Assessment not so bad - over in 30 minutes!

Yadnad

debbiedo49 said:

@Yadnad when I had my pip assessment the person sat side on the me and my rep and my rep was able to read over their shoulder what they were typing. Obviously they couldn’t confer with me about it but afterwards told me. The assessor was on the same side of desk as us. I think it depends on the space you get. I did ask the assessor to read back to me what she was writing as she kept saying is that correct? She did not read it back but merely paused and said I will read it back at the end. At the end she did not read it back. If she had said will you sign this document at the end, I would have refused without being able to read it back. Between there and the decision maker parts of the assessment answers were left out which led to misleading calculation of points to be awarded. The assessor couldn’t have been any nicer apart from the not reading back part. But having been through esa I didn’t get my hopes up and it was just as well

. 

I have had 3 face to face assessments and had to sit in one of the two chairs facing the back of the computer monitor. I had no idea what she had written as the option to review the report at the end was never offered.

My first F2F was the worst. I had an Asian guy who spoke with a heavy accent. It became impossible as I could not understand a word he was saying and repeatedly asked him to repeat himself. At the end I asked him if I could change to someone that could speak clear English which did not go down very well.

When I asked for a copy of my PIP file from the DWP included in it was a page from the report that included a personal statement about me. He described me as argumentative, racist, bombastic etc etc . Attached to that form was a 'stick it note' that said that sheet was not to be copied and sent to me!
Obviously it was by accident I suppose 

Gaina

Username_removed said:

Gaina said:

sam12 said:

They not physio  people. They not medically trained from what I heard 

They do have to spend at least three years doing an MSc in physiotherapy, though which gives them an understanding of *how* the body actually functions day-to-day and how certain health conditions affect that, which is far more of an idea than a paramedic has. And these assessments are about how your condition affects you day-to-day. I do, however think there should be more GP's and mental health specialists doing these assessments, maybe with an extra consultation with a PT for cases like mine (Spina Bifida).

There are no simple solutions here and quite a lot of misunderstanding. 

That aspect of Physio training is largely irrelevant as the issue is not how a condition affects your body function but how it impacts specific tasks and that will vary from person to person. A paramedic may have less medical training but they see just as much of that impact on function every day and that’s why they’re recruited. 

Anyone who experienced GP assessments for DLA or when sat on a tribunal would disagree with involving them more. One of the reasons we have what we have now is precisely because of how poor and expensive they are and that was seen over a 20+ year period so it’s not like it’s in doubt. Having a “mental health specialist” is simply too wide. Someone on a crisis team dealing daily with sections and psychosis will have little insight into anxiety and depression for example and vice verse. 

Nothing is as simple as people desperately want it to be.

This whole farce of reforming the system was an ill-conceived, populist vote grabber. Whoever promises to at least suspend the process until a full investigation is carried out will literally be on to a winner come the next election.