Saturday 19 February 2011

Did you hear the one about....Cheats?

Disabled person goes into an "assessment"

Assessor says : "How are you?"

Disabled person replies "Fine."

Disabled person fails assessment.

*********

Cheat goes into an "assessment."

Assessor says "How are you?"

Cheat says, "Well, I can't walk at all, I have terrible pain all the time, my head dropped off, I'm depressed, reclusive and have leprosy."

Cheat passes assessment.


See the problem?

53 comments:

  1. "Dear Sir/Madam, have you recovered from your chronic, permanent, ongoing and lifelong illness or disability?"

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  2. The man at the CAB told me a story about a blind man at tribunal for DLA who'd been passed 'fit for work'. The tribunal started and the claimant's spokesman walked into the room leaving him (as pre arranged) standing in the doorway.

    "Come and sit down Mr X" Said the chairman.
    "I'm sorry sir, I can't see to find my way to the seat" said Mr X
    "Mr X has been signed 'fit for work' Mr Chairman as he is able to walk around his house without help" said the spokesman. "Come and sit down next to me here Mr X."
    "I'm sorry sir, I can't see to find my way to the seat" Said Mr X again.
    "The problem Mr Chairman is that my client was never asked how he manages to get around at home, which is entirely by memory and with the help of handholds. This doesn't mean he can suddenly see."
    "The tribunal finds in favour of the client" said the chairman.

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  3. Come on everyone, do you have a farcical "assessment" story? Do add it here, we could put together a nice story....

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  4. The two claimants, both from West Dunbartonshire, died from the conditions which caused them to claim Incapacity Benefit (IB) while waiting for appeals to be heard against cuts to their benefits.

    One was deemed fit for work during a work capability assessment, despite having a deteriorating chronic illness, and lost both incapacity benefit and disability living allowance.

    When his support worker appeared at the appeal tribunal she had to report her client could not be there because he was dead. The appeal was upheld and the backpayment will become part of his estate.

    Bet that caused a laugh....

    The other had a congenital condition which caused difficulty in walking but was assessed capable of work and his incapacity benefit was withdrawn. He was waiting for a date for an appeal tribunal when he died.

    The assessment was inadequate and very unprofessional. The doctor simply did not have the information
    A third person, again from West Dunbartonshire, died recently after winning a second appeal tribunal following three years of repeated assessments and decisions being overturned.

    He worked as a shop assistant in his 20s but was forced to give up due to severe heart and lung problems caused by a degenerative syndrome.

    I was told the last person went for his medical lost, appealed won, a few days later he was told to go back for another medical, was told he was fit, appealed won, a few days later was told to go back for a medical.

    Now that has to show the Scottish medical profession and ATos have a great sense of humour.

    I do not feel in a very funny mood this morning.

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  5. Did you notice they are stopping DLA after these medicals even when you can work with DLA.

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  6. A friend of mine went for a DLA medical some years back. She was (rightfully) turned down for DLA as her physical condition doesn't disable her enough to receive DLA but the reason the tribunal gave for turning her down was the somewhat bizarre 'hair too curly' issue so widely seen in disability cheats.

    My friend has, like myself, hair that is naturally curled into ringlets. The tribunal spent quite some time grilling her about what she did to her hair to make it look like that, and refused to believe it was a bit of serum, leave it to do it's own thing hairstyle so they refused her DLA claim on the basis she must spend hours curling her hair.

    BG Xx

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  7. Sheesh. Keep em coming guys - will you help me ask people on Twitter and Facebook - I think this could get quite interesting

    BG - curly hair?? Really??

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  8. Really. Friend has proper corkscrew curls...like mine only shorter. Panel clearly did not have life experience of naturally curly hair ;) BG Xx

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  9. I can't say I know much about IB or DLA assessments, apart from to say it seems to be a strange system which seems to make things tough for genuine claimants whilst never really dealing with the problem of fraud.

    I hate to say something like this, but I do know someone who is claiming higher rate DLA, has a blue badge and has, outwardly at least, no mobility problems and seems comfortable walking over very long distances and using public transport. Certainly in my experience of carrying out yellow badge assessments they would'n even come close to being registerable under the 1948 NA act.

    I do wonder what they're putting on their claim form. I used to hear that it was about using certain 'keywords'

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    Replies
    1. Snap I know a few people that get everything handed to them on a plate and never worked a day in heir life nor do they ever intend to work,I have to work doctors hours to live a comfortable life and my taxes pay for these lowlifes benefits so they can live stress free

      Delete
  10. I could give you the reason why my own DLA claim was turned down at the original appeal tribunal. This is the truth so help me all I hold holy.

