esa help please

[Guest]

I know how you feel cuchiandme, back in 2009 I had to be restrained by family from going to the atos centre with a big notice and standing outside telling everyone the "doctors" name and what she had done to me, I was fit to be tied and would definitely have been certainly arrested and very likely sectioned, had I got hold of her, I was manic and I am told looked like a wild woman, thankfully the new meds kicked in quickly and I got signed up for CBT, got good support letters from the psychiatrist and psychiatric nurse who did the CBT, they supported my claim for incapacity benefit and gave the written diagnosis also in the letters and what treatment etc I was having and how all the benefit problems were hindering me............they do drive you to distraction, which really can only make things worse if we act on it, as you can be sure only of one thing, they will report, have you arrested....they wont lose out, but more problems like that on top of what you already have, you really don't need. I am saying all this and hoping I never get that same "doctor" again....so help me god!!

[cuchiandme]

I am saying all this and hoping I never get that same "doctor" again....so help me god!!

hi ruby,

fingers crossed...how dare they even call themselves "healthcare".

people are terrified before they even get there... this all wrong!

glad you didnt get into deeper water so to speak, we can only abide by "the rules" even if those rules are foul.

to me they are the enemy.

[dyfed]

sorry about that, yes i know...i'm a tad irrational at present... with the pressure.

 

I think I know how you feel my friend.

I had all sorts of thoughts from self harm during the assessment to kicking off but thankfuly for me my esa50, evidence and doctors letters was enough to put me in the support group without an assessment.

 

I did give atosh a hard time over the phone and got one assessment cancelled whilst waiting for the rules and regulations regarding recording equipment through the freedom of info act.

That wasted six months and then I insisted I had a new esa50 because of the time gap from my first one and like I said earlier with all the supporting evidence I was put in the support group.

 

Hope everything goes well for you and I think its best to stick to the rules or face all benefits stopped or worse.

Good luck

[cuchiandme]

hi again folks,

i just wanted to ask if anyone can give any pointers to avoiding the many traps that atos set for people?

some of you will know i am currently awaiting a tribunal date...i just wonder after (hopefully please God) i win my case..how i can avoid this hell all over again?

 

i know the tribunal can recommend that a person should not be seen again by atos for up to 2 years... but my understanding is that that is only hinted at... it is not law... and dwp can do as they like...correct me if i'm wrong here..

in my own case, i was so ill when i received a letter to fill in the form for atos, that i wasnt opening letters... infact i lost it... because i'm so disorganised ,sufferring ocd and chronic tiredness...i had to get a support worker to sort it out... and that was april 2012, having had my money docked for months... they accepted my reasons.. and i got paid back ...then i had to go to the face to face interview..(to me its not bona fide medical)which scored me no points ,(its rather like the eurovision song contest;))... and thus here i am waiting tribunal.... i wonder if i had filled in that form and sent it off... would i have come to their face to face interview? i mean if i put down enough info of my condition and backed by gp and psychiatrist...would i side step out of the atos system? saying that... any clues to avoiding atos traps... are most welcome...

[Nystagmite]

Some of us have been "lucky" enough to avoid an assessment with Atos because of how we filled the forms in. In my case, I sent in several pages of evidence and went into detail on the form, explaining why I can't do the task without help and what happens if I did try.

 

The tribunal recommendation is just that - you can be sent an ESA50 earlier than what the tribunal recommend.

[dyfed]

Hi, I used the guide from abcofesa website to complete my ESA50 form. It helped me identify the descriptors so I could complete the form and guided me to find the correct evidence so I would be awarded 15 points or more. I completed the online ESA 50 form and saved it as a pdf.

 

I contacted my gp and asked for my doctors notes for the last three years then cherry picked the ones I thought would support my case. I had to pay something like £45 for my doctors notes.

 

I wrote to my consultant cardiologist and asked him to write a letter stating that I am unable to work, cant walk far, daily have ventricular tachycardia events that make me go anywhwere between feeling of passing out and actual passing out, this is why I have a defib to shock my heart back into correct rythem or die.

