ESA Work Capability Assessment

Hi, I'm looking for help and support, my husband had a stroke in june 2013 and whilst in hospital they discovered he has heart failure and LBBB with an ejection fraction of 23%, he went back to work 3 and 1/2 months after the stroke and heart failure diagnosis, his employer was very supportive and allowed him to do work than was less hands on however he was making mistakes due to his reduced concentration abilities and also memory problems, finally he was disciplined for giving a client medication after expressley being told not to, he found another job in the same field and was sacked for giving a client the wrong dosage of medication, shortly after he began experiencing fainting spells and was advised by his GP he could no longer work. We applied for and have been getting the ESA assessent phase payment since june 2015, this is contribution based and due to end 16 june. we finally received an appt for his WCA on 20 may. He had a biventricular pacemaker/defibrillator implanted on 12 april. He suffers from breathless, extreme fatigue and nausea and is unable to walk very far without feeling breathless and being in pain. I am so worried about the WCA, please could you help?
Many thanks
Pattie

Hi Pattie and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I'm sorry that you and your husband are having such a worrying time

Our ESA guides have a section that explains what to expect from the face 2 face assessment. It will not be a 'medical' in any accepted sense of the word and you will wonder about the relevance of some questions!

The ESA assessment does not look at whether someone is fit for work, what kind of work they might be capable of or whether anyone would employ them! What it does look at is very specific criteria (descriptors) and it is meeting these that will result in the award of ESA.

ESA claims and appeals

Qualifying for the WRAG

Qualifying for the Support Group

You might wish to bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future. that means that you will be able to return with further questions/comments without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously if everything relating to one claim is kept in the same place - and I hope you will find it useful too

I can see that you are just trying to help but I don't think it is appropriate or relevant!

Gordon

HI Gordon, have you any help or guidance to offer, the WCA is now 2 days away
many thanks
Pattie

My husband had his face to face WCA today and the health professional advised he was recommending my husband for the support group!!! I took further evidence to the WCA, he read it carefully, got more information from my husband about his physcial health, said he was going to speak to advisor to check if he could cut the WCA a bit shorter since it was evident my husband was suffering from severe heart failure. He was gone 10 minutes or so, when he came back he said the advisor said my husband should go into the support group as well. He took a bit more information, told us although he was recommending my husband be placed in support group, the final decision would be made by DWP decision maker. But we are very hopeful. Thanks so much for all your help and support!!

Pattie