Giving copy of completed ESA50 to GP

The problem in obtaining any supporting evidence from a GP or a consultant for that matter, is that there is always a risk that the DWP and/or an appeal tribunal could cast doubt on the independence and therefore the validity of the evidence.

From experience, I have dealt with several cases where quite inadvertently a healthcare professional has prefaced a response with the words "mr/mrs xxxx informs me that he/she...." This immediately arouses suspicion that a claimant has been putting words into the HCP's mouth when asking for the requisite evidence, and could also equally apply where Atos ask for evidence by way of an ESA113 or a FRR2 factual report and the afore-mentioned introductory words are used on these forms.

Unfortunately, a claimant could be caught between a rock and a hard place in requesting medical evidence, because unless they instruct an HCP not to refer to them by name in any medical report submitted to Atos and/or the DWP, the obtaining of medical evidence could be fraught with difficulties. This could also apply where a completed ESA50 is handed to the HCP, or the descriptors that apply to a claimant's circumstances are emphasised.

As Gordon says there is no definitive answer as to how to obtain medical evidence, because non-independent, incomplete or inaccurate evidence could do more harm than good to a claimant's ESA claim. There is also the question of a (substantial) charge which may be levied for medical evidence by a HCP, and if it is detrimental, a claimant runs the risk of having wasted their money which invariably they find can ill-afford in a quest to support their ongoing ESA entitlement.