G.P Refusal to give letter of support

Hello.
I thought I would tell you about my wife who is making a claim for PIP.
We are in the process of applying so we phoned her Consultants secretary and asked about a supporting letter to go with the application, who told us to write a letter and they would do one for her(my wife has just been diagnosed with Parkinson's)
On trying to get an appointment with her GP we got nowhere, mainly because he is now only working part time two days a week after selling his practice we thought its best to contact him because he has treated my wife for years(she also has wear and tear and arthritis in both knees and rheumatoid arthritis in both hands, fibromyalgia) having failed we decided to write him a letter which I hand delivered to the surgery. We got a phone call the next day and was told after discussing it with the doctors they would not do one, but would wait for the DWP to contact them, If there was no contact and we failed to get PIP then they would consider doing a letter for the appeal? Now having used this wonderful site to fill in these difficult forms we were totally taken aback at this as Benefits and Works tell you to get all your information to send off with the forms. Its no wonder that the DWP reject so many applications and it goes to appeal, as the DWP say they did not have all the facts to hand, from reading the forum it seems the DWP do not always contact the G.P? but rely on the applicant to supply it?
I think the attitude of our G.P disappointing.

My GP said the same, no covering letter etc until an appeal he said thats the norm now and dont panic if you get refused we can take it from there.

Hi William - I had the same problem - I could not get past the receptionists when they asked to see a GP once they enquired what I wanted an appointment for. I said it was regarding DWP I required a letter of support for my son. I was blocked there. I even asked them if they could at least get a message / ask the GP themselves and this was refused. I was passed around to 3 different 'Gatekeepers' I assume Practice Managers etc.. If fact one spoke to me what I consider rude. GP's will never get to know my son as I was not given the opportunity to inform them of his illness. I wish you the very best & hope you get sorted - this is so very wrong - the whole system is a disgrace, it is a constant battle. I can understand to a certain degree how you must be feeling unsupported by your GP.

Hi I am not sure if you know this, but you can put in a request for your medical history at your GP practice. They legally have to supply you with this information however it can take up to 28 days and they may charge you. My own GP practice sometimes puts a charge on my requests (depends what receptionist you get lol) and this has never been any more than £20. This will provide you with a lot of useful medical information, diagnoses, reports etc without having to ask GP's for supporting letters. I actually find your own medical history which you are entitled to access is much more helpful in your PIP application.

Good luck !!!!

Thank you all for your replies, it means a lot:) after writing to the site I have since found out from three people that go to the same surgery that they have had letters of support written for them in the last 6 to 8 weeks, now that has made my blood boil I am thinking of asking to see the Practice Manager but my fear is will they say well go find another practice if I stir things up?

take care all