Safely & Mobility

Hi JoGP1970,
There are 4 'reliability' criteria that apply to all descriptors- both dsily living and mobility. These derive from Regulation 4(2A) PIP Regs. 2013
Safety
Reasonable time
Repetition
Acceptable standard

All 4 criteria need to be met.
Safety- does the activity give rise to a risk of substantial harm?
The leading case on this concerned 3 different appeals that were held together as they all related to safety issues. Two of these appeals concerned epilepsy. One had very occasional fits, the other had regular fits. However in both cases there was a clear risk that eg if appellants were carrying a hot pan of food and fitted, or were in the bath serious injury or possibly death could occur if a fit caused drowning. It didn't matter that the fits occurred very seldom because clearly the risk of falls, hot pans drowning etc was still present, and harm could be caused.
You have described a history of stumbling and actual falls. Remember that a stumble is basically an inch away from an actual fall- you manage to grab a fence or wobble a bit and stay upright. Or of course, a friend keeps you steady. Any if these stumbles could lead to you falling to the floor, and any fall on a hard pavement unlikely to cause a substantial injury, or worse if you fall in the road. Given that you actually fall every 2 or 3 weeks, this indicates a real risk. If you include the stumbles, I suspect that you may stumble all the time and are lucky not to be hurt more.
Remember you don't actually need o achieve substantial harm, merely that there is a risk if it occurring. That could occur with any fall. Therefore it would appear that walking for you is not 'safe'
Under Mobility descriptor 1- you might be able to argue that you need to be accompanied on all journeys - both familiar (and hence unfamiliar). 1f 12 points. Even though you might always take the car, or bus, all journeys must have an element on foot- you will have to walk from the front door to the car, and further steps at the end of the journey. If you can not walk safely then 1f is possible since you can not complete any journey without being accompanied. This will be more so if you yourself can not drive as well as not being able to walk safely. Needing help to get up after falls us also evidence you need to be accompanied on all journeys.
Under mobility 2 - the distances aren't maximum possible. Breathlessness, fatigue and pain can all impact to reduce the theoretical maximum. If you have significant pain and or breathlessness this indicates not reaching an 'acceptable standard '. Any walking done with pain etc is discounted. Thus although you might be able to do a maximum of eg 350m to the local shop, if pain increases and is quite severe after 5m, then your walking ability for PIP is just 5m!
Fatigue might reduce your ability to repeat (as many times as reasonably required across the whole day - or as many as you might want to do if not disabled. ) This might also happen with breathlessness and pain as well.
Speed is also relevant. If your health condition causes you to take more than twice that of a non disabled person you won't fulfil a 'reasonable time'.
If you pause for a few moments it is likely that this interrupts one period of walking and creates a series of shorter walks.
Falling and stumbling as well as speed (even if you are not slow enough to get outside 'reasonable time ') could all comprise not 'acceptable standard.

What I have set out is the law. You need to work out your walking distance as per above, and explain how often you fall and stumble and talk about the injuries etc Be mindful that what I have described under the legal approach may not be what you wrote in the claim form, so you nay need to justify. You could say you overestimated your walking ability. If you try to bamboozle the assessor with law they probably won't understand.
If you have falls, this could be relevant to bathing, using the toilet and cooking tasks as well. The 4 criteria apply to all descriptors. Think whether you can use an aid such as a grab rail for the bath, or if you are still unsafe, too slow, not acceptable etc this could then indicate the need for physical help. If a physical assistance still won't help, then it is likeky you will achueve the 'I can't do at all category often the most points version. Mobility descriptor 1 is basically the same as this in that it is cumulative there is an understanding that if you need to be accompanied on familiar journeys this will apply also on unfamiliar ones too.
I hope this helps.
LL26

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