:)Hi All,

I Just Wanted To Let You All Know It's Not All Doom And Gloom When It Comes To Esa And Fibromyalgia, I Had My Medical On The 28th Of April And Up Until That Time I'd Got Myself In A Right State Which In Turn Had A Knock On Effect With All My Medical Problems, From The Minute I Got In There With The Doctor I Was Put At Ease And Any Questions I Couldn't Answer Were Directed At My Husband Who Is My Carer. I Was Very Lucky In The Respect That I Had A Doctor Who Was Very Well Educated On Fibromyalgia And All My Other Medical Issues ( He Was Telling Me Stuff That Even My Own Consultant Hadn't Told Me) And When It Came To The Phsyical Examination He Said There Was No Point As He Did Not Want To Cause Me More Suffering For The Rest Of The Day Or However Long It Took Me To Recover, After About 45minutes He Said It Was Time For Us To Leave Cos I Didn't Look Too Good, (He Also Commented On The Fact That My Husband Wasn't Looking So Hot Himself)

So That Was That, But Then I Spent The Best Part Of 5 Weeks Worrying And Over-Analysing Everything He Said To Me And Vice-Versa, Lost Many Nights Sleep Over Awaiting The Outcome. Then On Thursday Just Gone Got A Letter To Say I Had "Passed The Medical" And Was Put Into The Support Group. Yippeeee.

I Just Wanted To Let Other People Know That I Had A Positive-ish Experience With The Whole Thing And It's Not All Bad Outcomes For Everyone. The Only Thing I've Been Wondering Is What Happens Now?

Glad it went well for you.

What happens now? Your rate of benefit will increase, and this increase will be effective from day 92 of your claim. If there's any backdated money due it will be paid to you.

After a period of time that varies depending on the recommendations of the doctor who did your medical and the Decision Maker who placed you in the support group, you'll be referred for another medical. The timeframe can be anything from a few months to a few years.

You won't need to continue to submit medical certificates from your GP while you are in the support group.

Nice to see a positive outcome, thank you very much for posting - it gives hope to others. I bet you are relieved!

Hey, well done! That's doubled the number of people who've passed their assessment! Is this a small trend starting...?

Best wishes

Rae

Hey, well done! That's doubled the number of people who've passed their assessment! Is this a small trend starting...?

Best wishes

Rae

Let's hope so.

I meant to ask you Rae, how's your new claim going? Any word of the dreaded assessment? Hopefully this time around you will have the same luck as the OP without having to put up a fight for it.

Thanks All Am Very Relieved, Especially After Reading About All The Problems Other People Are Having Trying To Get What They Are Entitled To. I Had To Go Through The Appeals Process For My Dla And That Was A Nightmare, Don't Think I Could Of Gone Through It Again, Maybe I Was One Of The "Lucky Ones" I Really Don't Know. Things Seem To Be Going Ok At The Moment But Am Just Waiting For Summat Or Someone To Come Along And Pop The Bubble!!!!

Just wanted to say Well done on getting ESA, I have been declined mine with no points at all. I have been told to appeal, but am not sure I have the energy, I just want to be put in the support group so I get help on trying to work again to get an income and a social life.

I'm not sure which option to take?

I was worried about this ESA thing. I am on income support at the moment as I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 5 years ago (Had it for over 15 years). I also have chronic insomnia & athsma. I have had some drug treatments & counselling but none have worked. I worry that many of the medical assessors do not even know what FM is & the implications it has on your life. I am sinlge (I have a partner bt we do not live together) but I do get help with things like shopping.

I hope when the time comes for my M.A assessment under the new scheme, the assessor is as knowledgeable about FM as yours. It is a big worry

Im currently in dispute with Atos Medical Services And the Dwp , I was seen where the Scheme for ESA was rolled out at Burnley

I have seen 2 doctors previously both sympathetic to the conditions i have and was kept on with no issues.

my health which recently took a further downturn with more nerves acting up and i was sent for another medical at burnley this time i saw a nurse, the nurse did the examination incorrectly made up several allegations one of which was i sat in a chair for 60 mins

i was only in there 30 mins. Then stated synthetic morphine was a "mild Painkiller" during the examination i had a cramp attack and the muscles were having spasms i indicated this she ignored it.

the report was full of other fabrications eg i could stand for 30 mins this again was a lie after 5 mins the legs go numb and lumbar pain starts.

i placed a complaint and proceeded to investigate things myself and reported the nurse to the nursing and midwifery council whilst on thier site i checked her credentials she was listed as non practicing, basically meaning she was not working in a nursing role or working where a nursing qualification was a requirement i sent the following letter to Atos to which they have not replied as of yet.

i found the following Form the NMC’s code of practice regarding registration the following applies:

“Associate non-practising membership is available to those nurses who wish to take out membership of the RCN, but who are not working, or who are not working in a role where a recognised nursing qualification is a requirement to enable them to undertake that role. Members of this category can access most membership benefits and services, with the exception of workplace representation and our indemnity scheme.”

So with regard to this as Mrs **** is registered as Non Practising – So i believe it is either

1) Atos Medical Services do not require medical professionals to undertake these medical examinations – which is a act of negligence as they are using persons who may not necessarily be suitably qualified to undertake medical examinations and making statements of a medical nature. So basically anyone could undertake these examinations with no official medical qualifications.

this is a unlawful act.

Or

Mrs**** committed a act of negligence by not informing her employer she was not registered to carry out duties where a recognised nursing qualification was required. So therefore breached the nursing code of practice by undertaking medical examinations on individuals . this would be conceived as a act of gross misconduct , breach of tort law

and a breach of the human rights act.

Can you confirm if you employ people without a recognized qualification to undertake these examinations – as Mrs **** registered as not working in a medical capacity - or has Mrs **** Comitted a Act of gross misconduct i have a right to know as she undertook my "medical examination"

Good news for OP, shame it doesn't seem to be the norm.

P.S. I do find it hard reading text when every word starts with a capital.

hi. sorry to hear of your trouble. sorry to interrupt but I'm having tests left right and centre for muscle disorders. I'm just anxious to follow the the topic as I too am trying to plan for the future. I'm getting to the stage where now I'm not safe to work on sites as I've just cracked three ribs by falling off a platform whilst at work. I'm self employed but was working for someone at the time. I never got paid for the half day I did that day either but I'd like to add that people tend to forget or ignore what we suffer from.

anyway mini rant over good luck