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PIPS Tribunal

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5 years 8 months ago #214220 by Stevefee
PIPS Tribunal was created by Stevefee
Benefits and Work forum questions answers
My partner is currently awaiting a tribunal date for challenging PIPS, He had his visit form the Health Professional on in March last year and was refused PIPS on the grounds that he was mobile enough, only being award 4 points His HP consolation date was March, and HMCT received notification end of August 2017, yet here we are in July 2018 still awaiting a date. he rang them 2 weeks ago and they said "another 7 weeks" after telling him previously it would be 2 weeks (and that was 5-6 weeks ago).

He had been in receipt of DLA since about 2011 after a stem cell transplant for Chronic Lymphatic Leukeamia in 2010. He was in and out of hospital for the first 2 years and has never been in a position to return to work and never will be, he is almost 63. He suffered a lot of muscle wastage which obviously tremendously effects his ability to get anywhere as doing so tires him out and leaves him fatigued. Yet that sent him a letter in Jan 2017 awarding him £58 a week…….and stopped this in April 2017 after the HP visit, which was about 30 minutes long with a ludicrous test asking him to lift his hand/leg and push against hers, etc.

He offered the HP the opportunity to give him an unclothed examination to she could actually see his body, had she done so she would have noted his curved spine which she said was normal in her report. She said he wasn't breathless when walking 5 meters to the inning room, but late say in her repot that he was breathless and fatigued, and this was just sitting indoors waiting for her to turn up. other little things in the report saying he would shower (rather than bath), hew would never shower! …….and would never bath alone as he could simply not get out of the bath with me.

When he was first denied PIPs we challenged them by letter and they refused again hence our request for a tribal hearing. Our letter covered things like how he is heavily dependant on me and if he lived alone he simply would not be able to manage. I can provide a copy if an one wants o read it (as with any other correspondence).

Their refusal is the “on most days you can do this” type thing, but doing some anything physical on one days can wipe him out for the next few days.

We have a copy of the consolation report form PA4.

This is my opening submission to this forum asking for help on what to next. I’m happy to answers any question that you have, as I haven't put everything here at the moment

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5 years 8 months ago #214227 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic PIPS Tribunal
Stevefee

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

Please be aware that any submission must be with the Tribunal Service no later than 10 days before the date of the hearing or you risk it being excluded.

Your comments explain a lot about his conditions but you make no reference to the distance that he can walk and specifically why it is restricted.

Have a look at our PIP Claim guide for details of the criteria he needs to meet.

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

If you have further questions then please reply to this post 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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5 years 8 months ago #214426 by Stevefee
Replied by Stevefee on topic PIPS Tribunal
7 July 2018 thanks Gordon, I will have a look at them.

He can walk the 200 metres, but PIP seem to fail to see that any exertion leaves him very tired and just because he can do it one day, doesn't mean he can do it the next. HIs Blue Badge is invaluable for this reason.

He suffered a lot of muscle wastage due to his illness and several of the follow up treatments. such ECP, which has left him with thinned skin, which further restricts his mobility in that he is ultra sensitive to the sun. when the HP refers to his muscle wastage she seems to refer to it as ‘weight loss’, it is not, it is muscle wastage and will not be regained. since the POPHP vista he has also been refried to dietician and a breathing physiotherapist.

He every 6 weeks he Flebogamma, so is very tired in the weeks leading up to the treatment , and the after it. He had cataracts removed a few years ago as side affects from some of the drugs he was on (and still is ) on meaning he has to wear dark glasses outside in day light hours.


We sent a copy of a letter form his GP which details his medical history and ongoing ailments which at

- Chronic Lymphoid Leukaemia - on life long medication
- Type 2 diabetes - eye screening for this and under the clinic for it as he has suffered it as a result of CLL medications,
- Pulmonary Embolism - medication
- Graft verses Host Disease in liver , mouth, lungs, eyes, skin
Hypothyroidism - although he is one of the few who actually lose weight rather than gains it. He was diagnosed with the hypothyroidism after the visit but they still seem to have failed to take this in to account.
need to be reminisced against child hood diseases but cant be due to one of the ongoing meds he is on, anti-immune suppressants

PIP do not seem to recognise the bigger picture and then his mobility is impaired for several reason and not just because he can walk 200 metres on a particular day. HIs condition is exasperated by all that he goes thorough on “most days”. He cant walk 200 metres on “most days” for this reason.

thank you
Stevefee

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5 years 8 months ago #214461 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic PIPS Tribunal
Stevefee

Whilst all of the PIP activities must be completed reliably and on the majority of days, the variability that you suggest in his walking, one day 200m and another nothing, is likely to be seen as lacking credibility.

This could simply be because you have not explained his problems clearly, perhaps the distance that he can walk reliably and on the majority of days is significantly less than the 200m you have indicated.

Your post suggests that you have concentrated on his conditions rather than the limitations that result from them, which is actually what is being reviewed.

He is not required to walk pain free but any pain that restricts the distance that he can walk should be taken into account.

Specifically for the Moving Around activity, if he is able to walk but he is in severe pain when doing so, then you can argue that his walking is not to a necessary standard and should be disregarded.

The legal test requires him to stand and then move (walk), so if he has problems getting up then you should document these as well.

If he walks slowly then it must take him at least twice the time to cover the distance as a healthy person would, this could be down to the speed of his walking but could also be the result of having to stop.

he must be able to repeat the distance, so if he could walk it once but not then be able to walk it again within a reasonable timescale then he should be classed as unable to repeat the activity.

I'm afraid I can't tell you how to show his walking is more restricted but things you need to think about is what he can't do, for example what can he walk in his house, how far is the toilet from where he normally sits, things that will count against him are any trips that he makes outside, so for example, how does he do his shopping?

You must be able to walk the distance you can, reliably and on the majority of days, both these terms are defined in the PIP Claim guide

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

So you need to explain what you can, how you are limited and why.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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