DLA to PIP

A lot of people are being asked how long they can walk for as opposed to how far. It is to easy to reply 2 or 3 minutes, which doesn't sound much at all. Try it for yourself and see how far you get

Hi David, I was asked how long I could walk for - I answered no idea - I did not really know how to answer that one, also I had never timed myself so didn't want to guess. She then asked could I walk 4 aisles of large supermarket and kept on asking until she got down to half an aisle and I was still saying no. She said more to herself than me '20 metres then' but on the report she has put 25 to 50 m. As for the criteria of no more than twice as long as a normal person. What does 'no more than twice as long' mean. I am 68 so is the 'normal person' another OAP or a healthy fit young man.
I know when I go out with my husband or family - even the walk from a car park to the restaurant door they are all waiting for me.
I will try and time myself. Do the DWP have a formula for how many steps a 'normal' person can walk in one minute then assume that everyone takes the same stride and calculate the distance travelled in one minute. best wishes Lorraine

Hi, I have decided to go to appeal and had to go to CAB to get the form. Saw an advisor who filled in the form for me and sent it off. That was a couple of weeks ago. Since then I have had a letter to say appeal has been accepted. What do I do now? Should I let the CAB advisor know of will he have also been sent the same letter.

A further development is that I now have to have an operation on my kneecap. I have been put on the waiting list and should be in the new year when I have it.

I stated on my original claim form that my knee was letting me down and had caused me to fall on 4 occasions - I also took in the X ray report and gave it to the Nurse HP. She also saw that my knee gave way on the way out of her room. None of this was acknowledged or even mentioned in her report or in the MR report.

This knee is giving me constant pain [which is why the surgeon is doing the operation] along with constant lower back pain which is affecting my mobility badly.

Despite the HP acknowledging that I walk slowly, in pain and need help standing the DM has gone with the lie that the nurse put in her report namely - I said I could manager half an ailse in a supermarket about 25 metres. i never said this. I struggle to manage 20 metres.

Because the knee pain was part of the reason I gave for restricted mobility do I inform the DWP that I am going to have an operation on this knee and will this be relevant in the appeal.

sorry if it sounds a bid muddled. best wishes Lorraine

Thank you Gordon. I will phone the advisor at the CAB and ask if he put himself or the CAB as representative. The DWP told me to contact the CAB when I asked where I could get the appeal form from I was told to go to a library and print one off or go to CAB.

The CAB advisor told me that the waiting time could be up to 9 months and there were approximately 200,000 appeals in the pipeline. He wasn't impressed with the DWP to say the least.
best wishes Lorraine