What sort of medical evidence?

I have been an ESA claimant for nearly two years and have not as yet been summoned for a new WCA.

When i attended my WCA, i didn't take any supporting medical evidence. What sort of things should i consider taking for future WCAs?

I wasn't a member of this site when i had my WCA, i was naive in the extreme with regards to my preparation, or lack of it!

I believed the old government line "if you have a genuine disability, you have nothing to worry about". It didn't occur to me, that i would be refused ESA.

Should i contact my GP and Consultant and will they be able to provide supporting documentation?

All the best
Ranald

Ranald wrote:

I have been an ESA claimant for nearly two years and have not as yet been summoned for a new WCA.

When i attended my WCA, i didn't take any supporting medical evidence. What sort of things should i consider taking for future WCAs?

I wasn't a member of this site when i had my WCA, i was naive in the extreme with regards to my preparation, or lack of it!

I believed the old government line "if you have a genuine disability, you have nothing to worry about". It didn't occur to me, that i would be refused ESA.

Should i contact my GP and Consultant and will they be able to provide supporting documentation?

All the best
Ranald

Ranald,

When you say "Attended my WCA", I assume that you mean your ATOS face to face assessment.

The only scenario where you would need to take medical evidence to your face to face, is if you thought that you had new evidence that ATOS may not be aware of, however in such a case you should also have sent said evidence to ATOS, and DWP DM, by recorded delivery post.

Any medical evidence that you may choose to gain re your limitation should be included in your ESA50 questionnaire, which you may receive in the case of a re-assessment.

You could then take copy of the ESA50 + evidence to the face to face, for reference purposes, however the HCP "should" have already read it.

If you use the search engine at the top of the page there are many threads re evidence, also look in the ESA guides, through the orange "MEMBERS ONLY" area on the left.

cheers

bro58

Ranald wrote:

Should i contact my GP and Consultant and will they be able to provide supporting documentation?

All the best
Ranald

Ask Atos and the DWP to do so.

If and when you have to complete an ESA50, when completing this form it is important to ask Atos to check with your GP and/or consultants, who have access to your full NHS medical history. You should stress to the DWP that in order for a valid assessment to be made, a "qualified" healthcare professional should contact your GP and/or consultants.

GPs and more especially consultants, can charge very expensive fees for providing medical reports. In the case of a consultant's report these can be in excess of £300, and if the report does not address your functional limitations/abilities, it will be of little or no value and potentially a waste of money.

I can only reiterate and will do so until I am blue in the face, that the WCA being initiated by the DWP, places the onus of the burden of proof upon them and not the claimant, although by asking the claimant to send in (medical) evidence with the ESA50, they don't seem to think that this is the case. However, they are wrong!

Finally, a claimant should never be placed at a financial disadvantage in obtaining medical reports, when either they are in the process of transferring to ESA from IB, or are undergoing the WCA following the award of ESA on a new claim. In these circumstances, it is the DWP who initiates the review of a claimant's ongoing entitlement and as such they are responsible for obtaining the medical evidence, if a claimant instructs them to obtain it. Failure to do so is a potential ground for an appeal, if an adverse decision arises from the refusal to act upon the claimant's directions.

Atos will always contact a claimant's GP and not a consultant, as letters forwarded as a result of a consultation are invariably sent to the GP shortly afterwards.

Please also be aware that letters have to be relevant to the functional capacity of the WCA, and unless they can address each of the descriptors being claimed, they will be of little or no probative value. Letters would have to be contemporaneous otherwise they will simply be dismissed as being out of date in a relatively short period of time, by Atos and/or the ESA decision maker.

As I have said there is also the question of the cost of medical evidence which doesn't necessarily come cheap nowadays, and the fact that you are removing the burden of proof in a continuing entitlement case, from the DWP to the claimant.

I am not trying to dissuade members from providing evidence if it is available, but I am merely pointing out the pitfalls in the quest to obtain such evidence if it is not readily to hand, and most importantly its relevance (or non-relevance) to the WCA. Furthermore, I have dealt with DLA claims/renewals/reviews where the medical evidence was supplied at great cost to the claimant at their own request, and it subsequently turned out to be not only irrelevant, but was also very unhelpful in support of their claim and had to be disregarded from the outset.

In essence, what I am saying is that GPs and/or consultants will not always be supportive of their patients, and these claimants can be very shocked as to what is actually written about them from healthcare professionals who they believe to be, as it were, on their side.

Crazydiamond wrote:

Atos will always contact a claimant's GP and not a consultant, as letters forwarded as a result of a consultation are invariably sent to the GP shortly afterwards.

Please also be aware that letters have to be relevant to the functional capacity of the WCA, and unless they can address each of the descriptors being claimed, they will be of little or no probative value. Letters would have to be contemporaneous otherwise they will simply be dismissed as being out of date in a relatively short period of time, by Atos and/or the ESA decision maker.

As I have said there is also the question of the cost of medical evidence which doesn't necessarily come cheap nowadays, and the fact that you are removing the burden of proof in a continuing entitlement case, from the DWP to the claimant.

I am not trying to dissuade members from providing evidence if it is available, but I am merely pointing out the pitfalls in the quest to obtain such evidence if it is not readily to hand, and most importantly its relevance (or non-relevance) to the WCA. Furthermore, I have dealt with DLA claims/renewals/reviews where the medical evidence was supplied at great cost to the claimant at their own request, and it subsequently turned out to be not only irrelevant, but was also very unhelpful in support of their claim and had to be disregarded from the outset.

In essence, what I am saying is that GPs and/or consultants will not always be supportive of their patients, and these claimants can be very shocked as to what is actually written about them from healthcare professionals who they believe to be, as it were, on their side.

Hi CD,

I totally understand where you are coming from, in trying to advise members as to how the DWP should fully accept the burden of proof.

Any incurred costs from obtaining such reports are also an important factor.

It is also very true that G.P.'s will write letters that may not be very supportive, and even contain erroneous statements, as I myself have found, which I then had corrected.

I think one advantage of obtaining a report oneself from a G.P./HCP, is that you get to see what is written, and can then challenge any errors, before the DWP/ATOS get to see it.

There is then the scenario that if a G.P. gives you a very supportive and informative letter re your limitations, and then goes on to give contradictory evidence, say on an ESA113, that you have something to challenge this.

IMO, all aspects of providing medical evidence should be weighed up by members, they can then make an informed decision.

In my own case I found your info on the burden of proof to be very enlightening.

I have informed the DM of this burden of proof at a very early stage, but then also provided letters of support, which I was lucky enough to obtain free of charge.

I also made it clear that the 3 letters of support were given on my verbal request, and totally free of charge.

cheers

bro58