Medical evidence

We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Teadrinker61

Hello, I'm new here and wanted to ask about the medical evidence you sent in with your UC50 form? I'm already in LCWRA group and I have been sent a UC50 form, so I got Age UK to come to help with filling it in. 
I'm a total bag of nerves and recently my mum passed away 😢 and I'm not coping with life well.  I'm seeing a bereavement counsellor too. I had very little medical evidence to send in so the lady from Age UK said that I shouldn't bother because if they needed to know about your conditions they will just contact your GP. 
I'm suffering with osteoarthritis and my hands are so painful.  I have fibromyalgia, bowel problems, severe anxiety and depression. Carpel tunnel syndrome and a suspected inguinal hernia still pending investigation. Do you think I should have listened to the advice not to worry about sending any medical evidence in?
Has anyone else not sent any in and has it affected the outcome 🤔 

AtlasShoulders

@Teadrinker61 I'm really sorry to hear about your loss, but I'm glad you are receiving the appropriate support.

When it comes to reassessment, they are essentially trying to establish whether your functional ability has remained the same/worsened or whether it has improved.

I feel the lady from Age UK is right. As you have already been found to be LCWRA, there's no need for you to prove that your condition has worsened. If you have limited evidence anyway, unless it significantly supports your arguments about your functional abilities, there might not be any great advantage in sending it in.

(HOWEVER, I caveat this by pointing out that if you don't provide the evidence at assessment stage, it would then be very difficult to introduce this later on during Mandatory Reconsideration or Tribunal if the decision doesn't go in your favour.)

In your case, the Health Assessor will need to prove that your condition has improved since the last assessment in order to change the decision. If you haven't provided any supporting evidence, they will have to contact your GP for more information.

That can be a double-edged sword: if you have a good relationship with your GP and they understand your situation, this can be beneficial; however, if you have a difficult GP or they haven't seen you recently, it can sometimes be troublesome if they give an inaccurate or overly optimistic response.

If it were me, I would arrange to have a chat with my GP and tell them about the reassessment and my current functional abilities. That way, if they are contacted, they should be better able to complete the form with the most accurate information.

On the flip side, the GP might not even respond to the DWP request, so the assessment would just have to proceed based on the previous assessment findings, your current assessment/questionnaire, and the judgement of the Health Assessor/Case Manager as to whether the findings are consistent with the typical progression of the health condition. In that case, I would expect there to be more latitude for you to challenge the findings in the case of an unfavourable decision, as the basis for the decision would be less secure.

Having said this, I'm sure you will have no difficulties with your assessment, and I hope everything goes well for you. Remember we're here if you need any more help.