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esa have sent letter to my gp

shazier

Hi, I have recently filled out my review for esa, it was posted back on the 15may. My daughter rang them again on Thurs to ask if my claim has been dealt with yet. They told her a letter had been sent to my gp.? I am also in the middle of filling out a review of pip which needs to back 8th aug. This form is asking if things have gotten easier, harder or no change. The lady from CAB who helped fill my esa came yesterday to help fill my pip form, she was very surprised that a letter had been sent to my gp. She seemed to think that because i am recently bereaved they might be trying to deal with my claim on paper based because i also suffer with severe depression and anxiety.My daughter rang my gp and asked to speak to lady in medical records. She told her they are writing in about patients most of the time now? She said the form they have sent is asking about my diagnoses, when gp last saw there patient, treatments they have had in the past and future treatment they will be having, also how the patients conditions affect them and what condition wouldnt affect there ability to work. Maybe not all in order but these are questions there asking the gp to fill in. Is this normal to write to the gp, what will happen if my gp doesnt send this form back? she is my new gp and so knows very little about how my conditions affect me apart from my heart disease and copd. She is also not a very supportive gp, she was very reluctant to write me a gp letter with my conditions and tell them that I wouldn't be able to attend for a medical and it would have to be a home assessment due to my agoraphobia. She said if they want to know anything eles they will write to her which they have.My gp that retired in 2015 knew me very well, i had been seeing her for many yrs, she knew about all the help i receive and how allot of my conditions affect me. This new gp has only done a handful of home visits when i have had severe chest infections, she knows i cant walk very far and that i use aids.,I have been to the surgery i think 4 times in the past 3 years. Im worried that she is not going to fill it in and sent it back, will they cancel my claim if she doesnt?

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janice_in_wonderland

Hi @shazier
This is new to me
I am also new to my surgery too so they have minimum on record
Also my symptoms fluctuate so nobody ever really knows the truth bc they only ever see ppl when they appear to be coping despite the day to day challenges disabilities cause

I am sorry I am unable to help but happy to support you if you need it

poppy123456

Hi,

Your GP would have been sent the ESA113 form to fill in and return. If they don't know how your condition affects you then they can leave it blank. Did oyu send evidence to support your ESA claim? If you didn't or you didn't send enough of evidence then this will be why they sent that form. They do sometimes send these to GPs for ESA but it doesn't mean an assessment won't be needed. That will totally depend on how much evidence you sent.

As for your PIP review form. I would advise you that you fill that in with as much detail as possible and don't be fooled by the shortened version form. You'll also need to send in supporting evidence for this too. Good luck.

shazier

@poppy123456 i did send in evidence with my form yes, not all up to date though i don't really have up to date medical information. i sent in what i used for my pip three yrs ago there was also a letter from my old gp dated 2015 with all my conditions on, and the letter from this new gp. She stated severe COPD heart disease fibro and agoraphobia and a home visted was needed, she didnt write down the conditions like my other gp did, she wrote telling them to write to her if they needed further information, My daughter wrote allot of information on each activity, what caused the problems and how it affects me, pretty much the same as she di the first time when we were moved over from income support to esa, i had not assessment it was parer based decision , the cab lady said she shouldn't write to much? but she did. On the pip form that cab have just filled in for me, she has wrote very little and said not to write anything eles nor to send in my OP report that i have recently recieved, that assesment was 2016 but a further assesment is being done in the next couple of weeks re, alteration to my bathroom and stair lift, this was due to take place but then when my son died we had to put it of for awhile. im also seeing a physiotherapist next wed and mental health team next friday, i havent seen these before, my gp is aware of them coming, my daughter has arrange all this, my gp just gave us a phone no to contack for bereavement. I always thougt your gp refeered you to counselling? my last gp did. Not that this has anything to do with my forms

Waylay

This might be too late to be useful...

Unfortunately the mental health system is so overstretched that it's almost impossible to get counseling for anything but severe mental illness or mild mental illness (throught IAPT, which is mostly CBT). I doubt your bereavement fits into either of those, although I'm sure you need it! You'll likely need to look for charity or private counseling. I'm sorry for your loss.

Your new GP may or may not fill out and send back the ESA form in time. I'd call and ask whether they've gotten to it yet. Be a pest.

"OP"? If you meant an OT (Occupational Therapy) assessment of your needs, I would DEFINITELY send that in for PIP. I'd also ask for copies of the reports/letters to your GP from the physio and MH team. They may have useful information on your function in them.

