Pip phone assessment

wood73

I have my pip phone assessment next week with capita, should I ask for it to be recorded?

rebel11

Hi wood73

Welcome to Scope online.

Lots of information and nice people onsite.

If it's a telephone assessment, they won't record it for you. You need to tell them you want to record it, they will read out a statement and then give you permission to record it on your device.

If you don't seek permission, then you can't use the recording at the Tribunal stage if it goes to Tribunal. 

For the assessment, make some notes to help you remember stuff.

wood73

It does say on the letter and capita website they will record if asked then send a link to download the recording.

I have read a few stories that say the report didnt match what was said.

poppy123456

I wouldn't expect the report to state what you said verbatim because that's not what the assessment is about. The report will be their opinion based on everything you wrote in your form, any extra evidence you sent and what you said during the assessment. Though there can often be some inaccurancies in there.

It maybe better to ring to tell them you're recording it in advance of the assessment. If you leave it to the day of the assessment and the assessor refuses to be recorded then your assessment will be cancelled and you'll be sent another date and time.

During the assessment try not to answer any questions with just a yes or no. Doing this can lead to the assessor coming to their own conclusions. Try to give as much detail as possible.

wood73

Starting to get really nervous about the assessment now, I am going to print out the questionnaire ready.
One problem I have is I tend to agree with people out of nervousness so I need to concentrate on sticking to my guns.
Any other tips?

Alex_Alumni

Hello @wood73 I hope things go well for you with the assessment, I do understand the agreeing with people when feeling nervous, it can be a difficult habit to break!

Something which might help is to give yourself time. Often what feels like ages is actually only a few seconds worth of time, but that's all that's needed to process a question, and give an answer that sticks to your guns. It might be useful to have some notes next to you, to help make sure you don't miss anything you want to say.

Let us know how things go as and when, and please ask if you need anything more  

wood73

I have just been reading through the questionnaire and think I may have misunderstood the planning and following a route and journey, I stated I could but when reading notes about the descriptors one of the points does apply.
should I just raise this in the assessment or should I phone pip and explain? 

poppy123456

Just explain during the assessment. Whether it's possible to score any points for following and planning a journey will depend on how your conditions affect you.

wood73

ok thank you.

poppy123456

If you're claiming for physical health conditions then you'll need to look at the "moving around" part of mobility, not following and planning a journey.

wood73

Im claiming for both mental health and physical health conditions.

wood73

Very nervous, phone assessment at 9.15 today, just hoping I can hold it together!

wood73

Thats the assessment done, probably the hardest hour of my life!

Lou67

@wood73
Hi sorry the assessment was so hard for you, at least that’s it over with now, I hope you can trying relax now, I know that’s easier said than done.
Good luck with the outcome.

Take care ❤️

MadCow1

Hi @wood73,

I know exactly how you feel.

Thinking back to my assessment, although the 1hr 15mins seemed to go quickly and she seemed nice enough,I found it very hard. The woman didn't even know what 1 of my conditions was ( cervical spondylosis with radiculopathy).

I felt rushed,I couldn't explain my symptoms in depth,as she was just rushing me & she didn't seem to be able to listen to me & type at the same time.

Cartini

MadCow1 said:

 The woman didn't even know what 1 of my conditions was ( cervical spondylosis with radiculopathy).

I`ve experienced this before.  I went to my surgery for some pain relief medication and was seen by a locum.  When I said I had lumbar and cervical spondylosis she said "don`t you mean spondylitis".  When I said no, she said "I`ve never heard of spondylosis".

MadCow1

It  totally beggars belief,it really does.

Blue_eyes

Hello.  Spondylitis (pain,stiffness etc. in the lower back and hips) . Spondylosis (pain in the neck and shoulder) .
Locum should do some reading 😉

chiarieds

Anything ending in -itis usually indicates inflammation, which is where I get a bit annoyed that everyone (including Drs) will say osteoarthritis, which is a complete misnomer, as it should more correctly be called osteoarthrosis as this has nothing to do with an inflammatory cause, rather wear & tear.

Similarly spondylitis relates to inflammation, the most common being Ankylosing Spondylitis, which affects younger people.

Spondylosis mainly affects the cervical or lumbar region as Cartini has already mentioned, tho can occur in the thoracic or lumbosacral area @Blue_eyes

I didn't even mention I had a neurological disorder called Chiari 1 Malformation at my assessment after my assessor went all glassy-eyed when I mentioned my simpler problems using medical terminology. I was even asked how long had I had a genetic disorder, & couldn't help replying, 'since birth.'

Just as well assessors don't need to understand your diagnoses, rather their impact on your functional ability!

wood73

I haven't had a txt to say they have received the report, should I call them tomorrow?

poppy123456

wood73 said:

I haven't had a txt to say they have received the report, should I call them tomorrow?

Reports aren't always returned straight away. If it's in audit then this will delay it being returned. It's nothing for you to worry about, it will be them checking the assessor did their job correctly. There's no timescales how long it will remain there either. The only issue is that it delays the decision making process because a decision can't be made until it's returned.

The quickest way to find out if it's been returned is to ring the health assessment providers and they will tell you.