do I HAVE to tick a box and fill in Page 20?

norfolk and whey wrote:

Bro58

Thanks to the excellent guides on here, I am aware of the 'mobilising' descriptors in the ESA50.
I (hopefully) covered these in the submition detailing the arthritis in my wife's hands, lack of grip, lack of power in her arms and the amount of pain she would suffer etc in trying to use a wheelchair and similarly a stick.
So if they accept that information, would the BB walking criteria have any bearing?
Or am I being too simplistic?

N&W

Hi N&W,

It's good to see that you are well informed.

You could obviously use this evidence, to help in proving the "walking" limitations part of the "mobilising" descriptors.

You seem to have also covered the upper body problems that may limit the use of a manual wheelchair unaided.

Whether the ATOS HCP will actually take any notice of the BB walking criteria is a different matter, as they have been known to ignore reports from G.P.'s and Consultants, see this extract from The WCA Handbook (Page 41) :

"Medical Services

Revised WCA Handbook 5 Final

MED-ESAAR2011~001 Page 41

2.7.2 The Role of the Atos Healthcare HCP
The Atos Healthcare HCP will provide advice to the Decision Maker using all their skills as a Disability Analyst. They will review all the evidence on file and provide advice on likely functional implications of any medical evidence provided. The HCP must take into account that the primary role of the GP or hospital doctor is to diagnose and treat any medical conditions that the patient/claimant presents to them. Any information or medical report that the doctor provides to the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to disability benefits is a purely secondary activity to his therapeutic role. A clinician does not routinely consider the functional restrictions or disabling effects of the medical conditions that they treat. They must take into consideration that the clinician may have no specific training in assessing disabilities in their medical education, and may have considerable difficulty in giving an accurate assessment or forming an opinion in relation to the functional restrictions experienced by their patient. In addition clinicians usually have, at best, very limited knowledge of entitlement criteria to ESA through the WCA.

Atos Healthcare practitioners are specifically trained in the assessment of disability. By evaluating the clinical history, the physical examination and informal observations in the light of the claimant's daily activities, the medical disability analyst is able to provide an accurate and consistent assessment of the functional restrictions. This assessment is based on the HCP’s medical training and expertise, and a body of established medical knowledge and opinion. The HCP is able to advise the DM on restrictions arising from the disabling condition(s)."

Which is accessible from this page :

ESA Guides

It would still be worthwhile forwarding the confirmation that your wife qualifies for a BB, under the "walking criteria" though, it all helps.

bro58