I wouldn't listen to that CAB lady, to be honest. Remember that for PIP, the assessors at the f2f assessments often only get 10-15 minutes to read your form before the assessment (some finish it afterward, but others don't!), so you want to answer the questions as completely as possible, but without any extra fluff. What do I mean?

PIP is awarded based on how your disabilities affect the way you function - it's quite different from ESA. A letter from the GP saying what your disabilities/conditions are is useful, but it would be MUCH better to have a letter saying,

"Patient is a werewolf; once a month she turns into a wolf and runs around killing and eating people. When she turns human again, she feels very sick due to the human flesh she's eaten (she remarks that livers are the worst for this), and this generally continues for a week, causing *disgusting details*.

She suffers from depression because she regularly kills people, and this makes her very sad. The depression is at its worst in the week after the full moon.

She also suffers from social anxiety (see below)."

Activities

Taking nutrition

"1st week of month: Doesn't eat at all, as is so sick from the feast of human flesh at the full moon.

2nd week: Physically able to eat, but very depressed over her incessant murdering; can't motivate herself to eat more than once a day. Severe weight loss by mid-month.

3rd week: Eats normally; gains some weight back.

4th week: Begins to crave raw meat and blood; begins supplementing human meals with insects, mice, and cats/dogs who stray into the back yard. By mid-week she no longer eats any human food. She can't eat without spilling her food all over her clothes, the floor, and the walls. She gains all the weight back during this week.

Summary: Patient is only able to feed herself adequately ~9 days a month. Her weight falls and rises rapidly and unhealthily, and she is regularly vitamin-deficient due to poor diet. She would benefit enormously from having a carer who would supervise, prompt, and assist her to eat 3 meals a day, but as she killed the last one this is unlikely to happen."

Engaging with Others Face-to-Face

"Patient has severe social anxiety, and is unable to leave the house (in her human form; orders everything she needs on the internet).

Her hairy palms, glowing eyes, and obsessive-compulsive need to howl at the moon (pending referral for OCD assessment) cause humans to shy away from her, which re-triggers her childhood anxiety about "being subhuman".

She is also very anxious that, having caught someone's scent at a social event, she'll hunt them down mercilessly at the next full moon.

Summary: Patient is completely unable to engage others face-to-face, even with specialist support."

Hi, I'm a weirdo.

Here are some useful links:

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/personal-independence-payment-pip (free)

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-claims (20GBP for this and many more useful guides, but well worth it)

https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-pip-appeal

(in case you need to appeal - free)

Hope that helps (and lightens things up for a couple of minutes)

Waylay

shazier

Hi and thankyou for the replies. I am still waiting on esa. My daughter has rung them several times to ask if there is any progress. She spoke to a man last week who was ever so rude, he told her, it was waiting for an appointment for me to visit a face to face at the centre. My daughter explained that i had severe agoraphobia and would need a home visit, his reply was, agoraphobia doesn't prevent me from going for medical and there was no evidence in with my form supporting this? I sent evidence with my form from the gp.He said there was no evidence sent with my form?She argued that there was evedance in with my form.. She asked if my mental health support worker could forward me a letter on to them, he said no, the evidence has to come from a gp or psychiatrist. I rang my gp and spoke to medical records, they sent back the esa113 on the 29th july, i explained what had been said about there being no evidance with my form, she said to get intouch with dwp and ask them to find my evidance. My daughter rang the dwp and they have said that, the form doesnt go to them it goes straight to the assesment centre, so where is the evidance that was sent with the form? She rang the assesment centre and spoke to a lady this time, she said it was pending and they are awaiting the esa 113 form from my gp. She couldt say if it was going to be a f2f or paper based untill that from was recieved sent back. She couldnt tell my daughter what was sent with the form either? Im at a lose end. One says theres no evidance, one says she doesnt know what was sent with my form and what has happend to the report that my gp sent back. They couldnt possibly not have any evidance? I dont know which way to turn. whats going on?

poppy123456

DWP are correct when an ESA50 form is received it comes straight from the assessment providers and not DWP, so it's returned to them rather than DWP. Did you keep copies of the evidence you sent? If they still say that no evidence was sent then you could ask them for the address so you can send them another copy.

If they still refuse a home visit then you will need to speak to your GP about a letter of support stating the reasons why a home visit is needed. A letter from your support worker won't be accepted.

