ESA - Consultant Psychiatrist evidence Ignored

Next week I attend an ESA assessment.

I first received Incapacity Benefit & then was placed on ESA (SG) all since 2002. I have attended assessment before on a number of occasion and then had two tribunals in this time.

I have comprehensive evidence from a Forensic Consultant Psychiatrist who states that such an action “would be counterproductive and very likely to cause an exacerbation of her psychiatric condition”.

This call to assessment has caused me considerable distress and has exacerbated my illness. I have asked that the decision maker reviews the call to face to face interview, but this has been declined.

Do those who are now assessing read reports before they start interviews?
Do they always ignore the medical evidence given by professionals?

I am in a great deal of pain and feeling extremely anxious about this process.
How should I be feeling in the light of Medical Evidence being Ignored?

Hi and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I'm sorry that you are going through this

The assessor will make a recommendation from your ESA50 form and accompanying evidence if they believe they have enough information to do so. If there is anything they want to explore further they will schedule a face2face appointment. This is entirely at their discretion and your claim cannot progress until they are satisfied they have the information they need.

Of course, you and I might think that they should contact your medic and ask for information but the fact is that they don't often do this

To add insult to injury, the first appointment is usually sent out by computer with no reference to your ESA50!

Would an assessment in your own home be more manageable for you? If so, get your doctor to send a letter to Maximus asking for this on the grounds that you are seldom able to leave your home due to your medical condition/s. This sometimes does the trick.

You can reschedule the appointment once without penalty, so bear this in mind as it could buy you some extra time while you are trying to arrange something else.

You could also try phoning Maximus and asking what extra evidence/information they would need in order to make a recommendation without seeing you. Although I must warn you that members have not had a lot of success with this

The other thing I suggest is to get your MP involved. At the very least, it will not hurt for him/her to know how claimants are really being treated.

Contacting your MP

May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your ESA without having to start a new topic each time. We ask members to keep everything relating to the same claim in one topic as it makes it much easier for us - and I hope you will find it useful too

Thank you for your reply.
I was unable to attend a first appointment as both my DAG representative and (84 year old) mother mother were unable to attend with me on the first date. I was not aware that you could ask for the assessment to take place in your own home. Is this the contact information for Maximus that I need?
www.maximusuk.co.uk/about-us/contact-us
Would they respond to an email do you think as I find telephone conversations stressful and do not converse easily on the telephone?
Thanks
Helen

Hello Mrs Hurtyback
I forgot to add previously that the medical evidence from the Dr was received by the DWP after the original assessment interview date was sent and before the re-arranged date.
This was extra supportive evidence from the Psychiatrist and I asked the decision maker to take this into consideration. Following their receipt I was sent the new date (especially in time for my birthday!)