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6 years 4 months ago #199963 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Puzzled.
cazziej

The report is actually written after the assessment so it is possible that the assessor will have paid proper attention to your evidence, although, based on our experience from the forum you are probably right to have some concerns, helpfully they won't be realised.

You should be able to request a copy of the report at the end of the week by contacting the DWP office dealing with your claim.

PIP Decision usually take 2-4 weeks.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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6 years 4 months ago #199964 by cazziej
Replied by cazziej on topic Puzzled.
Thank you Gordon, I will do that.

Do you think it will be obvious from the report if she has referred to, or even seen the evidence / claim form I sent in?

Thank you

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6 years 4 months ago #199965 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Puzzled.

cazziej wrote: Thank you Gordon, I will do that.

Do you think it will be obvious from the report if she has referred to, or even seen the evidence / claim form I sent in?

Thank you


Yes the report will have the assessors recommendation for points and their justification for them.

Gordon

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6 years 4 months ago #201410 by cazziej
Replied by cazziej on topic Puzzled.
Back again!

Rang a few days after my home assessment and was told it hadn't been received. I asked if a note could be made to send out a copy when it arrived. Rang back earlier this week to check it had been actioned, to be informed that it hadn't been received by the DWP at that point (13th November- assessment was 24th October) and was advised to ring IAS to find out why. Duly rang them to be informed it had been sent for audit, but had been forwarded to DWP on 10th November and to allow 2 weeks for them to receive it.

I rang back yesterday (reasoning that if I could request the assessment originally after a few days, the same principle should apply, now I knew it had been sent!).

Polite DWP lady informed me that the assessment form had been received and she could certainly send me a copy, then went on to inform me that a decision had been made and would I like to know the outcome or wait for the letter. I told her I would like to know and she told me I had been awarded standard mobility, nothing for care. She then asked if I still wanted a copy of the report, which I did, and she told me it would take 2 weeks for the copy report, but that the decision letter had gone out and I should have it today (Friday). I had been awarded nothing for daily care and standard mobility.

Today the postman has delivered the copy report but not the decision letter.

The first page states "List all evidence considered alongside the consultation findings" and she has listed the PIP Questionnaire 11.09.2017 and GP Factual Report 28.04.2016. The section below which says "Other" is completely blank.

I actually sent numerous Gastroenterology letters as evidence along with other documentation, and the "GP Factual Report" is an Occupational Health Doctor Report from when I applied for (and was granted) medical retirement.

I am thinking that this indicates she has not looked at any of the other medical evidence, as she only references this "GP Factual Report" within the comments of the report. Would this seem likely to you?

I am going to request an MR as I really feel that the way my condition affects me warrants at least some award for daily care. If I am honest, I thought if I would be awarded anything it would be more likely to be care rather than mobility. My mobility is greatly affected by my extreme fatigue from liver disease, I am constantly exhausted and this affects me more immediately I start to walk. I did explain this to her in detail, and told her that I am exhausted walking room to room (which is less than 20 metres) but she has awarded "can stand and move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres" for 8 points. I genuinely feel that I qualify for (e) can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres either aided or unaided". My exhaustion starts the minute I walk, and if I for instance go and watch my son play football, I know that after walking the distance from the car park to the side line (then sitting on the chair I take with me), that will be it for the week, I won't be able to go out again for the next 4 or 5 days How can I express this better in my MR?. She has stated that I live in a house needing to access the stairs daily. I stressed to her the fact that once I am downstairs, I am downstairs for the day. We moved specifically to have a downstairs toilet. When I am fatigued through the day, I sleep on the sofa. Once I go up at a night time for a bath/shower or to go to bed, I am there for the night, so I try to limit myself to one journey down and one journey up. I genuinely am tired the minute I start walking, certainly at far less than 20 metres. She feels I can walk between 20 and 50 metres, and this is her opinion after seeing me walk from my settee to the front door to see her out (a total of 18 footsteps) how do you challenge this? In all fairness, I do sometimes walk further than 20m, i.e. I walk from the car to the bench in the park to watch my grandchildren, or from the car to the side line to sit watching my son play football. However, I will then suffer for this for maybe 3 days afterwards as I am even more fatigued / exhausted. I told her that I have to plan my week if I am going out and I could never ever go out 2 days on the trot. If I am watching football on a Saturday, it would be at least Tuesday or Wednesday before I could go to the park. I don't think she has taken this into consideration.

For preparing food I have been awarded (b) needs to use an aid 2 points. I informed her that I needed supervision if cooking anything on the cooker or in the oven, as I have fallen asleep in the past and that also I can sleep through meals and my daughter has to prompt me. She has reported that my memory and concentration are normal (they are not, I have intermittent brain fog due to my PBC), but in any case, the reason I need prompting and supervision is due to my fatigue leading me to fall asleep, but this has not been acknowledged.

