Self harm not noted in PA4 report

Hello Tracy,

You are NOT stupid, and you should not feel ashamed or guilty for doing what the law requires you to do. The only person who should feel any of those emotions is the person who is a qualified Health Care Professional who was in charge of the assessment and who was reasonability for keeping you physically and mentally safe.

My best advice to is something I recognise you may not be able to do, particularly given the current covid environment. That is to find yourself a PIP buddy. Someone whom you trust enough to reveal all the intimate information which you are required to reveal in the PIP process. It is a personal passion of mine that no-one should have to go through this process alone, in particularly anyone with Mental Health issues. If you can find such a person, get them to be your confidant and secretary, tell them about the issues you have with Daily Living and Mobility and get them to record them in a letter to the DWP. The letter should be written in the third person – i.e. Tracy cannot x, y and z. It should include a statement that I (your PIP buddy) am having to write the letter since Tracy’s anxiety means that she is unable. It should be sent with a covering letter from you saying that you have read your friend’s letter and agree with it.

What should be in that letter, whether or not you get someone to do it for you, or have to do it yourself is a list of what you disagree with. You need to not only identify what is wrong, but say what your reality is, ideally giving real life examples.

You should also make sure you include a complaint about the assessor how giving you an opportunity to explain how your anxiety affects you and no recording the fact that you self harmed and had suicidal ideation.

If you have not read our guides I would highly recommend them.

PIP resources

They are all good, but I would suggest you start with the first link, and then scroll down to the section on appeals and MRs.

I hope this helps a little, and please do get back to us if you wish.
Catherine

p.s. you could also make an official complaint about the Assessor, but I fear that doing this may drain your limited energies and distract you from the more essential MR.