Pain And WRAG / SG

Hi

I suffer from several painful conditions,

Osteoarthritis
Costochondritis since 2002
Pilonidal sinus x 2 operations which has left me with pain in my legs and base of spine.

So I cannot walk without being in pain, or sitting or even just standing all are painful. Cannot lift anything or hold anything with out making the pain worse.

I also believe I would be a danger to myself and others in the work place, because of the pain I am in and the side effects of the drugs to try and control that pain.

But it seems that pain from the above conditions is not reason to be placed in the SG.

Even thro I cannot do anything or even nothing without being in pain.

I am on BuTrans patches and tramadol, and try and control my pain. To much pain meds and I am lying in bed looking at the celling and out of my mind, to little pain meds and I am in bed wishing I was dead.

Regards Mike

You can be placed in the support group if you cannot mobilise further than 50m. This descriptor applies if you cannot repeatedly mobilise 50m. So if due to severe pain walking at one point in the day prevents you from walking again later or the next day you may be able to argue you satisfy the descriptor. However be prepared that they may suggest you could mobillise in a manual wheelchair so you would have to explain/justify that your condition affects you in such a way that you cannot self propel a wheelchair.

I was just looking at the support group criteria again and found this;

You will be treated as having limited capability for work-related activities if:

you suffer from some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement and, by
reasons of such disease or disablement, there would be a substantial risk to the
mental or physical health of any person if you were found not to have limited
capability for work-related activity.

I mention this because you said you fear you may be a danger to yourself or others. This may be hard to justify, however, and you would have to give specific examples.

Mike,

Please do not give up hope! My husband was placed in the WRAG support group and we appealed but lost, even though the Advisor at the Job Centre advised that in their opinion they could not put him forward for a job or any training courses to help find a job due to his medical condition and medication (was included in the information submitted to the Tribunal).

Due to the length of time that passed, received another claim form for ESA just after the tribunal hearing. Again, submitted and placed in WRAG but appealed again and the Tribunal have placed him in the Support Group.

What do we think helped win the argument on the second attempt? Lots and lots of information to back up our case:

* Include a letter/report from your hospital consultant(s) about your conditions. It may mean that you have to pay for the letter(s)/report(s) to be done privately but they can be used for a number of issues as evidence of your condition. It can be surprising what information they include in these reports that you are not aware of in respect of your own condition.

* Include a letter/report from your GP about your condition. Again you may have to pay for it.

* Detail all of your medication - how much and how often.. What are the side effects that you suffer from. How does this restrict you. I.e. Does the medication mean that you can not drive or impacts on your awareness of hazards etc?

* Include why you can not use aids to help you - my husband's condition includes severe back pain which restricts mobility. At first Tribunal hearing, they asked why not using a mobility scooter or wheelchair. Explain in detail why you can not i.e. your medical condition means that you can not sit for x period of time etc, movement of arms to push a wheelchair means that you are moving your back which means more pain due to your medical condition. If you use crutches or a walking stick state this. If you can not use them, state why.

* If you have had any aids provided or adaptations made to your home by Social Services (or a.n. other) refer to these and why they have been done.

*Repeat, Repeat and Repeat your condition(s) and how it impacts. It will feel like that you are repeating yourself but it needs to be set out against each criteria. Use the additional information section and as the space is limited submit it as a separate document.

Even if you think the world (or DWP) is against you, please do not give up. Just keep applying and going through to the Tribunal. Attend the Tribunal hearing in person - but make sure it you submit everything to the Tribunal in advance (they do not like things on the day!). Again, present a statement (written) in advance to the Tribunal setting our how your medical condition affects you against each criteria (again you will feel you will be repeating everything already said, but cross reference it (page numbers) against the appeal papers for the Tribunal's ease of reference. Read closely the information from the DWP in the appeal papers - we found a statement in one of the papers that they submitted that contradicted their decision so we made reference to it in our appeal statement.

I can only comment on our experience which was not nice and involved a lot of hard work and time but the key thing is not to give up.

Please do not let them make you give up the fight. Good luck!!!

I'd rather stay in WRAG than SG

mrjohnno wrote: I'd rather stay in WRAG than SG

I should perhaps elucidate a little on this.

I'm a T12 paraplegic and was put on WRAG rather than SG. Late last year I was called in for an interview so I sent a letter back in Jan along with a letter from my GP saying that I couldn't sit for longer than 30 minutes so I could not attend. They have never contacted me again.