Please help: PIP visit despite psychiatrist letter

Thank you so much for your kind wishes, MariW, I appreciate that very much. I agree that none of this is very fair but on the upside they will see how it actually is for me and then it will be over.The psychiatrist's place are trying hard to move things around so someone I know from there can be with me for the visit, so fingers crossed that works out.

It isn't helpful that strangers in my house is one of my PTSD triggers, which the psychiatrist did say in his letter to them. So did my GP. But because they didn't take the letters into account, I ended up in a bit of a situation. As I am also agoraphobic and sometimes due to complex PTSD I dissociate, the thought of trying to head out to a strange place to meet a strange person and do the assessment followed by a return journey is just a total no no. I have had to cancel medical appointments with people I do know for which I do have notice, so going to a centre is just not an option.

The very difficult thing is they have given me only a few days notice for anyone to be with me for the visit, either at home or at a centre and as I do not have a permanent carer yet,am in the process of getting my new CPN (really this could not have happened at a worse time), and my friends who currently help have jobs and/or families to work around in order to help me and need notice for extra stuff, I had to choose fast. I chose home as the lesser of two evils. If I can't answer the door I can't answer the door. At least i will be in the safety of my own home and not having a panic attack at some centre.

I have no idea what their policy is really as to who gets paperwork assessments and who doesn't despite medical letters, but I was talking to my GP about it all earlier and he said unfortunately this happens a lot. I know it isn't personal, but is is still exceptionally hard.

Gordon, please excuse my ignorance, but what is the OP?

Sheryle wrote: Thank you so much for your kind wishes, MariW, I appreciate that very much. I agree that none of this is very fair but on the upside they will see how it actually is for me and then it will be over.The psychiatrist's place are trying hard to move things around so someone I know from there can be with me for the visit, so fingers crossed that works out.

It isn't helpful that strangers in my house is one of my PTSD triggers, which the psychiatrist did say in his letter to them. So did my GP. But because they didn't take the letters into account, I ended up in a bit of a situation. As I am also agoraphobic and sometimes due to complex PTSD I dissociate, the thought of trying to head out to a strange place to meet a strange person and do the assessment followed by a return journey is just a total no no. I have had to cancel medical appointments with people I do know for which I do have notice, so going to a centre is just not an option.

The very difficult thing is they have given me only a few days notice for anyone to be with me for the visit, either at home or at a centre and as I do not have a permanent carer yet,am in the process of getting my new CPN (really this could not have happened at a worse time), and my friends who currently help have jobs and/or families to work around in order to help me and need notice for extra stuff, I had to choose fast. I chose home as the lesser of two evils. If I can't answer the door I can't answer the door. At least i will be in the safety of my own home and not having a panic attack at some centre.

I have no idea what their policy is really as to who gets paperwork assessments and who doesn't despite medical letters, but I was talking to my GP about it all earlier and he said unfortunately this happens a lot. I know it isn't personal, but is is still exceptionally hard.

Gordon, please excuse my ignorance, but what is the OP?

Hi S,

OP is "forum speak"

OP = Original Poster.

The poster who started the topic/thread. (you )

Good luck !!!!!

bro58

Aaah. thanks Bro! That's funny. I assumed OP was some DWP term! How embarrassing! lol Thanks.

Update: spoke to my psychiatrist who called me earlier and he has been wonderful. Has spent the past two days trying to find the appropriate person to be with me for the assessment and I have since spoken to this person, a social worker, at length. She knows my situation and although I have not met her yet she kindly spent about an hour reassuring me and is coming much earlier than the appointment to make sure I am comfortable with her. I explained I would probably be fine with her as she is a "safe" person as she is being sent by someone I completely trust, my psychiatrist, who also spent a long time telling me how nice this lady is and how he knows her well etc.

She will be there as a witness and to help me if I have a panic attack etc so I feel a lot better now. She can answer the door to the assessor and help me answer cos I have a tendency to go blank in person (you'd never think it from my huge posts, but face to face is different for me).

Thanks again everyone and will let you know how it all goes. Terrified still, but t at least I will have someone who knows what's what with me and I know the assessment will go ahead now rather than me looking through the peephole at the assessor and just not feeling able to let her in.

I have never appreciated my medical team more. They have all worked together, spoken with each other and gone out of their way to help me and I am grateful; some people do not have such terrific support from their doctors and for that I consider myself very lucky.

Also the psychiatrist said the same as my GP today in this ignoring of requests such as his is not uncommon in his experience. I didn't ask him if that was the case, he simply said it. That shocked me. Two doctors have now said that to me in as many days. He wasn't happy about it. Also, the pain specialist that Capita apparently spoke to... well that isn't even possible. That specialist is extended annual leave! Too bad they said they had spoken to all these doctors, really.Absolutely no need for them to have made up that.

First of all, thank you all so very much for the amazing support I have received here. I am grateful.

