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Surveillance and Reporting in WRAG?

  • James
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11 years 1 month ago - 11 years 1 month ago #100616 by James
Hallo ,Can anyone advise me please regarding WRAG meetings & 1:1 face 2 face interviews whilst in WRAG and even the same for Support Group if any.
Are Claimants surveyed and assessed eg for fitness interaction etc when they are attending meetings and activities with other Claimants and in particular do the DWP supervisory staff have a))access to the full Medical Condition record of WRAG attenders and b)the authority or obligation to report or add notes on a Claimant if they think they have spotted "an inconsistency"in those and a Claiments "performance"in attending and joining in a WRAG activity.
I think you see what I am getting at?
I have never been to a WRAG but may have to as am currently in the 28 day questionnaire period.
Its making me think that the purpose of WRAG is not really any realistic expectation of preparing Claimants for work but actually to further "weed out"'fit'persons by adding info for their at their next Medical.?
Personally if this was the case I do not think I could handle it -the hours of constant assessment would be just too stressful.
The sort of thing I am talking about is if someone has a variable condition that can at times appear to be "normal"to inexperienced staff.Im afraid its not possible to have outbreaks of uncontrolled uninhibited behaviour "on demand".
Last edit: 11 years 1 month ago by Gordon.

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11 years 1 month ago #100622 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Surveillance and Reporting in WRAG?
James

The JC+ staff will have a high level snapshot of a claimants condition(s), they need it to to do their job, but will not have access to any detailed medical information.

I would imagine that if you turned up at their offices after running a marathon, and were receiving ESA becuase of mobility problems, then it might be something they would report, but you need to remember that JC+ staff have no medical training and are not in a position to evaluate claimants health.

That said, there is some validity to concerns over how a claimant performing Work Related Activity will be re-assessed, for example, if a claimant has issues with social contact, and is regularly able to meet with new people whie performing WRA, then they should expect to have to address this issue at there next re-assessment.

However, turning things around, it is important to remember that any WRA that a claimant is asked to do must take into account any limitations resultig from their condition(s).

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: James, MariW

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  • James
  • Topic Author
11 years 1 month ago #100633 by James
Replied by James on topic Surveillance and Reporting in WRAG?
Thanks Gordon."if a Claimant turned up after running a marathon then it might be something they would report if the claimant had mobility problems".
This is very scary!
It pits an inexperienced highly subjective amateur impression against ATOS.
May I briefly elaborate on the sort of situation I envisage they once sent us to a Job Training event and nearly everone there was "dysfucntional"in some way though they were "just "jobseekers.
No one wanted to be there and sitting round in a circle few took it seriously.
Some of the more immature started to lark around and the event turned into farce and a class friction row between the Claimants.
Anway my disability happens to fall into the Substance Misuse/Personality Challenge category and behaviour could range from anything to turning up semi concious to launching verbal lashings on the other claimants to singing out loud or uninhibited voicing of "inappropriate"subjects.
I do not really think it would be a good idea to send me to these WRAG events as I regard them as a total waste of time.
To some extent behaviour is controllable but the more its bottled up the greater the resent ment grows.
If I feel they will boot me out/fail me anyway whats the point?
This is unfair on Claimanets who "warned them"they were unfit yet they are blamed for "misbehaviour"beyond their full control.
A very difficult situation.I couldnt go 2 years in the WRAG "Playacting"(although that is not really the correct term as I was genuine Sectioned and diagnosed with a major life long personality disorder)as they would see it.
Id rather get Jobseekers or nothing.

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11 years 1 month ago #100652 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Surveillance and Reporting in WRAG?
James

I think you have read far too much into my reply, my example of the marathon was intended to be absurd, although anybody claiming that they cannot mobilise more than 200m who then goes out and runs a marathon deserves to have the DWP's attention focussed on them.

To be clear, there is no requirement for you to "playact" whilst in the WRAG, unless you exhibit some extreme behavious as above, the JC+ advisor has far too much in their diary to worry about whether a claimant meets their expectations of being ill or not.

You were deemed to be entitled to this benefit because of your condition(s), do not waste all this good work by trying to second guess the DWP at every encounter.

Gordon

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

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