PIP - Freedom of Information request

hi can I ask did you contact your MP and if so was there an outcome?
thanks

Hi,

I appreciate that it has been a while since I was last on here. Just to update I finally received my Freedom of Information request bundle in June, however, I am still to submit my PIP appeal, with the MR decision letter dated 27th August 21. Unfortunately, I have suffered from ill health with 3 weeks viral infection and the a couple of weeks later I started leaking CSF from my nose and I now have low CSF pressure headache and additional symptoms.

So, I appreciate that I am cutting this incredibly close, as I still am trying to prepare my appeal submission, and from the information that I have received including a copy of the HP medical assessment report, I have a few questions:

1. It appears from the HP medical report that she had not been made aware of the result of my previous PIP Tribunal, which upheld my claim and I was awarded enhanced rate for both daily living and mobility, rather than the standard rate for both. So she was working with the original scores, and it looks like she has awarded me the same scores,. My question is would this be deemed negligent of the DWP to withhold this information from her? It's just in my 'bundle' there is email communication between agents, which states that the Tribunal panel were over-generous, as this HP has awarded me lower scores, than the Tribunal panel. Whereas I think she may have thought that she was doing me a favour, but if she knew what the Tribunal had decided she may have also agreed.

2. Having gone through my 'bundle' they have not included any information relating to my previous appeal, the only mention of it is through email communications. There is no copy of the letter I received detailing my new award. Do you think that this should have been included in the 'bundle' meaning I had asked for a copy of everything relating to the decision on my recent award?

3. The HP medical report for the "History" section has for want of a better word mashed some of my medical conditions together. What I mean by this is that I have asthma and sleep apnea, and these have been discussed in the same section "asthma/sleep apnea" and then goes to mash the two details of the two conditions together. Then in the variability section she has written, "Asthma/sleep apnea - symptoms present 2-3 times a year exacerbated by a virus or hay fever." This only applies to my asthma and certainly not my sleep apnea. It's the same for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome/osteoarthritis and complex regional pain syndrome/fibromyalgia. These are all significant conditions in the own right and impact on all aspects of my daily living.

After only 1 hour into the assessment she informed me that we had only completed 25% of the form, she then had request extra time from her manager to continue the assessment. I then felt under even more pressure to complete the assessment as quickly as possible.

What I also believe to be missing from it, because I was never asked, is whether I could complete the tasks in reliably, in a timely fashion, repeatedly and safely. There is some mention of the variability of my conditions but the detail is very limited, which I think is due to us both feeling under pressure.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes,

Michala

Hi. I have looked into this before; telephone recordings are only kept for 3 months (if I remember correctly), but there should still be a record that you DID phone.
Also, in any appeal, put down all your awards and dates (starting with the most recent first and working back), and points received for each section for the last Award. Include DLA and ESA also.

Hi Gary,

Thank you for your reply.

When my PIP was due to be reassessed (after end date set by Tribunal) it was not specified that it was a new claim, but are you saying that's how it is seen? To me that is crazy but that's the system for you!! Any why they don't include the decision from a previous appeal, is totally mental. The stress this causes in just going through the process of trying to get what we as citizens truly believe that we are entitled to, and then it is not included in possible future decisions...I'm blown away.... How do they justify that?

Yes, I am aware that it not the diagnoses that matter but how they impact on your daily living activities but how she has recorded it is far from clear. So, you agree that this is seen as an error.

The thing is unfortunately, I have a significant number of medical diagnoses, and again she is looking at them individually, so not as having an accumulative impact, which I consider to be very important.

One other thing...they keep telling me is that I am articulate, which I agree that I am BUT my medical conditions impact on how my brain functions. For example, having chronic fatigue syndrome when I am having an exacerbation in my fatigue my brain just does not function (brain fog). When suffering from a hemiplegic migraine I am totally off the planet, my speech is rambling, I am unable to even count to 10. When suffering from a cluster headache I become very agitated and totally unware of my surroundings making me incredibly vulnerable, physically wanting and sometimes even trying to head butt a wall or other hard object. Complex regional pain syndrome in my lower legs, again the pain can become so overwhelming making me vulnerable and again I can become totally unware of my surroundings. So in just these few examples, I am far from articulate. In a previous HP medical assessment they stated that because I am articulate that I can't be depressed!

I am a post graduate student trying to study for an MSc, because I am a disabled student studying part-time I have 6 years to complete a course that would normally be completed by a student who is not disabled 1 year full time. I am coming to the end of my 5th year having only completed 2 modules out of 6, and I still have a research project to complete too! Uni have been trying to get rid of me, but I have had an excellent student union adviser, and together we have taken on the fight. So what has come from this is that I am now being given Academic Support. For example, my health conditions make it very difficult for me to read from a computer screen for a long time...even 20 minutes can be very difficult. So, I am now being support to trial having the computer read things to me, and other additional software to aid my ability to study more actively, because it can take me considerably longer to read a research paper for example and absorb the information. Sorry this is so long winded but can I use this as evidence that although I am articulate I have significant difficulties with reading and retaining information, for example?

It's just having to constantly try and justify the difficulties we experience is incredibly frustrating. All I am trying to do is try and find a way of getting myself out of the benefit system. Due to my complex health conditions I am unable to hold down a job, as they make me so unreliable. So, I am trying to be in a position to start my own business. And in every direction I am having to fight...

I truly appreciate all of the support that you offer on this website and forum, without it I don't know where I would be! Thanks to the information you provide I won my last appeal, and hopefully I will be successful once again. So a huge thank you.

Hi Dawn,

Sorry I missed this.

Yes I did contact my MP and she said that she would act on my behalf and so I provided her with a detailed response in the form of an email, of what had gone on with the DWP. However, I have had no further communication from her. It has been something that I have been meaning to chase up but due to ongoing circumstances I haven't managed to get there yet. I'll send an email now!

Michala