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ESA phone call and Apointee.
- SENFSG
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4 years 5 months ago #253129 by SENFSG
ESA phone call and Apointee. was created by SENFSG
Hi everyone, i am hoping you can all give me some guidance and advice.
today a person i know who is a legal DWP appointee was contacted for an ESA interview over the phone as part of an assessment for her son who has severe mental health issues suicidal thoughts and alos has Autism. the jist of this is that the lady on the phone wanted to talk to the young man about his mental health and suicidal thoughts and she also said she wanted to ask him some cognative questions at the end. HIs appointee felt uncomfotable about talking about the young man and all his issues in front of him and very unhappy about the lady questioning him about his suicidal thoughts. she did nto allow this to procedd in the end the lady from the assessment centre agreed to go back to her seniors and see if they would allow a paper based review or just allow the appointee as they had int he past to speak with the advisor. surely the reason why a person has a legal appointee is because they dopnt have the capacity to communicate there thoughts and answer questions appropriately. Any advice would be gratefully recieved. The young mans mental health was stable up until today and now the parent has had to contact the GP for advice as they familty are now having to keep any eye on him as his mental health has been made worse and has deteriorated as a direct response to the the assessment process.
thanks
today a person i know who is a legal DWP appointee was contacted for an ESA interview over the phone as part of an assessment for her son who has severe mental health issues suicidal thoughts and alos has Autism. the jist of this is that the lady on the phone wanted to talk to the young man about his mental health and suicidal thoughts and she also said she wanted to ask him some cognative questions at the end. HIs appointee felt uncomfotable about talking about the young man and all his issues in front of him and very unhappy about the lady questioning him about his suicidal thoughts. she did nto allow this to procedd in the end the lady from the assessment centre agreed to go back to her seniors and see if they would allow a paper based review or just allow the appointee as they had int he past to speak with the advisor. surely the reason why a person has a legal appointee is because they dopnt have the capacity to communicate there thoughts and answer questions appropriately. Any advice would be gratefully recieved. The young mans mental health was stable up until today and now the parent has had to contact the GP for advice as they familty are now having to keep any eye on him as his mental health has been made worse and has deteriorated as a direct response to the the assessment process.
thanks
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- Gordon
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4 years 5 months ago #253138 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA phone call and Apointee.
Mrs White
There are lots of reasons why someone needs a DWP appointee not all of these preclude the claimant from interacting with the DWP, for example; someone who is unable to manage their finances might need an appointee but may still be able to talk to an assessor.
Were they notified of the phone call? I not then they might want to consider a complaint.
Gordon
There are lots of reasons why someone needs a DWP appointee not all of these preclude the claimant from interacting with the DWP, for example; someone who is unable to manage their finances might need an appointee but may still be able to talk to an assessor.
Were they notified of the phone call? I not then they might want to consider a complaint.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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4 years 5 months ago #253150 by SENFSG
Replied by SENFSG on topic ESA phone call and Apointee.
Morning Gordon, yet the appointee was notified of the appointment not the claimant. Obviously the appointee passed this information onto the claimant so they could be together for the interview. just concerned as this caused untold stress to the claimant who had been reciefving this benefit since they left school. Telephones and verbal communication are something that they definately dont do with strangers.
Thanks for the advice if anyone else can help please reply.
Thanks for the advice if anyone else can help please reply.
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4 years 5 months ago #253158 by BIS
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by BIS on topic ESA phone call and Apointee.
Hi Mrs. White
It is common for the assessors to ask to speak to the claimant, even when they have an appointee. We have heard numerous occasions when appointees have been told they can do the majority or all of the speaking only for it to change when the assessment took place.
I'm glad to hear that the assessor did not ask about any suicidal thoughts ( or the appointee stopped them doing so)- especially with someone with language and communication difficulties.
The family could wait and see what they hear back or the parent might want to request a letter from their GP now, saying that a phone assessment would cause the claimant "overwhelming psychological distress" and has already caused a downturn in their mental health. The letter needs to have that specific term in it.
Just be warned they don't always take notice. Hopefully they will take the sensible approach. If they don't the family should contact their MP, but also ask to have a call back from a manager of the specialist team for vulnerable people (which this person is and put the case that a telephone assessment is unfair unless it can be conducted entirely by the appointee).
BIS
It is common for the assessors to ask to speak to the claimant, even when they have an appointee. We have heard numerous occasions when appointees have been told they can do the majority or all of the speaking only for it to change when the assessment took place.
I'm glad to hear that the assessor did not ask about any suicidal thoughts ( or the appointee stopped them doing so)- especially with someone with language and communication difficulties.
The family could wait and see what they hear back or the parent might want to request a letter from their GP now, saying that a phone assessment would cause the claimant "overwhelming psychological distress" and has already caused a downturn in their mental health. The letter needs to have that specific term in it.
Just be warned they don't always take notice. Hopefully they will take the sensible approach. If they don't the family should contact their MP, but also ask to have a call back from a manager of the specialist team for vulnerable people (which this person is and put the case that a telephone assessment is unfair unless it can be conducted entirely by the appointee).
BIS
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: denby
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