    My appeal was turned down (partly) because I worse a dress with a lot of buttons down the front. So I was obviously shamming if I could do up all those buttons. This was actually given as part of the written reasons for refusal. I was never asked how I put that dress on; it was assumed that I did the buttons up. I sit on the floor beside my bed to twitch that dress over my head without touching the buttons. It's my 'having a bad day' dress.

    The decision of that tribunal was appealed and overturned as unlawful and the tribunal reheard.
    I turned up to the next tribunal in sweatpants and a tshirt just in case, and yes I did get my DLA back.

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  11. Neil80
    I get really irritated by the layperson (ie without medical training)who questions a person's entitlement if they appear to be walking normally.
    Let me ask you this: would you know that I wear a very high tech brace on one leg under my combats and very cool biker boots?
    How can you identify that I take ELEVEN different tablets just to regulate my heart and prevent angina?

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  12. I knew the assessments were bad but if they don't even ask people how they get dressed how can they make any kind of judgement about your life.

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  13. These are true, person efused benefit because they answered their mobile phone, and benefit awarded to a person illegally working as a lorry driver. Given that the latter claimed benefit DWP

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  14. Odd. Since having a stroke, I've never worried over assessments - they're a drag, but I could see the point. I was young for a stroke and recovered better than many. Despite being ruled permanently unfit for work, I struggled back to part-time work (with a VERY sympathetic employer) Now for the first time I wonder whether my steps towards normality are going to work against me! It really does sound as if 'they' are seeking any reason to reject.

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  15. Dona. It concerns me too that the persistence/dogged determination/sheer bloodymindedness (!) that is common to so many of us with impairments will count against us.

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  16. My aunt was assessed as fit for work a few weeks before she died of terminal cancer - reason being that she was well enough to attend the assessment. (She was stubborn like that)

    I was assessed as fit for work when trying to claim ESA a year or so ago. It went somewhat like this:

    Assessor: Can you put your arms behind your back?

    Me: Yes *does so and dislocates a shoulder, then promptly reduces it*

    Assessor: Can you lift your arms above your head?

    Me: Yes *does so and pops the same shoulder out, then reduces it again*

    It continues in this vein, but basically I could do everything the assessor asked, hurting myself in the process. By the end of it I was in tears from pain and was barely able to walk out of the room, but because I could do everything he asked me in that 20 minute period, I was fit for work , despite being so broken afterwards I could barely get home and had to get a taxi as I couldn't walk to the bus stop.

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  17. I went to an assessment with an autistic young man who had had his IB stopped without notice (worst thing you can do to someone autistic, give them no warning). They then made him wait for nearly 2 hours so that he was nicely agitated and stressed by the time we went in.

    Assessor says: "are you at college now?"
    Young man: "No". Assessor ticks box.
    Me: "Er excuse me, if I may?" Turn to young man: "WHY aren't you at college?"
    Young man: "It's the school holidays".
    Assessor looks at him, looks at me, hastily scrubs off tick and ticks another one.

    The whole thing went on like that... If he had been on his own, the young man would have been passed as fit and what not, simply because the questions are just not geared towards people like him, who will answer things literally as they're asked... :-(

    I'm happy to report his IB WAS reinstated, but I could cry when I think of the number of people like him who don't have someone like me to go with them and set the assessor on the right tracks. :-(

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  18. My assessment was rejected the first time because they didn't see my Schizophrenia as a big problem problem, funny that because I don't actually have (or have ever had) Schizophrenia in actual fact I have Bi-Polar Disorder :/

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    Replies
    1. Did you get dla in the end for your bipolar plz??? My fiance has got level 2 bipolar and was turned down for dla. Should he appeal as he is always falling asleep no physical energy either.

      Delete
  19. COPIED FROM STEPHEN WORRALL, FACEBOOK "This is a letter I received during a HIV support meeting I was taking last week! The guy was very upset over how his friend was treated during the final months of his life!
    I was asked to attend a tribunal with a friend last September as I had been nominated to do such work!
    I contacted the said Tribunal to tell them i am unable to do so since the friend / Client was now in a Hospice!
    Then this question "When Can he Attend?" My Answer he can't he's not going to survive he's in a hospice!
    His money was stopped there and then!
    We could not tell him as it would only make his final months worse than they should be!
    Luckily for us we supported him from our network of friends until we had the appeal sorted or so we thought!!
    Another phone call to the office to see how his claim was going and they asked who is paying his rent and bills!! I said I was then I get a letter for 2 weeks over payment they assumed I was his partner!
    He died before it was sorted so we sent a letter back with a £5.00 note covered in blood!
    The next week for some weird reason they backed down!!

