NEW AA CLAIM DIABETIC TYPE 1

Good evening.

Well the brown envelope arrived and as we thought rejected, suprise suprise !!

My wife is a type 1 diabetic with Hypo Unawareness with needle phobia and cannot finger prick to check her blood sugar levels.

She was on DLA.

They agreed she needs supervision ( in their words )
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She cannot be left alone due to Hypo Unawarness because of her quick fall in blood sugars levels which leaves her in a coma if not treated instantly.

They had written evidence from the consultant that she has severe attacks at night as well as day and they agree that she needs supervision to manage her medication or monitor her health condition and needs help most of the time (this is their words not mine)

The Decision Makers Reasoning for non entitlement is based on the consultation and her written statement.
In her statement and my statement as her carer, when she is having a hypo she is not Reliable to manage herself and is a danger to herself and others. She needs guidance / help / support / supervision / conjuling etc and requires me to inject her to save her life. All not taken into consideration.

At the consultation she was not having a hypo natually but was normal . Her medical condition was fully explained in full detail andwhat happens when she has an attack and how I help and how offen.

She scored zero points on everything! as she is not having a hypo attack all the time and not at the consultation as her blood sugars were normal.

When she is well, of course she can dress herself / cook etc etc which will score her zero points all day long.
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They have not taken into consideration how she is when having hypo attacks she would score max points in everything, she cannot do anything !! Do they not know what happens to a type 1 diabetic in these situations!

We sent a diary of all her attacks over three months. It seems they have not been in contact with the Consutant for an updated report but used the old report 2014 we had as some evidence to send in. I would have expected them to write to the Consultant in 2016.
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They have never mentioned in the decision any reference to the condition of Hypo Attack Unawareness ! only she can do everything and scores zero points.

She needs 24/7 monitoring and supervision
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If I was to die she would need Social Care asap 24/7 if not she would slip into a deep coma and die within a week !!

I thought the points system was not appropriate in these cases just like someone who has fits but in this case worse?

I will be going for MR straight away and appeal if rejected, as I am sure the first decision will be rubber stamped. I would like any opinion on this issue and advice please, as I think this is wrong ( but who am I to say ) am I wrong?

Look forward to your reply and thanks.

Kind regards

Mel B

Hello Gordon
Sorry I did not reply last night the wife had another Hypo whilst I was on this site and I was timed out.
Many thanks for your input so will explain the situaion in more detail.

She is a very difficult and a differant diabetic than the norm , as she gets older her Hypo's are more frequent, she has been a diabetic for nearly 40 years. She has a Underactive Thyorid and only one Kidney that only works at 40%. High Blood Pressure . She also has Ulcerated Colitis.

She has no appitite, so never gets hungry but she has to eat because of her conditions she feels full all the time but has to force herself to eat...

Because of her conditions she is constantly tired and retires to bed at 19.00 and still wakes up tired in the mornings. Doing housework etc possibly makes it worse and I help as much as I can.as I am disabled too.

Yes! the housework she does makes her at risk more so I suppose, as she becomes fatigued it uses up her blood sugars but it is not a certain she will have a Hypo . Its weird.

We told DWP that she gets confused and tired and has on more than once left the electric rings on whilst cooking / burnt food etc.
She also had a Hypo in the bath for which I had to call the Ambulance out for. It was lucky the water was just below her nose when I went in, as I had no responce to my knock I now have to supervise her more so.
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She has no triggers to warn her day or night and I have to watch her all the time because I see changes in her movements and speech.. She will argue with me she is alright but I know differant. I need to get her to drink and eat but as she is not thirsty nor hungry is very very difficult
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If she goes into a hypo and she wont drink or eat, ie becomes difficult, I then have to inject her with Glucagen HypoKit.

I cannot monitor her blood sugar levels, she would not let anybody within 100 ft with any sort of needle and there is no incontinence.

There is no resoning for her Hypo's they can come at any time and any place, she can be sitting watching the tv and suddenly go into one and also when sleeping.

She does not drive anymore and has given up her licence because of these issues.

All of these issues have been submitted to the DWP to fall on deaf ears !

Kind regards

Mel

you need to focus on the reliably test. she might be able to do these things but if she can not do them safely the MAJORITY of time she can not be counted as doing the activity at all.

However, if as you say its unexpected, without warning etc. then it should be considered for the majoity as she is not safe because of the risks.

I recommend searching for epilepsy and PIP, theres some good stuff from the charities involved and im sure you can relate them...

Hi Gordon

To be clear are you saying it may not be worth the trouble with MR and Appeal and throw in the towel?
A type 1 diabetic with these specific issues cannot be helped because of the new critera.. To make it impossible to meet the critera because she is normal most of the time like a person with epilepsy and ignore the rest therefore a person with epilepsy would also not meet the critera and gain zero points in PIP. ??

Kind regards

Mel