Approaching GP for Evidence in Case of Appeal

I hope someone can offer tips on a problem I have. When I approached my GP when filling in ESA50, he didn't seem interested and said he couldn't offer an opinion on whether or not I was fit for work because the DWP makes up his own mind.

Therefore, I offered no additional evidence for the assessor.

For an appeal, could someone say how or if i could re-approach my GP, even if it is just to get confirmation of my ailments? Would this be better than nothing?

In my case, for each ailment, he simply referred my to a hospital specialist, so he has had no day-to-day input with my treatment at all, apart from signing off repeat prescriptions monthly.

Could anyone please offer clues as to how to approach him? I have not kept letters sent by the hospitals when I attended appointments.

Many thanks

A

If you are taking a case to the Court of Appeal that is a major unertaking, not advisable without a lawyer.
If you are to have any reasonable chance of succeeding you need at least advice, and if medical evidence is at the core of the case, it will need to be robust

You require a lawyer to extract that evidence from a doctor. If Legally funded this will be provided as a cost of your representation and the lawyer would know what to ask the doctor for.

Please speak to your lawyer about this, and if you havent got one, get one

Augustus wrote:

I hope someone can offer tips on a problem I have. When I approached my GP when filling in ESA50, he didn't seem interested and said he couldn't offer an opinion on whether or not I was fit for work because the DWP makes up his own mind.

Therefore, I offered no additional evidence for the assessor.

For an appeal, could someone say how or if i could re-approach my GP, even if it is just to get confirmation of my ailments? Would this be better than nothing?

In my case, for each ailment, he simply referred my to a hospital specialist, so he has had no day-to-day input with my treatment at all, apart from signing off repeat prescriptions monthly.

Could anyone please offer clues as to how to approach him? I have not kept letters sent by the hospitals when I attended appointments.

Many thanks

A

Hi A,

You can access your medical records from your G.P. Practice, under Data Protection.

You can do this without consulting your G.P., reception should be able to deal with it for you.

Your medical records, should contain all correspondence between your Consultant, and your G.P.

There will be a charge for this, see :

Requesting your medical records

You could approach your Consultant, on an individual basis, and ask whether he/she, can offer any support.

Unfortunately, G.P.'s and Consultants, are not contractually obliged to supply letters of support etc, for patients, however they can not stop you accessing your medical files.

Don't forget, you will only have 1 month to appeal from the date pf your ESA Award letter.

bro58

bro58 wrote:

Augustus wrote:

I hope someone can offer tips on a problem I have. When I approached my GP when filling in ESA50, he didn't seem interested and said he couldn't offer an opinion on whether or not I was fit for work because the DWP makes up his own mind.

Therefore, I offered no additional evidence for the assessor.

For an appeal, could someone say how or if i could re-approach my GP, even if it is just to get confirmation of my ailments? Would this be better than nothing?

In my case, for each ailment, he simply referred my to a hospital specialist, so he has had no day-to-day input with my treatment at all, apart from signing off repeat prescriptions monthly.

Could anyone please offer clues as to how to approach him? I have not kept letters sent by the hospitals when I attended appointments.

Many thanks

A

Hi A,

You can access your medical records from your G.P. Practice, under Data Protection.

You can do this without consulting your G.P., reception should be able to deal with it for you.

Your medical records, should contain all correspondence between your Consultant, and your G.P.

There will be a charge for this, see :

Requesting your medical records

You could approach your Consultant, on an individual basis, and ask whether he/she, can offer any support.

Unfortunately, G.P.'s and Consultants, are not contractually obliged to supply letters of support etc, for patients, however they can not stop you accessing your medical files.

Don't forget, you will only have 1 month to appeal from the date pf your ESA Award letter.

bro58

Hi A,

See also :

Charging for medical records

bro58

If you are taking a case to the Court of Appeal that is a major unertaking, not advisable without a lawyer.
If you are to have any reasonable chance of succeeding you need at least advice, and if medical evidence is at the core of the case, it will need to be robust

You require a lawyer to extract that evidence from a doctor. If Legally funded this will be provided as a cost of your representation and the lawyer would know what to ask the doctor for.

Please speak to your lawyer about this, and if you havent got one, get one

Hi bro58

For an appeal, would I have time to sort out GP support/clarification, or does all this have to be supplied with the appeal form?

Or put another way, if I enclosed something with the appeal form would it improve my chances at the reconsideration stage?

Also, i can't afford representation for an appeal tribunal. Is there evidence that those who go alone are less successful, or are viewed differently by tribunal panel? [ie if going alone, you can't be that ill]

Thanks

A