    I had a very similar experience with a friend of mine at the same time last year before his Death in the winter! I asked this guy in the meeting if it was the same person he said no!!
    Chilling to think this is normal !!"

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  20. COPIED FROM HAZEL WAKEFIELD, FACEBOOK
    "On applying for a Blue badge for my son who has a dual diagnosis of Down Syndrome and autism i was asked "is that a life long condition
    On applying for for Mobility...He wears built up shoes, uses a chair, can only walk a very short distance before packing up due to three holes in his heart. Paediatrician wrote on DLA form "fully mobile", withot ever seeing him!
    He has no speech at all...On an assesment at DWP and on the question of communication the interviewer said he could communicate because, at that time, he could do about twenty makaton signs. As a reply i stated "fine, do some makaton signs with him then"

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  21. You know how sometimes something is funny a few years later even though it was horrific at the time? This isn't one of those...

    I went for an IB assessment and had requested a female doctor in advance. On the day, she had phoned in sick and the replacement told me if I refused to be seen by the male doctor, my benefits would be stopped.

    I was claiming for both physical and mental health problems, the latter brought about being raped twice in a year. When the doctor began assesing my stomach for IBD (after we used a Polish English dictionary to explain what a gallbladder was), he announced he couldn't find anything wrong with my stomach and (although I was panicking and trying not to cry) he said if I'd allowed a man to touch me, I couldn't have been raped and therefore didn't have any of the mental health issues I mentioned. My benefits were stopped.

    I was so distressed by the assessment that back in the waiting room, the receptionist insisted I couldn't travel home alone on public transport (I'm severely agoraphobic and had no one to come with me) and insisted calling me a cab from Croydon to Brixton, handing me cash to pay for it. She also wrote my address down for the driver because I was sobbing and hypervenilating too hard to be able to speak. She also requested a female driver.

    I appealed and my benefits were reinstated. It still rates as one of the most traumatic experiences of my life and took weeks to recover from.

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  22. My OH's assessor actually lies on her assessment of my boyfriend.

    She asked him to get onto the bed for a test and left the room. He struggled to get on it as he had a very bad back at the time. She said on his assessment that he got on the bed with ease... HOW DOES SHE KNOW? Good job I was a witness eh?

    He apparently had no marks on his body, chest or back... he was COVERED in Psoriasis from head to foot!

    The worst of it was he was very sick but as yet undiagnosed but really couldn't take two steps before coughing up his lungs and having to sit down. He was passed fit for work a week after he was rushed into A&E at 5am with respiratory failure but apparently he was still fit for work!

    He also suffers from depression but on the assessment form he was fine... why? because he was dressed and his hair was nicely kept. Yeah... because I helped him and why is nice hair and clothes a diagnosis of anyone? I'm sure Jeffrey Dharma wore smart clothes eh?

    When a representitive went to the tribunal for us because my OH was at home connected to an oxygen tank, the assessors looked at the assessment of him being fit for work and the doctors statements etc and said "How ON EARTH was this man passed fit for work? We're overturning the ruling in his favour, please give this poor man our regards and tell him to get better soon".

    We went 10 months on reduced benefits while we waited for an appeal... was stress my OH didn't need while so ill (he almost died for gods sake) and it made me mentally ill.

    We're still in debt because of it and almost two years later my OH STILL isn't well but I'm sure next time he gets assessed it will all start over again!

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  23. I went to my medical dressed only in a clingfilm loincloth.
    'I can clearly see you're nuts,' croaked the assessor
    :o)

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  24. Teehee a real joke and everything Colin

    Just a well, cos the mood REALLY needed lightening around here. Harrowing stories.

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  25. We laugh in order that we do not cry
    :o)

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  26. I was sent for one of those assessments i took my friend with me, quite lucky too as the questions he was asking well the way the were phrased i couldnt understand, he was constanly using words i have never heard, medical jargon, i have r&rms, have had it for 11 years, one of the questions he asked, who told you that you have ms and wot tests did they do, only for the fact that i had kept the letter from my neuro and had copied it, handed it over to the assessors who said, oh we`ll take this into consideration!!! WTF, a letter they sent me asking wot my problem was that i was unable to work, i explained what living with ms is like and if they didnt believe me, told them to GOOGLE it. Few days later i was told i had won my appeal, and apoligised for ne inconvience caused !!!

