ESA home visit re medical next week

fiona wrote: I was transferred from IB to ESA last year and put in WRAG but on appeal eas transferred into Support group . Recieved a form in January to be reassesed and have my home visit next week .
Any advice what to expect or how to handle it ? Should I record it ? I'm so nervous over it all

Kind regards

In case you did not have an assessment on your previous award.

ESA Medical – What to expect

The major difference is that the interview will not be conducted using a computer although the format and questioning will be very similar.

You should expect obtuse questions rather than ones specifically about your health, for example; do you watch the TV and what do you do during a normal day? Watching the TV implies that you can sit for log periods, that you are unlikely to have sight problems and that you do not have concentration problems, so you need to think before you answer. Perhaps you can watch TV but only lying down as you cannot sit for more than a few minutes, perhaps the programmes you watch are audio described, or you do not watch programmes that require your complete attention.

You can covertly record the assessment, but you need to be aware that should the doctor discover you doing so they will terminate the interview, so make sure that it is not obvious and do a test run before to make sure that the levels are OK and the device does not make any strange noises while recording.

If you have more questions, please reply to this post.

Gordon

pusscatsmum wrote: If one was to have a home visit for an ESA, could one have their own OT present who could then validate it all and also take note of questions asked, help with responses and also the most important aspect in my mind, review the subsequent ESA report when it is sent to you, if you manage to get it when asked for. ??

Claimants are entitled to have a companion with them, even with a home assessment, and that person is entitled to take notes during the assessment.

Unless you have a specific condition that means that you have problems answering the doctors questions, it is unlikely that the companion will be able to answer many, if any of those questions, the assessor may treat it as interfering in the medical, and refuse to continue if it persists, but you do not know until you try.

Gordon

fiona wrote: Thanks you for your replies, a few more questions ! Will he examine me reflex', range of movements etc and also my drugs make me extremely drowsy and increase my fuzzy head. Will this be taken into account ?

Thank you

It is possible that there will be a physical examination but it should not be any more than what you have suggested, remember you are not require do perform any action that would cause you significant discomfort, if this is the case then you should make it clear to the assessor why you will not allow them to proceed.

They should take into account the effects of your medicine, it will not hurt to make them aware of any problems that you are suffering on the day.

Gordon