Well, I did it! I did dissociate unfortunately and when I "came back" I got a bit lost but the social worker (who was so nice she even made me tea and did the washing up I hadn't been able to) helped me "come back" and settled me down and did some speaking too. I did have a panic attack at the start which embarrassed me as well, but I was settled down fast and just feel so relieved it is over! And so pleased I dd it. Actually feel really proud of myself because it was a huge trigger to have a strange person in my home.

On that topic, the assessor had seen NONE of the medical reports at all or any of the consultants and doctors letters requesting a paperwork assessment only. The only thing out of about 70 or 80 or so pages of medical reports that the DWP had sent over was my repeat prescription list and the form I completed! None of the supporting evidence at all! Anyway, fortunately I had all the originals of everything and showed her them, so I am very grateful to the DWP man who said I should have them ready. I also told her about Capita saying they had spoken to all my doctors and she said "Did they say that?" and I said yes, or I wouldn't have told you and that they told me based on what my doctors had said to them this was the reason they had elected to give me a non paperwork based assessment. She looked rather surprised as she read the letters from the consultants asking that i not have a face to face.

I have to say that the assessor was friendly and professional and was patient with me when I got lost and the physical test wasn't bad, it involved a bit of finger squeezing and touching fingers together and so on and attempting to put my hands behind my head and to see how far my hands would reach the floor but I did not have to get out of the chair at any time thank goodness (I fell before all the exercise part which was also embarrassing).

She told me I would get the decision in a couple of months, probably but couldn't say for sure. She also talked to the social worker and suggested I get provided with an occupational therapist and so hopefully that will get done as I think it will really help me. I did say some of what I had put on my form had altered as my situation had changed a little since I had written it as had my repeat prescription form and she said not to worry, her assessment would override my form. Made me wonder why I filled in the form at all if that was the case cos pushing on a pen for that amount of text hurt a lot.

She was all set to leave and asked if I had any questions and I told her I was confused about the how many buses question on the mobility section, as being agoraphobic I had not seen a bus in a long time closeup and personal and may have ticked the wrong box. She said it doesn't matter. I said it did matter because I am not sure I ticked the right box cos I think in miles not metres or buses (I have no idea why she was ready to leave without asking me about any mobility aspects). So I asked how many buses was how many metres please, and could she demonstrate from my living room to my front door and she said that was about 20. She then asked how many times I could walk that before I had to rest and was it about once and I said probably, maybe twice if I had taken the morphine but that that would likely be rather unsafe because of how it effects me and that I had already fallen and dislocated my shoulder and had to have it put back properly. I forgot to tell her I had also ended up in A & E twice too, so I hope that doesn't make a difference to the outcome. I then said what about the other mobility question, cos she hadn't asked me about mobility at all until I prompted her and that worries me a bit. However, after I mentioned it she then asked could I plan a journey and I said not on morphine really, I would likely get a bit confused but I didn't plan journeys cos I can't go anywhere on my own or I will fall over or freak out or both. I also told her about the dissociative fugues and when I could walk better I had ended up in places I had no idea why I was there, had a panic attack because of it and so on and the social worker said she had seen all that on my records which she had been shown by the psychiatrist. She also told me she had to ask did I drive even though she said she realized this was a ridiculous question in my case and I said yes, I am a competitive racing driver to which she laughed and said she had to ask these questions to complete her form and they were standard and then asked me did I drink or take illegal drugs.

She encouraged me to go to the physiotherapy the pain mgt people had suggested (she read the reports) as she said it was worth trying and would help me gain strength in my arms and that generally these things are one on one and not in a group so I should call and ask if it is or could be for me, so I may well investigate more because if they could help me at least reach the stage where I could lift a kettle that would be fantastic

Anyway, she then left and the social worker said the assessor was correct and I would really benefit from an occupational therapist and so fingers crossed that will now get sorted. So there really were some benefits to all of this even if I don't get an award. The social worker said she was 99 per cent certain I would get an award, but I am not counting on it though because that is just one person's opinion and having read posts on here from people who sound in a bad way and have received nil points for anything, you just never know with these things. Plus I have no idea what the assessor has written. But at least it is over with now and I am OK.

I do have some questions which are:
Is it usual that the assessor's report overrides the form the claimant completes, does anyone know?
Once it goes back to the DWP is it now that someone is finally going to contact the doctors that Capita obviously didn't?
Will they bother reading all the medical reports etc now? Or is this a bit of a maybe, maybe not situation?

And finally... here is a funny for you all... literally minutes after she had left, my friend who walks the dog arrived. She picked up my mail for me and lo and behold there was a letter from Capita. I gingerly opened it, to find a large letter thanking me for my clam for PIP and informing me that my consultation appointment with a health professional will be at a centre somewhere in a city miles from me at the end of this month and that it is (in bold letters) important that I attend!!! I would bang my head against the wall a lot if that were physically possible!!!! lol