Medical Evidence for ESA WCA

Can the panel please offer best advice on what to do re: medical evidence when being re-assessed for ESA?

I have heard it said or written that under new/current WCA regime, Maximus will not write to GPs etc as a matter of course and that the onus is on us to provide relevant medical evidence.

Is this true?

It is an issue because when I go to hospital clinic appointments, doctors make it clear they will not write evidence to the patient's request, but only if DWP or others ask them.

Also if GPs refuse to write letters at any stage but respond as above, what are we to do? Would hospital clinic letters, which take ages to come, be enough?
Thanks

A

Augustus
Having read your post, I hope this may help you, every time I see a consultant,
I ask to receive a copy of the report/letter that they send to my GP, I also ring their secretaries, to make sure.
This saves al lot of time and stress, when you need to send copies to Maximus?dwp
.
Rapheal

Augustus wrote: Can the panel please offer best advice on what to do re: medical evidence when being re-assessed for ESA?

I have heard it said or written that under new/current WCA regime, Maximus will not write to GPs etc as a matter of course and that the onus is on us to provide relevant medical evidence.

Is this true?

It is an issue because when I go to hospital clinic appointments, doctors make it clear they will not write evidence to the patient's request, but only if DWP or others ask them.

Also if GPs refuse to write letters at any stage but respond as above, what are we to do? Would hospital clinic letters, which take ages to come, be enough?
Thanks

A

ATOS wrote to my GP before my WCA and the GP wrote back saying I had MS and asthma.

The problem with medical records is that they just record what is wrong with your health and the WCA is not interested in your health conditions, they are just interested in what you are capable of doing.

It's unlikely you have anything in your records, or letters from consultants with contain the type of phrases and criteria that can be used to mark against the WCA descriptors and that is because the doctors are just doing their job of recording issues with your health.

You can ask them to write something for you but as you already know, they don't have to do it and hospital consultants don't have the time.

My last DWP letter for mandatory reconsideration said something like "you have not provided any new evidence" even though I provided 6 pages of disputes of their scoring and assessment. What they are saying is that as far as they are concerned their medical for the WCA is correct and stands and nothing I can say can challenge that.

So yes the onus is on us to obtain independent medical evidence but it is really Catch 22 when doctors/consultants will not provide it unless the DWP ask and the DWP won't ask because as far as they are concerned they have medical evidence from the healthcare professional they pay to do the WCA.

I have been unable to get to see the consultant through the NHS because of the waiting list so I have had to go private. Even then, getting something in writing is proving very tricky. I am stressed beyond belief right now, just a few days left before my appeal has to be in and my solicitor does not want to begin writing the appeal until they know exactly what is going to be written. This independence medical evidence written by someone in more authority than the Atos doctor, seems crucial in my case.


The best advice I can give to anyone in the lead up to the WCA is to identify the descriptors you qualify against, particularly the support group ones and ask the consultant at your appointments if they don't mind including a line or two in the routine letter they write to your GP following consultation.

For example "Would you mind please including in your letter to the GP how often I am actually losing control of my bladder" because information on a bladder condition ,medication, aids will not score against a descriptor because the descriptor specifically needs to know about loss of control and frequency.

I get your point Millhouse but reading your last paragraph, re: bladder control, surely you have to write how this effects,you both physically as well as the psychological impact,, how often you lose control, how you cope or or r not coping with it, and the impact it has on your daily life, i.e. restrictions it has on your social interactions,
Maybe I am just fortunate in having 4 good consultants, whose reports actually state, how my conditions affect me physically i.e. pain and difficulties these cause me. BUT I may not get into SG, on my next wca assessment, which I eagerly await. NOT.
Rapheal

rapheal wrote: I get your point Millhouse but reading your last paragraph, re: bladder control, surely you have to write how this effects,you both physically as well as the psychological impact,, how often you lose control, how you cope or or r not coping with it, and the impact it has on your daily life, i.e. restrictions it has on your social interactions,
Maybe I am just fortunate in having 4 good consultants, whose reports actually state, how my conditions affect me physically i.e. pain and difficulties these cause me. BUT I may not get into SG, on my next wca assessment, which I eagerly await. NOT.
Rapheal

I can only speak from my own experience but the WCA was not interested in any effects my bladder has on me physically or psychologically. They were only interested in declaring that I scored zero points and was fit for work. So he noted down some of my bladder problems, omitted from the report the real issues and therefore said it was not a problem because it was managed.

As far as getting into the support group is concerned for a bladder problem, you have to meet the descriptor which says at least once a week experience of complete loss of control despite aids etc.

The problem is now I have a WCA report produced by a "doctor" saying that I manage my bladder condition.

I have letters, reports, scans in my medical records regarding my bladder condition but my condition has not been disputed by the WCA.

The only way I can challenge it is to show that I qualify to meet the support group descriptor. My solicitor has said this is more effective when it is evidence from a person with more authority than the "doctor" who did the WCA.

Getting that evidence is the tricky part. The more I think about this, the more mad I get. It's like the system has been set up for people to fail. The DWP don't ask doctors/consultants for reports and a lot of consultants won't do reports unless DWP ask.

You have more chance of getting a GP to write a report but I don't know any of the GPs at my local surgery (how much weight does their opinion carry if they have never met me) and my records are lacking key information which applies to DWP descriptors.

If you have detailed information from your consultants, then I think you lucky and it may be very helpful for you. My suggestion earlier was assuming someone couldn't get a report from a consultant but may be able to "encourage" them to write something specific in their letter they send to the GP when they have their routine appointment.

With hindsight if I had know this was going to be so difficult, I would have managed my appointments with NHS staff very differently. I naively assumed that there would be no problem because it's obvious I can't work. Good luck with your WCA.