Different!

I had another face to face assessment for ESA yesterday. It was different! My appointment was at 3.30pm and I eventually got called at 4.50pm! I was walking out of the building by 5.05pm! It wasn't over that quick because they wanted to go home but due to a new tack that kind of happened last time. Now I completed the ESA Form on line and then printed it off for signature and posting. On top of the form itself I included another 24 pages of additional information including a letter of support from my GP. The assessment was done by a nurse who seemed nice enough. Polite. courteous and professional. She introduced herself and said that she had read the majority of the information provided. She asked me how I got there and I said by car. That's was basically it. No what do you do all day, what time do you go to bed and all the usual questions. None of that. She said she had read the report provided by the previous assessor (where I was put into the support group) and wanted to concentrate on one particular issue. She said she didn't want to muddy the waters by including other issues at this stage as this would probably not be required. We discussed this one issue and how it affects my life/day/health and after typing away as we spoke after a few minutes she stopped and said that's all she needed. She thanked me for coming and apologised for the long wait. I said to her that reading between the lines of what she had said I could look for a favourable outcome. She politely said that she doesn't make the decision but her report would be based on what we had just discussed. She then smiled and slightly nodded. We then shook hands and wished each other a good evening and I left.

I'm not sure if this is a new thing or not as the same kind of thing happened during my last assessment 3 years ago although it did last a bit longer. At one point the doctor stood up and apologised saying he just needed to have a word with a colleague. When he came back a short time later he would up the assessment saying between the lines that, whilst it wasn't his decision to make I didn't have too much to worry about. Therefore it would seem that if you can prove (yes I know that's subjective!) that you clearly meet one descriptor that puts you into the support group on both previous occasions the health care professional took the view that there wasn't much point in discussing other issues. After all you are either in the support group or not. There is nothing extra to be gained by either side if you meet more than one descriptor especially where there is little doubt. Obviously if it was borderline and you might be put in the wrag it would be somewhat different. Of course I could still have some non-medically qualified person disagreeing and forcing me down the route of MR and appeal. But given what I have outlined I would be suprised if that happens. One final note, I can not stress enough how important a letter of support from your GP is especially when, amongst other things it made clear comment and endorsement of the particular issue I discussed with that nurse. It cost me £10 and was worth every penny, Best wishes and good like to you all.

Dave

Thanks Gordon

It does beg the question, with budget cuts etc why the face to face assessment had to be carried out at all. You know. We have all the information we need without having to go through that!

Dave