ESA Application - form completed by 3rd party

Hi there,

Wonder if anyone can offer some advice.

Very strange situation which seems to be well out of the realms of typical process for both ATOS and the DWP.

My mum suffers with both mental and physical health difficulties.
Like many she is currently being migrated from Incapacity Benefit to ESA.

Because of her current mental health she was not feeling able to complete the ESA form herself, and her key worker from the local NHS mental health trust offered to 'deal with it on her behalf'. She signed the authorisation page and he agreed they'd go through the form together before it was submitted.

Roll on a few months and it transpires that:

1) Her key worker has been signed off sick, but in his absence it appears the form was sent to the local ATOS office;

2) My mum was called in for an assessment - yet has not seen the final form itself;

3) Her keyworker was due to go with her to the assessment for support - but is still off sick.

So basically it's entirely possible the form has been filled in without any great detail of her condition.

I have written to ATOS on her behalf to postpone the assessment and request a copy of the form - but they are (rightly) considering this to be a very unusual situation.

I have managed to postpone her assessment which was scheduled for today - but not without a great deal of difficulty (apparently her requesting the assessment to be recored was her only allowed postponement), it seems that now whether her key worker is back or not they can't delay it more than 3 weeks from today.

Any thoughts on how best to handle this situation?
To me it seems that whatever happens they need a correctly completed form, or additional information, before the assessment goes ahead - but I'm concerned that my mum may not be well enough to do this in time.

Appreciate any thoughts,

Steve