits but it might give her a better chance of getting something in the first place.

dmg24

Hi g_g,

I would put down whoever knows the patient and their condition best. For instance, if she has a GP who is supportive and sees her often, and a CPN or psychiatrist who has only seen her once and for a short period, I would put down the GP.

A Health Visitor has suitable standing, indeed you can even put down a lay person in this section.

I would put it down to personal feeling - who your friend thinks would best accurately represent her condition and needs.

Good luck x

TangledMemories_2

Hi,
We recently got accepted for DLA for my OH's condition after being refused first time round.
On the form where it asks for comments from someone who knows you and your disability, I wrote the comments.
Also, to support the application, I enclosed scanned copies of all GP letters confirming his condition, consent forms from the hospital for every medial treatment he received etc.
We put in our GP's name and address and the hospital specialist.
What you can do in regards to your friend's claim is, on page 5 where it asks about treatment, put in that you're awaiting a referral for mental health services.

Good luck

gorgeous_gwen

Thank you dmg24 and TangledMemories, that is all very useful.

My friend has seen her GP quite a lot over the last year and he has been extremely supportive of her, so my gut feeling is that he would be the best person to put down. Obviously she knows her HV from just after her first child was born (nearly five years ago) and she said the other day that they get on really well, but I also *think* she mentioned that prior to seeing her HV the other day, she hadn't actually spoken to her properly since the baby (or not so much a baby anymore bless!) had the 7 month check.

So am thinking the GP would be the best person to put down.

Also the idea of putting in supporting information is good, I didn't know you could do that. I'm not sure what sort of stuff she has that she could get her hands on but I'll pass this on and have a think. Obviously she'll have a referral letter floating about somewhere so would that be any good?

Thanks again xxx

dmg24

It is likely that the GP has written a detailed letter to the Community Mental Health Team about your friend's condition. It would certainly do no harm in sending a copy of this letter. However the DLA Team will probably write to the GP anyway, so it should not cause a problem if you could not get a copy of the letter at the moment, as I imagine the DLA report he submits will be much the same x

TangledMemories_2

It may be worth taking a copy of the referral letter. That way you know that they've been given a copy of it

[Deleted User]

its also worth saying that your friend should make sure the GP knows an application has gone in and that he/she is fully aware of their care needs etc