Q re DLA middle to higher rate care

My husband was granted mrc for his first year of illness. Now DLA renewal has been awarded the same. However, I gave further evidence that his conditions had worsened and he requires more care through the night. This is their response

Night attention - you need help to manage your treatment and medication. You need help with your personal care from someone more than once, or for 20 minutes or more, at night

This means you are entitled to middle not highest rate care.

I can't find out much about the jump to highest rate care except the following from the direct gov site:-

Middle rate
If you need help with personal care frequently or supervision continually throughout the day only, or help with personal care or someone to watch over you during the night only, or someone with you while you are on dialysis.

Highest rate
If you need help or supervision frequently throughout the day and during the night.


Can anyone please point me in the direction of some further assistance so that I can write to them to appeal this decision or should I just quote the gov site wording as above? I was going to write to ask for their reasons for the decisions but would then run out of time for the months grace of appeal as I wouldn't get an answer before the 3rd January deadline. I would prefer to have their reasons in writing rather than over the telephone.

Dialysis is mentioned in the middle rate care and I think this is what they are looking at. He has nightly dialysis but has other conditions, some associated with this, which now require more care during the night. I think they are including these in the someone to watch over you whilst you are on dialysis wording.

I am running out of time as the award letter was a week late getting to us due to the bad weather. I am hoping to see a welfare advisor as he also has a new ESA form to complete. I did this myself last year and he was put into the wrac group but I would like some further advice this time round.

However we now have Christmas/New Year looming and the welfare rights people will be on holiday and due to the bad weather I am behind with my work deadlines.

If you have got this far I apologise for the long post but thank you for reading it.

margaux wrote:

My husband was granted mrc for his first year of illness. Now DLA renewal has been awarded the same. However, I gave further evidence that his conditions had worsened and he requires more care through the night. This is their response

Night attention - you need help to manage your treatment and medication. You need help with your personal care from someone more than once, or for 20 minutes or more, at night

This means you are entitled to middle not highest rate care.

I can't find out much about the jump to highest rate care except the following from the direct gov site:-

Middle rate
If you need help with personal care frequently or supervision continually throughout the day only, or help with personal care or someone to watch over you during the night only, or someone with you while you are on dialysis.

Highest rate
If you need help or supervision frequently throughout the day and during the night.


Can anyone please point me in the direction of some further assistance so that I can write to them to appeal this decision or should I just quote the gov site wording as above? I was going to write to ask for their reasons for the decisions but would then run out of time for the months grace of appeal as I wouldn't get an answer before the 3rd January deadline. I would prefer to have their reasons in writing rather than over the telephone.

Dialysis is mentioned in the middle rate care and I think this is what they are looking at. He has nightly dialysis but has other conditions, some associated with this, which now require more care during the night. I think they are including these in the someone to watch over you whilst you are on dialysis wording.

I am running out of time as the award letter was a week late getting to us due to the bad weather. I am hoping to see a welfare advisor as he also has a new ESA form to complete. I did this myself last year and he was put into the wrac group but I would like some further advice this time round.

However we now have Christmas/New Year looming and the welfare rights people will be on holiday and due to the bad weather I am behind with my work deadlines.

If you have got this far I apologise for the long post but thank you for reading it.

Hi,

Do I take it his middle care rate is already given for his needs on a night time (ie his nightly dialysis)?.

If so, then sadly any increase in his nightly care will not afford him high rate DLA Care.

To get high rate DLA Care one must have care needs both day and Night.

If you could build up a case for day care then it may be applicable.

Pete

The day attention wording says

You need help to

bath or shower
manage your treatment and medication

So he has been awarded care for both day and night.

The night time care required is not solely about his dialysis it is also to do with conditions both related and unrelated

margaux wrote:

The day attention wording says

You need help to

bath or shower
manage your treatment and medication

So he has been awarded care for both day and night.

The night time care required is not solely about his dialysis it is also to do with conditions both related and unrelated

Hi,

Going back to your original post though, to cut and paste:

''Night attention - you need help to manage your treatment and medication. You need help with your personal care from someone more than once, or for 20 minutes or more, at night

This means you are entitled to middle not highest rate care''.

Indicates he has been awarded middle rate care for his night needs (although it may not mention them all).

It may mention he needs certain elements of care during the day but not enough, either frequently or for any length of time, to award care for the day time (which if he had also been awarded care for the day time would have made it a high care award).

In the guide to DLA in the members area it expalins about frequency of needs etc. It maybe that you need to see how often/long he needs the care throughout the day for.

Pete

Thank you Peter for your comments. I have done some more research and I can see what you mean.

I am going to write to them to ask for their reasons in writing. I understand then they will give a further 14 days to appeal.