With regard to washing and bathing, I told her that somebody has to be in the house with me when I have a bath in case I fall asleep (I always leave the door unlocked) but I have not been awarded any points for supervision, but she has awarded the lesser points for the fact that I would need a seat in the shower - how do I address this?

With regard to "Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition" she has not awarded any points. I use a dosette - would this be classed as an aid? Although I realise the 1 point from this may not be of any benefit. I also wrote in my form that I am in danger of falling asleep before I have taken my night time medication and that my daughter or son have to remind / prompt me each night - would this not warrant any points?

Dressing and undressing - I have not been awarded any points. The problem here is that sometimes I am so fatigued (even as soon as wake up) that I do not have the strength to get myself dressed an so remain in my PJ's. Likewise of a night time, if I have managed to get dressed that day, I am sometimes too tired to get undressed for bed and so sleep in my clothes. My daughter has to prompt me to get dressed / undressed. Getting dressed (when I can be bothered) takes a lot longer than it should as I have to sit and rest in between each item of clothing due to my fatigue. Is there a better way of expressing this?

Reading and understanding signs, symbols and words. No points. Assessor comments that I reported difficulties in this area (I did, due to intermittent brain fog, a symptom of my PBC). She comments that I have no reported diagnosed sensory impairment and that I had adequate memory and concentration and that I have no diagnosed cognitive impairment. I had written in my claim, and verbally informed her that due to brain fog I sometimes found it difficult to take in and retain information, having to read things / directions / instructions over and over again. This was also one of the reasons I had to give up work, and my Occupational Health Report (as I said, the only she appears to have looked at) states "Reported functional impairment - reduced concentration and intermittent difficulty retaining information". Should this not be taken into consideration?

Engaging with others face to face. No points awarded. I stated that I sometimes found it difficult to mix with other people because of severe anxiety or distress. I reiterated that due to my fatigue, brain fog and lack of ability to concentrate (as reported above) I found it difficult to speak to people and socialise as I regularly lose track of what I or the other person is saying; I find this very embarrassing and leads to be extremely anxious. I feel this covered by "needs social support to be able to engage with other people" I do not go out alone due to this.

Making budgeting decisions: no points. Assessor states that MSE showed that she did not require prompting, she has normal general memory and concentration and although she has episodes of "brain fog", this is not for the majority of the time". I was able to complete 6 rounds of serial 7's, able to calculate a simple sum. I agree that, at the time of assessment, in a silent room, with me concentrating extremely high, I was able to do this, but I specifically pointed out to her that she could ask me the same questions for the next 5 days, and chances were that I would not be able to answer them correctly. She again writes that I have no reported diagnosed cognitive conditions and this suggests I can make budge decisions unaided. Again, my Occupational Health Report documents my "reduced concentration and intermittent difficulty retaining information".

Planning and following a journey; no points awarded. "She has no reported diagnosed cognitive or sensory condition that would prevent her from completing this task" Again, my Occupational Health Report documents my "reduced concentration and intermittent difficulty retaining information". For this reason I cannot plan the route of a journey.

Part of me feels that because my condition is a rare one - Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, along with Non Alcoholic Steator Hepatitis and other conditions, it would be difficult for her to know how my symptoms affect me and therefore assess me. I can only imagine that the fatigue from PBC is perhaps similar to that of ME or CFS and I wonder how people with these diseases manage to convey their difficulties enough to receive an award?

Sorry for this huge post but I would appreciate any and all comments so I can get my MR underway and give myself the best possible chance.

Thank you in advance

C

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6 years 4 months ago #201420 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Puzzled.
cazziej

The thing that stands out from your post is that your limitations appear to be fluctuating but you make no mention of your being effected on the majority of days.

For example you mention problems in the past but not necessarily the present, you refer to sometimes having a problem, that you problems are intermittent. It may just be your use of words in your post but these kind of phrases do not suggest that you are effected for the necessary majority of days

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"

than their opinions

"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.

When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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6 years 4 months ago #201438 by cazziej
Replied by cazziej on topic Puzzled.
Thank you Gordon, and I will do.

My fatigue is a constant, the only variation is when it worsens due to any form of activity, but I understand the way I have worded things may be confusing. My "brain fog" is intermittent, but causes me problems when it occurs. I have no way of knowing when this will happen. I might not have any episodes for days, but then have an episode every day for weeks.

I only received the report today, coming before the decision letter (which was read out to me yesterday), so I will wait until I get the official letter and then start composing my MR.

Thank you

Cazzie
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