Challenging a medical report

What do you think Letitia, do you remember her giving you INFORMED consent at each stage of the process? Did she make a note of the consent on the form? As part of the informed consent did she tell you what the decision maker wished to gain further information about..DM Guide The claimant is referred only when a medical examination is NECESSARY to obtain information to enable the DM to reach a decision on the claim or entitlement to benefit1t. (they have underline the word necessary)
DMs Guide …61024 Before submitting a case to Medical Services, the DM should be clear on why help is needed.DM 61025 Any request for medical advice should normally contain 1. a brief explanation of the problem and 2. a list of the evidence and 3. any authorities consulted. All sources of reference should be shown. If she acted beyond her remit and the information being requested it could prove dificult for them, maybe "tresspass on the person" even allegations of battery could be made in some cases. It would be interesting to get those details from them under the data protection act (subject access request)Even on the extract of the reply you give it is more of a statement than a request, the threat of loss of benefit unless you comply is almost duress, consent is not consent unless freely given.. it may come down to your word against hers in the end unless the paperwork doesn't add up.. keep plodding away Latitia, it's getting interesting.. AdamAnt

hi adamant , she definately did not ask for my consent ,She actually spoke very little ,told myself and my husband her name and showed me her badge and simple said she was here for the examination in relation to my claim as more information was needed ,she never said what information she was told to get ,She sat down for a couple of minutes started writing in the report file , She then got her stethascope and preceeded to sound my chest lungs ,did BP etc ,She just told me what she wanted me to do at each step , and never once did she ask my consent or ask me if i was capable to do it ,I am over pension age and i didnt know i had to give her my consent before she could examine me ,There is no typical day mentioned no flucuations mentioned and no day to day mentioned it is a very basic report with very little information ,no explainations anywhere and where she has added her opinion is all untruths ,omitted all the information i told her about how my conditions affect me ,The only thing i have from the decision maker is the statement of reasons ,That although our Dr has stated that you have inpairments in your hands spine ankles and right lower leg ,you walked 15 meters unaided today and reach behind you to lift a blanket and cushion and climbed 11 steps ,I walked 10 ft to my bathroom ,used the toilet and 10 ft back to my chair ,thats all and the EMP wrote in her opinion i could walk in access of 200 meters before severe pain and she did state pain, and in her opinion i likely can cope ,That is all that is in the statement of reasons they sent me ,Adamant is there other stuff i can ask for from the Decision Maker ,and if so can you put it very simply as i find it hard to understand ,God Bless you ,you have been a great help to me take care , letitia

hi adamant , i forgot to say there is nothing writen in her report about consent at all ,and i think maybe this is why they are panicking also as i posted a few posts ago my name or NINO is not on it either not on any page ,thanks again ,letitia

Latitia. Firstly even medical opinion needs to be based on fact in order to be used as evidence. What was the source of her facts, where did she get this opinion from? Did she see you walking 200 meters.. The report sounds a little suspect to me with the exclusions you mentioned, they generally include “a typical day”, variations in conditions etc. There is an actual form in the DLA section on this site.. does it compare to that?
Another point is that they need to give reasons if their opinion conflicts with your own version, why should she disagree with your account, what evidence has she? Not just opinion, but evidence used to form that opinion. Their reports have to be factual
Was her opinion formed by something you was alleged to have said. Even that can be contested, if you did say something that was misinterpreted and used against you, because you will probably have already given that same information on the application form in writing in a more relaxed environment. To use the same information obtained whilst under the pressure or stress during a doctors visit in preference to that given in writing earlier can be challenged. This is particularly relevant for people with mental or emotional problems that can’t cope with stressful situations.
It must be remembered what Steve said in earlier posts that medical reports and even other evidence can still be used, even if they are not obtained in accordance with procedures, as long as they are relevant.. it is at the tribunals discretion.. Having said that, the intent now would be to reduce the credibility of the evidence. Having no NINO or name on the report indicates the slipshod manner and lack of detail by which the report was made and also would cast doubt as to its accuracy of its contents or even who it belongs to.. I have more to say Latitia but I worry about hijacking this area, I had better make way for other posts at the moment, Get back to you... AdamAnt

HI The response you have received from Atos is a typical response ie the doctor says he she always advises patients prior to medicals. You have to keep going with your complaint and ask Atos for a statement from their doctorm relaiting to your medical specificaly. When I took my complaint to the independant tier reveiw of atos they critisided Atos for making such statements and said that in future they should follow up such comments into a specific statement of fact from the medical concerned. Atos will always use vague responses to you you need to ask specific questions relating to your medical. You need to ask Atos to send you ALL documents relating to your case including internal memos and statements you are entitled to them.

When I received these I found out that the information actual supplied in the doctors statements replying to my complaint had been lets say drafted diffrently by the complaints team to make Atos look better and try to limit my complaint. Again the independant tier ruled that the complaints section has manipulated the doctors tsatements and failed to follow up areas of concern.

You have to keep plugging away I will get the independent tiers statement and put some of the fact online when I have time.

You really do have to pin them down and ask specific questions emailing them as much and as often as you wish. The complaints department even tried to manipulate the disciplinary codes so the doctor would face less of an investigation when he was found to have behaved incorrectly.

They DO try to cover things up but keep digging and ask them for ALL the paperwork I could not believe what was being wrote in emails ect and a lot of it did not match what was being sent to me in the reply letters.

don't give up and best wishes

Well done AustinP, that was really interesting, sounds like you have been busy, hope we can see some of it, a bit of inspiration for us all..
Letitia not giving consent at the time of the examination wouldn’t have helped, so don’t worry about that, it would have been classed as a refusal and that could have affected your claim badly.. but the fact that they didn’t carry out the correct guidelines and procedures in this and other matters is interesting…. “Where a party is permitted to introduce evidence which has been obtained in a way which shows a "deliberate breach of procedures laid down in an official code of practice" the proceedings become unfair, see R v Quinn [1990]. The punchline is “deliberate” if it wasn’t deliberate then was it incompetence either way it's OK. The report loses credence and a tribunal (and decisions) is meant to be based on fairness.. AustinP’s advice is bang on.. keep chipping away. On top of Austins advice there also appears to be mistakes and omissions in the evidence gathering which I would also concentrate on, you could try to identify the evidence used by the DM to make the original decision. Find out what info they wanted from the EMP what was provided to her etc.. You will have the usual list of evidence used in the statement of reasons but try digging a bit deeper .
It sounds from your description of your report that the LIMA computer system has been fed with your (possibly flawed) details collected by the EMP and as usual has churned out a decision that you wouldn’t recognise about yourself. Atos states that “A detailed “audit trail” monitors how the report and the advice it contains were produced (by LIMA)” You could try and get a copy of that to see what input it received and whether the doctor altered it afterwards. I bet you meet resistance!!!
So many things to look at Letitia, best regards ..AdamAnt