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  27. Mad Witch
    >The man at the CAB told me a story about a blind >man at tribunal for DLA who'd been passed 'fit >for work'.

    Better to stick to factual cases as it doesn't do anyone any good. DLA is a benefit that is paid whether you are in work or not and that includes those who get maximum for mobility and care. Many people who get DLA also work. I was paid DLA while working part time.

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  28. @ Mark.

    I'm not medically trained, but worked for a social services physical disability team for five years.

    I'm well aware that appearances can be deceptive and that many conditions and issues are not obvious to the untrained eye.

    The person in question is someone I know fairly well, they certainly have no issues with ADL's, PADL's and if you can walk up a steep hill to a bus stop, get on a bus and carry bags around town then you possibly don't need the mobility component of DLA, a motability car, or a blue badge.

    I understand that the urge is to criticise people for pointing out fraud does take place. Personally I beleive that with a benefit like DLA only a small number of people do it and like with unemployment benefit the government is over-playing it to score political points with the Daily Mail brigade.

    Equally however, I feel there is a risk of cliaming that a problem, particularly with blue badges does not exist.

    Sadly, it is a question of perception, if the average voter perceives fraud to be widespread then their support for benefits and services evaporates and they become vulnerable to government cuts. That's how democracy operates.

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  29. And it is reading things like this that make me know I am doomed when I see atos. They dont give a rats ass about me or anyone they will just say I am fine as they cannot see the mess this has done to me, fatigue they cannot see, pain they cannot see. And I am scared stiff about the future of ESA and of this PIP thing. I live in fear

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  30. Oh dear, I REALLY don't want anyone to feel they're doomed - this post got linked somewhere today and 50 people read it in a MINUTE!! They ARE beginning to hear us. Doomed with ATOS? Probably, doomed generally? NOT if I can help it.

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  31. Neil80
    Whilst it is always interesting to debate both sides of an issue (something I do constantly with friends and relatives in private), my concern is that unless one argues robustly in public, the Daily Heil reader will pick up on the "shades of grey".
    We are under attack by the Conservative led coalition. From the outset they have used the media to question entitlement and genuineness by instituting the association between benefits and "scroungers".
    Peoples' independence and health are at stake. Look at how scared DLA claimants are becoming. We must do everything we can to help people stay positive.

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  32. Mark, agreed it is an old trick of the Tories and the Tory press to demonise anyone in receipt of state support as it then makes it easier to do away with it.

    I have seen the kind of emotive headlines and imagery, thanks to their reproduction in another blog, which highlighted just how insiduous the whole thing is.

    I thought hard about my first post as I didn't want to add another anecdote to that stinking pile of propaganda but, I feel that there needs to be some kind of recognition that issues are there with dishonest claims and a debate which is realistic about protecting on one hand claimants rights and dignity and on the other hand the integrity of the system.

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  33. Everything I get is linked to my DLA, if ATOS decide in their infinite wisdom I am fine (yeah right) then I lose DLA - Then I have to go on ESA and then kind ole ATOS will say I am suddenly cured from an incurable disease and as I wont be able to hold down a job I will then lose all benefits, lose my home, lose everything
    Doomed - YES!

    If ATOS were fair it would be one thing but for them to get extra handouts for junking more people thats just gross. I am too tired to fight ths stress of this even knowing about it has made me feel more and more ill. I know by the time PIP is in and I am dumped for no good reason (I am ill - I am not a scrounger If they will give me a cure I would happily go back to teaching fitness and body health! - In a heartbeat)

    All I want is to be able to live out the now tiny life I have in relative peace, I wish I wasnt sick more than they do!

    I know this govt wants me to give in and just cdease to exist. They said before the vote that they woudl care for the sick and the weak and the old etc - They lied! I will never ever waste my vote again.

    Im sorry but doomed is the only word I have

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  34. I'm waiting to hear about my appeal.....have been advised that tribunal's unlikely to be before July :( Had a tribunal a couple of years ago where I felt very vulnerable and overwhelmed and upset at the way I was being questioned. I didn't win my appeal :( The clerk told me to write and ask for explanation and basically it said "We prefer the version of the doctor[atos]to yours." I went to CAB for advice about going to higher tribunal but they just told me to wait 6 months and make a new claim. With the help of Benefits and Work website, I feel a little more prepared. I also have appointment at a different CAB this week and hope they may be able to help but not holding my breath.

