doctor support

pjd

You certainly need to be careful in discussing the ESA50 with your doctor, in as much as a Decision Maker or a Tribunal Panel, believing that the content of any report your doctor has written has been heavily influenced by you.

However, to be effective, any report or letter your GP produces should address the ESA criteria, for example, a letter that says the claimant is not fit for work will have little value, but one that says that the patient has mobility problems and is unable to walk without pain over a particular distance, would be quite useful.

With regard the email tips, I believe that these are sent out when you subscribe to the news letter, however, the site is being updated at the moment, so I'm not sure if this is still the case, see

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance

Gordon

pjd

I believe that you can register to receive the ESA tips by following the Employment and Support Allowance link in the blue section on the left of the page, you'll need to scroll down on the new page to find the registration box.

With regard to the size of the box in Question 4 on the ESA50. There is no specified size, however, reading the advice given to the ATOS "doctor" (see the WCA Handbook), it is clearly intended to be bigger than what one might grasp in one hand e.g. a milk carton, I would assume something about the size of a shopping basket.

However, this does not mean that there is an expectation that both hands must used, as an example where one arm is used to brace the box against the body while it is moved sincluded in the guidance. Remember, the test is of your ability to move a box on a level surface, not lift from the ground.

Hope this explains it.

Gordon

elaine wrote:

You can register for the tips right at the top of this page.
You don't have to be a member and it's deparate from the regular newsletter.

I've been moderating for nearly two years and that's the first time I've noticed the two free tip boxes

Gordon