 

I photocopied everything, printed out the ESA 50 and sent it recorded delivery.

 

They wrote back saying I didnt need to go to an assessment and was put in support group.

 

They will in time send me another ESA50 form to complete because the government want us to be checked at regular intervals, be it one, two or three years or whatever, so they can see if there is a change in your illness or disability.

I have everything saved and backed up on disk so its just a case of printing it all out again and contacting doctors etc for letters. Send it all off and cross my fingers.

 

I might be wrong but I dont think anyone is awarded life time suppport group without them probing in your life again and wanting you to prove you are ill/disabled.

 

It might be an idea to make a list and have an action plan ready for the next time that brown envolope drops on your door mat.

First on the list should be sit down and have a cuppa, maybe talk to friend or family and then work your way through the list and tick off what you have completed.

 

CAB, MIND or other voluntary third sector organisations can help.

Visit your doctor if things get too much.

 

Come here and chat to us. You are not alone. We look out and care for each other.

 

Take care, Dyfed

[swinginapig]

No, the Tribunal decision regarding points awarded IS law. The recommendation regarding reassessment time period is only a recommendation though.

 

The DWP can choose to challenge any benefit decision by a first tier tribunal, and take it to the upper tribunal - this is very rarely done. In hundreds of appeals I repped, though the dwp/LA often threatened to take things further, they never took a single case to upper Tribunal. If they are thinking about it, payment can be held up until they receive the statement of reasons and then decide not to go to upper tribunal after all - but even that is relatively rare. In the rare case of them actually taking the matter to UT, yes, no payment will be made until the UT decision is made.

Am I correct in saying though that DWP can only take your appeal to Upper Tribunal on a point of Law??? and not just because the DWP decides it disagrees with the Tribunal decision...

[Nystagmite]

Am I correct in saying though that DWP can only take your appeal to Upper Tribunal on a point of Law??? and not just because the DWP decides it disagrees with the Tribunal decision...

 

Yes, that's right. It's the same with when you appeal - you can't appeal because you don't like the decision. You can appeal if you think the law hasn't been applied properly, etc.

[Nystagmite]

I might be wrong but I dont think anyone is awarded life time suppport group without them probing in your life again and wanting you to prove you are ill/disabled.

 

I think it's only a maximum of 3 years. Which makes no sense for people like me who were born with their incurable disabilities.

[cuchiandme]

thanks to both, wow 45 quid dyfed.... i guess it is worth it in the end...its not good you even had to pay that...such a capatalistic system...nystagmite, really it's 3 years? but it gives one a break. And God i need that right now.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

We also have leemack's stikkies here on how to fill in an ESA50 and how to answer the questions at an assessment with Atos.

 

HB

[swinginapig]

re; atos,

i saw online that one guy went to one of their interviews.. and refused to continue but had his claim upheld..

what would happen if a person just refused to speak? or say went in there agressivly..? wrecked their desk... as they wreck lives? any idea?

they said i "didnt present a threat to the work place".

if i were to get angry with atos... then what?

They would terminate the assessment and tell DWP you was not co-operating with them, DWP would then have it in their rights to stop your payments... and probablly you would be charged with a criminal offence to boot.....

Edited May 22, 2013 by swinginapig

[cuchiandme]

can anyone please explain to me what is in the "remit" of a care coordinator"?

i tried to get intouch with mine today... as i felt very depressed and got drunk.... for the first time in months... due to this pressure of waiting on a tribunal...

are they there to care at all?

i have had no word from her and wont have now its nearly evening

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

You seem to have a lot of threads running, but I will leave this one here for now.

 

Where my mother lives, a care co-ordinator seems to be a social worker who arranges what care is needed and laises between the different services.

 

Who does your one work for? It might be you need someone more like a CPN, community psychiatric nurse. The guys probably know more than I do about this.

 

HB

[cuchiandme]

Who does your one work for?

 

HB

 

...

i think works for community intervention team...not sure otherwise.

yes sorry about my threads ...i think rather reflects my unstable mind right now...

[estellyn]

Also I'm planning to start a thread on getting together additional information to go with the ESA including a written statement to go with the ESA50. Thinking I need a 'pre thread' thread......I'll go do that now.