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  35. I am part way through reading and as my eyes do play around with words from time to time I read harassments instead of assessments, I think it is a more fitting name for them.

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  36. Neil80, please bear in mind that some conditions fluctuate. I have MS. Last week I could do a 6 mile walk with the dog relatively happily. Today I struggle to walk 10 yards. I have no idea what the next week will bring. What you see is not always what somebody is like all the time.

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  37. history repeats itself , the Nazis victimised and ultimately did away with many disabled people ( read your history folks it can teach us much )

    we are just an expensive nuisance to society , we clutter up the streets with wheelchairs and mobility scooters - cost the taxpayer money ( funny every one seems to forget the disabled pay taxes too ) - fill doctors surgeries when there are "sick" people that need to be seen

    in all once you become disabled you are regarded as little better than " untermensch " - never mind that one may have worked without claiming a penny since leaving school at 15 until 47 - served ones community as a part time fire fighter ( and payed tax on that too at higher rate ) for 22+ years and was once regarded as a "useful" member of society - but now i have regressed to the status of "benefit scrounger "

    that it should come to this - guess its my fault for having a stroke - bet they will find me fit for work when my turn for "interrogation" comes round by the ATOS gestapo

    and you can bet all us "disenters" are being added to a list some where

    now if the above does not prove i am paranoid /dilusional ........... LOL

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  38. organisedpauper;

    That case I quote was a factual case as repeated to me by the CAB man who was my spokesperson in my own DLA tribunal. I only gave the facts as I was told them.

    If you get benefits that would allow you to work with assistance as blind or partially sighted and you are declared by assessment not eligable for those benefits, then those benefits cease. Without the passport benefits that higher rate mobility and care open up a blind person would be unable to work anyway, unless in a very high paying job that had already been adapted to their particular needs.

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  39. Neil80: the problem is, you can't actually tell if someone's disabled by looking. Yes there IS fraud out there, but there are also people like me. When I first became disabled (nerve damage similar to MS) I was EVICTED by my landlady because she thought I was 'putting it on' in order to qualify for benefits. "Judge, not..." as the good book puts it.

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  40. I do say that you can't tell by looking, I'm fully aware of this by doing 5 years of assessments on people with virtually every possible condition.

    I'm also not saying there's large scale fraud out there. There isn't its a case of a government trying to look tough to the avearge voter....

    and this is my point... the average voter whatever you call them, whether its Worcester woman or Mondeo man, they hold the power.

    Look at the issue with selling off the forests. If it looks like enough average voters will be riled, then the politician backs down.

    What I am really getting at is that the average voter perceives there to be an issue with fraud. That this impression is in large part helped along by the right wing press doesn't matter, the fact is the perception is there.

    Countering this perception requires an acceptance that there is an issue with fraud, and that there need to be steps taken to stop it, but as I said in a way which preserves the rights and dignity of claimants. In other words a third way between flat denial and over-exaggeration.

    Denying there is an issue plays into the oppositions hands as for most people they feel there to be an issue so will simply disbeleive this account and favour the ones issued by the press and politicians.

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  41. Neil80
    You really don't get it do you!
    Do you think we can win this battle by accepting any part of the right wing's attempts to smear disabled people with the "scrounger" tag.
    This isn't any academic essay where both sides are duly considered before making a waffly conclusion, it's a fight for survival. I intend to win and attempts at "reasonableness" (based on the lowest level of fraud for any benefit)play into the hands of the opposition.

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  42. I'm gonna wade in too!
    I'm afraid I think Neil80 is quite brave to keep hammering away at this.
    If the system fails those truly in need, then the same failures make it easier for cheats!
    A system run by experts would ensure that those in genuine need got support, but those who cheat would have a much much harder task.
    If we oppose these reforms, we need alternatives and a system where Consultants or other health specialists made the decisions using evidence and expert testimonials, the endless mistakes and ignorance we hear about would decrease (I imagine enormously) Similarly, without x-rays or CTs or MRIs or surgical records or blood results or psychological treatment notes, cheats would find a claim much, much harder.
    What's more, there would be little need for "assessments" as the consultant or other expert would see the patient themselves and know whether the patient was fit to work or not. A whole agony taken out of the equation at a stroke.
    There would need to be a support system for those not yet diagnosed, but if we want to end the easy label of "scrounger" or "skiver" then it's in OUR interests to make sure the system is as transparent and targeted as possible.

