Medical Evidence Required

My wife who is now 58 years old has been on incapacity benefit for over 20 years due to a incapacitating back problem. When her health problem was fist diagnosed her doctor told her the only treatment he could prescribe would be very strong pain killers.She is not due to receive the IB50/ESA Health Questionaire until November 2012. But what medical evidence could/should we get from her doctor to return with the Health Questionaire which would help with her case to stay on incapacity benefit. Can anyone help?

It's important to remember that what matters for ESA is what she can do, not what her diagnosis is.

So when you approach her doctor, you may find it helpful to refer your doctor to what you consider to be the relevant ESA descriptors and ask him whether, having regard to what he knows of her, he feels there is anything helpful that he could put in a medical report.

It may be that he will be prepared to provide her with a medical report for her to send in with her ESA50, but you should be prepared for the likelihood that he may prefer to wait for the DWP to send him a form.

Either way, if your wife has discussed it with him, drawing his attention to the relevant descriptors and asking his opinion, you will have an idea of whether his report will be helpful.