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MSK (Physio) assessor asked me questions job centre/benefits assessor would ask

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8 months 4 weeks ago #288459 by VIA
Dear fellow members and moderators,

I did not like the questions an MSK physiotherapist asked me.
So I am writing this as a warning in case in happens to you or in case it has already happened to you.

My GP referred me to MSK to discuss treatment (as MSK can decide after talking to you or getting you to do a few movements to refer you for an MRI, XRAY, ULTRASOUND ETC).
We can self refer to MSK or our GP can refer us to MSK ( do do with musculoskeletal issues).

I have had face to face appointments with these MSK assessors, most of them are physiotherapists I believe, and was never asked questions one would expect the benefits assessors to ask.

However lately I had an MSK assessor who asked me questions which made me feel very uncomfortable, some of which I refused to answer.
- Do you work?
- Why not?
- How long have you not been working for?
- If you do not remember it must have been for a long time
And after touching and hurting the injured part of my body, making my pain worse, he asked me:
- what do you do with your day in the day, what kind of activities
For the second time I refused to answer that question and did not answer previous questions.
I refused and said one would expect those questions from the job centre or esa, pip assessor and that I had never been asked those questions before at MSK unless with him.
He replied if I did not want to answer those questions I could leave and he would make me an appointment for me to come back to see another assessor.
I did not reply and he did not ask me any more the type of questions the job centre, esa or pip assessor would ask. (All this after me paying for a taxi to get to my MSK appointment and back!)

I told him you do not need to ask me those questions I already explained I was injured until I came back by taxi on a specific day, but was not injured before I left by taxi ( I do not remember how I got injured because I injure myself often without meaning to when I stumble and live with pain all the time) so it has nothing to do with my daily activities.

That reminds me that about 10 years ago I was being seen by the pain management and while waiting, to my shock, a medical person approached me and said I had to walk a certain distance and that they would time me, and they were doing it as she was speaking to me to some other people in the corridor.
I refused (because I believed it was a trap and that they would report to someone to do with benefits as one criteria is the distance you can walk which was a strange coincidence) but lets not forget it is not because you walk that distance that are deemed as being able to walk it because if you have to stop, if you feel pain and discomfort then you cannot walk it)
She insisted saying I had to, I refused.
She insisted I said I did not have to do something I did not want to do.
Also I told her I had to have an electrocardiogram that was prebooked half an hour later or so.

It is like when at around that time years ago the pain management doctor had written in her letter (which I got a copy later on) about the fact I was not working, my abilities to speak certain languages. I find it very odd as it has nothing to do with pain.

I am wondering if someone has experience what I have experienced.

Thank you.
Best wishes
The following user(s) said Thank You: UB40 Rumrunner

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8 months 4 weeks ago #288462 by Gary
Hi VIA

Your story is not something that I have come across before, we will see what forum members have to say.

Gary

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

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8 months 3 weeks ago #288489 by headabovethewater
It's very interesting I also was asked similar on a pain management msk appointment recently. Also how far can I walk in a supermarket. Some of the questions matched my esa50 form and made me wonder if they were a part time assesor in another hat?
It helped me as the follow up letter listed nicely all my limitations and they also noted my walking pace and restrictions. Did leave me wondering though 🤔
The following user(s) said Thank You: denby, VIA, UB40 Rumrunner

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  • UB40 Rumrunner
8 months 3 weeks ago #288532 by UB40 Rumrunner
I have also encountered this jobsworth line of questioning, and not just with MSK but an NHS nurse at another clinical dept. They should have known better.

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