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  43. I've just found out I have to go for a second medical assessment as (according to the gentleman on the phone) all applicants need to be reassessed every 3 to 6 months. As I have MS and fibromyalgia, both of which fluctuate wildly, I am fairly certain I will fail. I'm guessing the fact I passed last time may be a reason why I'm being reassessed.

    I'm tired and angry and barely coping with my diagnosis without all this crap hanging over my head.

    It's bullying, pure and simple

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  44. @Neil80: The problem is that you're reinforcing the public's opinion that disability can be assessed at a glance, and it can't. Much of disability is invisible and counterintuitive, and often extremely variable. I can go from walking normally, to feeling like someone is hammering a stiletto into my pelvis between one step and the next. It doesn't matter if I can walk away from my car, what matters is how certain I am of being able to walk back, and the answer is not very certain at all. You can't judge disability from how someone walks, both my mother and I, with very different mobility problems, find it far more comfortable to walk faster than slower, because momentum then works for us. Nor are heart problems, lung problems, fatigue or pain-based disabilities, or an array of developmental issues diagnosable at a glance, not even by a trained professional. You may be seeing that person on their one good day in a week or a month.

    I have far more experience of disability than most and absolutely refuse to 'diagnose' anyone else's eligibility for benefits or whatever because the one thing that experience has taught me is that the only people competent to make that judgement are the disabled person themselves and their own doctors.

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  45. I went to my first WCA, suffered in agony on the non-adjustable chair for 10 minutes, and was called through into the doctors office, only to find the seating was worse.

    Me: I told you I needed an adjustable chair to make it through the assessment.
    Him: You'll need to make another appointment. We've told regional office we need better chairs, they told us to make do with what we have.

    That visit triggered a flair-up so bad I didn't even know what day it was, ATOS sent me a revised appointment in the middle of that. When I didn't attend it (as I was too sick to know about it) they simply told DWP I didn't attend, no mention of their failure to provide reasonable adjustment.

    2nd WCA: I was met at a door with an adjustable chair, I suspect DWP had had a word. Unfortunately the chair was equally useless, I couldn't raise it high enough to be of use, and at 5' 9" that's worrying. Spent 45 minutes in agony in waiting room, despite having timed my arrival to be spot on.

    Insisted on giving doctor full answers to his questions, he wasn't happy, and criticized me for having researched the WCA.

    Described the way I walked, was criticized for that.

    Eventually I ended up hanging onto the back of the chair because if I sat for a moment longer I was going to throw up. The doctor then tried to move onto the physical examination, most of which I refused to do because of the likely effects, but it did lead to this little gem:

    Him: Bend your knee, please.
    Me: I can't. When I'm in this much pain it locks in the extended position.
    Him: Hmmph! Well if you won't bend it then how can I test your reflexes!

    First time I've ever had a doctor criticize me for daring to be disabled.

    Ironically I walked into his office on two legs and crutches, and out weight-bearing only on one, precisely the progression he had criticized me for describing earlier.

    Surprisingly I passed.

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  46. @Monique:
    "(according to the gentleman on the phone) all applicants need to be reassessed every 3 to 6 months."

    Rubbish! Though there do seem to be a lot of people being harassed that way.

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  47. Just out of interest guys. What are your thoughts on getting violent with benefit assessors. A lot of my friends seem to think it won't help me. But personally I can't see that there's any other approach that would make me feel ok about the assessment. __ I've had 10 years of going in and out of hospital. Sectioned under the mental health act 5 times. I've finally given up. Accept I have a disability. And don't stop taking my medication. If someone was going to come to me having been to hell and back several times and just say nar yeah whatever. I can't see any other appropriate reprise.

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  48. Just had my tribunal decision through......

    original decision: mobility component - nil (stating i can walk 50 metres in a reasonable manner)
    care component - nil (apparently i have no difficulty safely getting in and out of bed,bath or shower and i can wash and dry myself)

    tribunal decision: mobility: virtually unable to walk - higher rate
    care: requires attention significant portion of the day - lowest rate

    **heres the kicker though.......the tribunal cannot enforce this decision! wtf!**

    **and another one......2 days ago i get a letter telling me my ESA is being stopped as i'm supposedly fit for work......what with being virtually unable to walk and all...**

    andrew

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  49. on my pip i was told i could walk more then 20 yard as they watched me on the way out am in a wheel chair

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    ReplyDelete