ESA assessment of a Neurological Condition

Hello
I understand that the face to face WCA meeting must be conducted by a Doctor for certain conditions; neurological conditions such as ME being one of them.
My question is - what if the pre-board check by ATOS has been carried out by a nurse? for someone in these categories?

Is this within the rules? Or do the rules on Doctors being required to carry out certain WCA's not apply to the initial check of the ESA50?

Also - where can I find a difinitive list of the conditions that a Doctor, rather than some other kind of HCP must assess?
Thank you

Hi MissPink, I don't think we have yet found a definitive list of those conditions that warrant assessment by a Doc. As far as I am aware, it doesn't matter what type of HCP does the pre-board check.

There are rules about what a doctor is required to assess or in the case of nurses, ones with neurological training. I just can't remember where I saw the list, but it was for examinations not pre board
For example, as I recall Blls Palsy had to be a doctor examining.

Hi MP,

Here is the ATOS website, if you want to check it out :

www.atoshealthcare.com/claimants/during_your_assessment

bro58

You might find some help in the posts in this thread on the Freedom of Information site, "What Do They Know"

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/decisions..._wca#outgoing-215418

There are pdf files which can be downloaded (though note that the first one is usually just an acknowledgement, and some others may be just acknowledgements of "hurry up" notices) which in this case do include lists of what should be covered by a doctor.

There's a long annotation pointing out that someone else who asked the same question received a somewhat different answer.

You may also care to notice that ME/CFS does not appear on that list. It's status is decidedly ambiguous - the DWP has said that it does not have ME/CFS on the list, since it only involves a "complex neurological condition" occasionally. There's a lot more murky water still to be plumbed before we can get ATOS/DWP to admit the real rules.

Carruthers, can you point me to the source of that DWP statement about CFS being a complex neurological condition occasionally? I want to find out the current position on what makes a CFS case worthy of a doctor at the WCA. I feel some guidance is needed for CFS patients on how to ensure they get a doctor. I can't find anything very helpful - maybe I haven't searched effectively enough.