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FACE TO FACE APPOINTMENTS

LIVEDANDLEARNED

John Healey had just announced all benefit assessments and meetings have to be face to face now. I want to cry. I can’t cope with the pressure of being face to face. It’s scared me so much. Even the telephone is hard enough but face to face is too much to bear. Why do this to those who have medical proof already!

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Comments

megslou

i agree, my heart dropped hearing that. I am housebound and I cannot do that, they really don’t take into account the people that cannot handle them

Kimi87

That's not quite correct, text quoted from

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/budget-2026-breathing-space-for-today-hope-for-the-future

Increasing face-to-face assessments: Face-to-face assessments for health benefits, which were all but ended by the previous government, will be increased – and the government has more than doubled face to face assessment rates since July 2024.

Hopeless

I don’t think that is what he said. They have been increasing the number of face to face appointments over the last year or so but I can’t find anything that says all assessments and meetings will be face to face. For a start - they simply don’t have the capacity to do this without falling even further behind than they are. There will be lots of dodgy media stuff out there at the moment but please don’t worry - it’s not true

LIVEDANDLEARNED

@megslou I get it. Honestly I can’t cope with that situation I’d honestly pass out. I’m only used to my family at home. It’s so unfair if all your medical evidence proves it, why put us through something we can’t cope with.

LIVEDANDLEARNED

I heard him say it myself in the budget today around 50 mins in I think.

Mary_Scope

Please try not to worry too much just yet @LIVEDANDLEARNED. During budget announcements, a lot of things get proposed but many of them don't actually go through or become official 😊

Kimi87

I've just had a look on I Player. At about 45 minutes in all he said was "bringing back face to face assessments".

They never went away!

ChrisR777

I'm all for face to face assessments, as it's the only way to weed out the chancers.

On saying that, I would hope there will be exceptional circumstances, decided on a case by case basis.

LIVEDANDLEARNED

@ChrisR777

I really think those with chronic conditions, with a stack of medical evidence should be exempt. The anxiety and stress is too overwhelming.

LIVEDANDLEARNED

@Kimi87 they let people do telephone assessments which was much easier to emotionally cope with.

yellowpineapple84

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1156495#Comment_1156495

Thanks for helping clear this up 🙏🏼 When I first saw this thread I was heading into mass panic myself. What you’ve pointed out is something I remember now too, this has been spoken about before around increasing them. In the moment felt very afraid but scrolling down came across your reply and I could try and calm my own growing anxiety

ChrisR777

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1156505#Comment_1156505

I have muscular dystrophy, and it's probably absurd to call me in, but if it catches the conmen/women, then so be it. I can't see them refusing those who have a genuine inability to attend, they would certainly have to make some allowances.

bookrabbit

I find face to face easier than by telephone. An in person assessment would have saved me years of stress. Not that it would have been easy just less impossible. And I wouldn't have had to go to tribunal to prove that I can't walk as it would have been completely obvious.

At the tribunal they gave me an indefinite award as it was obvious both how stressed and how incapacitated I was.

A phone interview lets them interpret things any way they choose. And lie without seeing the human they are hurting.