Dla tribunal papers arrived

This on on behalf of my friend previously awarded high rate mobility and high rate care.

At renewl they reduced this to low rate care only, they claim using suitable aids she is able to walk and care for her self,

we wrote a letter stating why suitable aids make no diffrence etc and that because of her arthritus she canot bend or bare any weight on her legs without pain and is unable to walk without pain.


Basicaly in the tribunal papers they have said based on medicle evidence 53-74 ( which is an ESA medicle from 2 years ago!) her arthritus is mild and not such much to render her unable to walk and meet the critera for HRM

Although its acepcted she has some rectriction with bending it is submited that she should be able to mange her self care needs

Both her gp and orthopidic consult wrote letters in september 2010 stating she has pain at all times when walking and she needs help getting dressed and washed etc.

so how on earth can they base their dession on this old esa medicle after she has stated her conditon has got worse since then and also submited medicle evidence from 2 consultants? they have totaly disregarded the new evidence.

im really angry now, she can take a single step no way can she walk 200 meters. there is so manny pages to this i dont know where to start

Ill add a bit more to this

They say they are basing the dession on medicle evidence pages 53-73 which is this 2 year old esa medicle below is a few things listed by the doctor from that medicle

usaly sleeps poorly because of lower limb pain

usaly needs dragging her self out of bed due to pain and stiffness

bending to put socks and clothes on is a problem

always finds it difficult to bath due to bending problem

is able to mange stairs but with pain

is always able to manage to dress themselves ( how if she previouly stated above bending to put socks and clothces on is a problem?)

able to walk slowly for 10 minuets to the buss stop occasionaly, the buss stop is around 100 meters away.

Regarding the walking to the buss stop she used to be able to do this BUT NOT WITHOUT PAIN, she would force her self to walk because she had no choice there was no mention of this in the esa medicle..


other than the walking comment, that esa report clearly shows she has difficultys bending dressing getting in and out the bath etc so ever so i find it hard to see how they can justify their dession not only that but that esa medicle is from march 2009!

since then she has told them its got worse she has told them she cant take a single step without pain, her gp and ortheopedic consltant both wrote letter in sept stating she has pain at all times when walking and needs help gettin in the bath and dressed etc

this is riddiclous

Jox wrote:

This on on behalf of my friend previously awarded high rate mobility and high rate care.

At renewl they reduced this to low rate care only, they claim using suitable aids she is able to walk and care for her self,

we wrote a letter stating why suitable aids make no diffrence etc and that because of her arthritus she canot bend or bare any weight on her legs without pain and is unable to walk without pain.


Basicaly in the tribunal papers they have said based on medicle evidence 53-74 ( which is an ESA medicle from 2 years ago!) her arthritus is mild and not such much to render her unable to walk and meet the critera for HRM

Although its acepcted she has some rectriction with bending it is submited that she should be able to mange her self care needs

Both her gp and orthopidic consult wrote letters in september 2010 stating she has pain at all times when walking and she needs help getting dressed and washed etc.

so how on earth can they base their dession on this old esa medicle after she has stated her conditon has got worse since then and also submited medicle evidence from 2 consultants? they have totaly disregarded the new evidence.

im really angry now, she can take a single step no way can she walk 200 meters. there is so manny pages to this i dont know where to start

Hi,

I take it that a tribunal application is well underway in order to appeal the decsion of the DWP.

Sadly in determining a claim, the DWP can choose which evidence to accept and which to disregard, or place in lower precidence. also they often seem to use medical results from medicals which have totally differing criteria to DLA which is 'needs based' on care and/or mobility needs as opposed to diagnosis based.

However the tribunal is a chance to have a complete 're-run' of the claim. Can I presume your friend has asked for an oral appeal?. The chances of success are much higher at an oral appeal than at an 'on paper' tribunal where just the paperwork is reviewed and assessed.

As Jim (our tribunal expert) often says, at an oral appeal clients are often successful not based on any further evidence presented but by the fact the panel can see and speak to the claimant and form a decision based on these factors.

Is your friend being represented at the tribunal?. Having a good representative can also help balance in favour of your friend as well.

I wish the person good luck in their forthcoming tribunal.

Pete

Hi thanks for your reply, i cant belive they have used such an old medicle, and disregarded all new evidence, she didnt want to have an oral appeal although she has not asked for either yet i think there is a box to tick amoungest the paper work that arrived today that lets you choose.

however after seeing all the paper work infront of me, i can see how it difficult it could be for the tribunal pannel to make sense of everything in such a small amount of time, there is no doubt in my mind now that she should attend and speak for her self!

she is worried she will be bombarded with questions and worried they wont belive her,

can anybody just clear up a couple of things

You dont actualy have to recive any help, its only that you resonable require it?

my friend dosent recive any help getting dressed or getting in and out of the bath etc, but she cant do them without great difficulty and pain,

same gose for gettin in and out of a chair, she dosent let anybody help her but the fact is she is unable to theese things without pain and difficulty.

she is worried that they will see her walk in to the tribunal sit down on the chair by her self, and then be questiond as to why she says she needs help from another person to get in and out of a chair? can anybody just confirm that you dont actualy have to recive this help?

Jox wrote:

Hi thanks for your reply, i cant belive they have used such an old medicle, and disregarded all new evidence, she didnt want to have an oral appeal although she has not asked for either yet i think there is a box to tick amoungest the paper work that arrived today that lets you choose.

however after seeing all the paper work infront of me, i can see how it difficult it could be for the tribunal pannel to make sense of everything in such a small amount of time, there is no doubt in my mind now that she should attend and speak for her self!

she is worried she will be bombarded with questions and worried they wont belive her,

can anybody just clear up a couple of things

You dont actualy have to recive any help, its only that you resonable require it?

my friend dosent recive any help getting dressed or getting in and out of the bath etc, but she cant do them without great difficulty and pain,

same gose for gettin in and out of a chair, she dosent let anybody help her but the fact is she is unable to theese things without pain and difficulty.

she is worried that they will see her walk in to the tribunal sit down on the chair by her self, and then be questiond as to why she says she needs help from another person to get in and out of a chair? can anybody just confirm that you dont actualy have to recive this help?

Hi,

No, she doesn't have to actually receive the help, just that the help is resonably required. Hence people who live alone can often claim DLA even though no one provides the actual care - again it is the resonable requirement for the help to be needed.

Incidentally regarding the tribunal panel, they are sent the case papers a week or two prior ot the tribunal, so the panel is not 'blind' to the case on the day. However as I said in my previous post, our tribunal expert Jim who is a former tribunal member often states it is not what is in the paperwork that decides a case, but what the appellant says to the panel on the day. Hence an oral appeal is usually more successful than an appeal on paper.

If she can get representation to help her at the appeal so much the better. This can be sought from such as the CAB or via Community Legal Advice:

www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/

Pete

i dont suppose i would be able to represent her? she is very shy and timid, if somebody is to say something like " i think your able to do that" because she is so timid and dosent like confrontation she is likey to just agree with them and not stand up for her self, i have pretty much filled in all her forms and have a very good understanding of her disablity, she is my best friend of over 20 years.

First thing i think is go have a good read of all the paper work and make notes of things that are unfair and or should be brought up on the day.