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ESA Letter From Consultant

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7 years 1 week ago #183670 by Siege H
ESA Letter From Consultant was created by Siege H
A bit of background and one quick question.
My sister, a single mum with 2 children, has epilepsy and has had brain surgery to minimise the chances of her dying from SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death from EPilepsy) which according to her consultant was a big risk.
She hasn't worked (she was a teacher) due to worsening of her epilepsy while she was pregnant in 2000. Her seizure activity is very obviously stress related. I do all her admin and my parents bought her house outright after she divorced and my father maintains the house. We try to keep her life as stress free as possible.
Since the operation, during which her entire right hippocampus and much of her right temporal lobe were removed, she has seen a decrease in frequency and depth of seizure but has developed significant mental impairments. Her executive function is virtually nonexistent, she cannot plan, organise or complete tasks. She cannot navigate. She cannot recognise / distinguish faces. She is depressed and has very bad anxiety.
Last time she was assessed, she was placed in the WRAG, we appealed and she was placed in the Support Group. We did not even have to enter the court room, the panel members read our appeal and, in what I was told was an unusual occurrence and to lessen any further stress on my sister, granted our appeal and suggested that she not be reassessed for at least 2 years.
In June she received an ESA50 and I filled it in and attached an annex listing any further information that I thought was needed. I chased for a response regularly but we have only recently received instructions about a medical next week.
The strain on my sister has been horrendous and I have seen an increase in her seizure activity.
I have recently obtained a letter from her consultant neuropsychologist which states she is not fit to work right now, I sent this letter in in November.
So (finally) my question is how much weight will they put on the consultant's letter, would this count as exceptional circumstances and should she be subjected to a medical anyhow?

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7 years 1 week ago #183719 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA Letter From Consultant
S

Welcome to the forum.

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The major problem that your sister faces is that the ESA activity the epilepsy comes under does not have a Support Group equivalent so to be placed in the SG she will either need to meet one of the other Descriptors that does potentially lead to an SG award or the Substantial Risk Regulations.

In regard the latter, unfortunately the letter from her Consultant Neuropsychologist will not be sufficient as it refers to work, this equates to the WRAG. The requirement for the SG is that she would be at risk from Work Related Activity, the EA Claim guides explain this in more detail.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: Siege H

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7 years 1 week ago #183814 by Siege H
Replied by Siege H on topic ESA Letter From Consultant
Thanks for your quick response. Siege is my nickname, no one uses my given name anymore.
I believe I could get my sister's neuro-psycologist to reword the letter, though probably not before the medical. I'm sure she will agree that work related activities would be too onerous also.
Thanks for your help.

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7 years 1 week ago #183816 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA Letter From Consultant

Siege Hudson wrote: Thanks for your quick response. Siege is my nickname, no one uses my given name anymore.
I believe I could get my sister's neuro-psycologist to reword the letter, though probably not before the medical. I'm sure she will agree that work related activities would be too onerous also.
Thanks for your help.


If that is his medical opinion then she may struggle to stay in the SG.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: Siege H

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6 years 11 months ago #186631 by Siege H
Replied by Siege H on topic ESA Medical and award letter
Gordon, my sister had her ESA medical at the Warrington Assessment Centre, Tanners Court, Tanners Lane on 9 Mar 2017. Firstly, for your information, I will describe the facilities. The pedestrian entrance is off Elwood St. There is NO parking, for those undergoing an assessment, in the large car park outside the centre. I suspect parking is a bone of contention for all the companies at the centre, the spaces are tiny, not wide and are all numbered, they seem to be constantly patrolled. Just outside the gate, there is parking(on Elwood St) but with an hour limit. There is a public car park just across the street from the centre, adjacent to the hand car wash on the corner of the B5120 / Elwood St. I would advise everyone to park there (using the entrance on Elwood St.) judging from our visit, appointments run late to v. late. Our appointment was for 1300hrs; they were still seeing people from morning appointments when we arrived. The Assessment Centre is on the right hand side of the courtyard just as you come into the assessment centre car park. There are cameras that view the ramp up to the assessment centre doorway and further cameras inside the waiting room (there is a single disabled loo off the waiting room) - I have no doubt that you would be constantly monitored, though I saw no cameras in the interview room (these are just bog-standard rented interview rooms that someone has put an medical exam couch into).
Next, the interview. The questions you have listed in the ESA Guide are spot on. We had worked through the questions and rehearsed our answers and, had my sister not had a complete meltdown in the interview, I am sure we would have been pleased that we did, we finally exited the interview at 1500hrs (yes we went in 1/2 an hour late and were in the medical for 1 and a half hours).
The good news is, that on Friday my sister got her award letter (dated 25 Mar 17) and she has been assessed as meeting the criteria for the Support Group, a pretty quick turn round considering we had waited 8 months for a medical.
I would like to thank you and the rest of the Benefits and Work team for the amazing guides and guidance within forum. I have found these invaluable while dealing with my sister and various friends claims. I sing the praises of the site and the great value of becoming a member to everyone I know with a disability themselves, or with a disabled relative. I have just received my sister's PIP letter in the post and am awaiting the form so I shall be dipping in and out of the site some more over the next few weeks.
Thanks again, Clare
The following user(s) said Thank You: s.jmoore@blueyonder.co.uk, naheegan

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6 years 11 months ago #186650 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA Letter From Consultant
Siege H

That's terrific news, thank you for your post.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: naheegan

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