 

Hopefully we should be able to put together something useful within a couple of weeks.

[abc123def]

A care co-ordinator can be either a social worker, CPN, assistant or OT and would call themselves a mental health professional. Their job is to do-ordinate your care and treatment. They are often not available to answer your calls if they are on courses or responding to a crisis or out of the office but if you feel you need support urgently and your care co-ordinator is not there when you call the community treatment team then do ask to speak to whoever is on 'duty'. Someone always is acting as duty there and should always be available in normal working hours. They should support you and record the conversation on the system so your care co-ordinator knows what has happened in their absense.

[honeybee13]

I'm moving this thread to the NHS forum, where it may help more people.

 

HB

[cuchiandme]

further to all this...surprisingly, i received a call (phone) from dwp this week saying that if i send in more medical evidence my case can be reviewed "looked at again" ... now this is rather confusing since i already received the tribunal service papers and letter from dwp to say that i had not presented enough evidence and so they couldnt turn it around... and must go to tribunal .. in consequence of this , i have asked my care coordinator to furnish me with the necessary evidence.. which i was retaining for the tribunal.. and i was told that the tribunal wait can be 30 weeks ... is this good news?

[**Margaret**]

:cuchiandme:

 

Well, it's not bad news. Praps the letters and reports you've already sent (the ones that weren't in the appeal bundle from Work n Pensions) have only just caught up with your case file, and a decision maker thinks you may have limited capability for work but doesn't have enough evidence to revise the disallowance. Either side can ask for or submit further evidence at any time prior to a tribunal hearing. I'd say nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

'i have asked my care coordinator to furnish me with the necessary evidence'

 

Do you mean you've asked her to write something for your appeal? Or that you've asked her to collect reports/statements from medical professionals who were involved in your care last summer? It's really important that supportive evidence describes what you couldn't do last summer, remember appointments, keep on top of the chores, get a bus to the supermarket, etcetera cos of your mental health problems. There's some guidance about the sort of evidence Work n Pensions need in Rethink's work capability assessment factsheet at;

 

http://www.rethink.org/resources/w

 

The wait for a employment n support tribunal hearing can be up to a year. But should you have to wait, the tribunal panel (unlike Atos) will let you explain why you feel you meet one or more of the descriptors.

 

Best wishes, Margaret.

Edited June 27, 2013 by **Margaret**

[cuchiandme]

hi margaret,

well i had sent a long letter from a psychiatrist i saw... and it's extremely personal... and covers a large part of my issues.. i was unsure wether to send it...but in the end took the plunge and sent it ...not recorded... thinking they should get it ok....but hey ho... apparently they have lost it.... which stressed me terribly... because i am scared that the letter can be in just anyone's hands... so my care coordinator is sending me a copy of that and she said she would go through the archives to see what else she can dig up...i did emphasise that i want it to overlap the period that i was at the so called medical.. i must wait now to see what she sends.

[cuchiandme]

update;

received bundle of notes from my care coordinator.

a lot of supportive stuff... explaining that my condition is very complex and that i will need specialised care for the future indefinetly.. now need to fax to dwp... have booked to do that at job centre.

i hope this works... unless they want blood.

 

and the notes cover before and after my so called medical.

[cuchiandme]

TODAY i took medical correspondence to be scanned to the jobcentre concerned.. from the nearest jobcentre..

i was wondering ...if they turn things around... will they have me at atos again very quickly? if it had gone to tribunal would that be better?

i feel very abused in all this not least because i am opening extremely private information to people i dont even know.. i just think its very wrong that it should come to this.. its not just sick notes or a letter outlining my issues, but extremely private..

[cuchiandme]

i seemed to have stopped getting answers here:|

[estellyn]

i seemed to have stopped getting answers here:|

 

That's because there is no real answer to the only question I could see - if they change the decision in your favour, it could be 3 months or 3 years until you are reassessed - but it is likely to be sooner rather than later. And no it would make no difference if you went to Tribunal - the DWP don't appear to be following Tribunal advice on reassessment.