Good luck.

shazier

@poppy123456 thank you for your reply. I have copies of evididance but not sure which i sent with this eas claim. my last gp letter that i sent i do have a copy of and also a copy of the letter which my old gp wrote me in 2015, i sent that to. i do already have the address.
. my gp wrote
i
This letter is to confirm that .....suffers from severe agoraphobia, this condition has had a significant impact on her life and on managing her other medical problems.
She is also significantly disabled by a number of other medical problems including COPD, ischaemic heart disease and depression, arthritis, chronic back and neck pain. These conditions have been ongoing for many yrs and are very unlikely to improve.
If you wish to receive further information, i would be happy to help. I don't feel that she is able to attend an assessment and I feel that a home visit for the assessment would be appropriate for her.

not a great letter as it doesnt give allot of detail and not sure if its helpful or not? she doesn't list all my conditions where as my last gp, listed them all and said, it would not be possible for ms .... to attend a medical because of her agoraphobia.

I sent that gp letter also even though it is dated 2015 listing all my conditions apart from the ischaemic heart disease has this was only diagnosed last yr.

shazier

my daughter has rung them again this afternoon, they have asked her to contact my gps and asked for them to resend via fax. Fingers crossed they do it soon? they certainly know how to stress people out and push them to there to there limits

shazier

Can someone please advise.
I have received a letter from the assessment centre this morning advising that i have to attend a medical at the medical centre. Im in a panic, i dont know what to do? I sent a letter from my gp stating that i have severe agoraphobia, my daughter spoke to them yesterday and there was no mention that they had sent out an appointment, one of the advisers did, however, say that i had no medical evidence to back up my form? and also they have not received the esa113 form back that my gp filled in. This was sent back. I find it very strange that they are saying no evidence has been sent. I also sent a gp letter that was also sent with my form, i have written a copy of the letter in my comment above. Im not sure if what sure if what my gp has written is enough evidance to warrnt a home visit? Yesterday my daughter also contacted the gps and asked them to fax a copy of the esa113She was advised by the assesment centre to do this. Im at a loose end and cant deal with the stress and anxiety this is causing me. Iv had enough. any advise please
on what i should do next

Ripples

@shazier When is your appointment date? Generally speaking they give you at least seven days notice. Because it is the weekend there is little you can do immediately,however on Monday you will be able to contact your surgery and confirm whether they faxed over the ESA113.

shazier

@Ripples
hi, the appointment is for the 12th sep.My daughter rang the surgery asking for evidence when she was told there was no evidence with my form to back up my claim. All she kept saying was, dont worry, get onto to the dwp and tell them to find your evidence and to put the ball back in there court? the dwp told us the form didt go to them it went to the assessment centre. My daughter has tried so hard to sort this for me with no success.she only gets through to the people answering the phones and not the actual assessors. What could of happened to my evidence? have they got it but its not good enough?and thats why there saying i dont have evidence to back up my claim, according the guy she first spoke to said i had no evidence? gp letter was sent with my form and other bits of evidence but i cant remember which evidence we put in...im not convinced that the gp letter is good enough either as she says, she doesnt feel.....I am able to attend and feels... a home assessment would be appropriate When my daughter visited the gp on her appointment she did mention me and she was told, she was in the middle of filling out the 113 forms, she also said, she had quite a few of these forms to fill out that she would not, be supporting allot of them but i wasnt one of them, why couldnt she just write me strong evidence letter rather than letting me go through all this stress and anxiety also knowing i am struggling to come to terms with my sons death and how badly it is affecting my depression, she has even referred me back to the mental health team. my daughter asked if she would do a letter privatly for my pip, not the same claim i know but that is up for renewal to and im waiting for them to get back to me, she has refused point blank and said they can write to her if they need any information. Are gps getting paid for filling out these forms? or do i just have a gp thats not very supportve? my daughter will ring the surgery on mon and make sure they have faxed the form. sorry to waffle on im worried sick. thank you for responding

poppy123456

They don't always agree to a home assessment, even with a letter from a GP. It really depends on the reasons why you can't attend. In your case i feel that the letter your GP gave you doesn't fully support your reasons for needing the home assessment because it states "she doesnt feel.....I am able to attend and feels... a home assessment would be appropriate" your GP needs to state the reasons why a home assessment is needed, rather than say "she doesn't feel it's appropriate"

A lot of GPs refuse to write a letter of support for evidence for benefits. They will tell you that if they want evidence they will be contacted. This isn't always the case and they're very rarely contacted. Those GPs who will agree to write a letter will most likely charge for this.

Did you keep a copy of all the evidence that you sent with your form? If you did then if they're still saying you didn't send evidence then tell them you will send the another copy of what you sent. As i said previously, the form doens't go to DWP it goes straight to the assessment providers for ESA.

Be very careful when canceling an assessment because you can only do this once. As it's now the weekend then you'll have to wait until Monday before you can ring. Good luck.

shazier

@poppy123456

thank you. I dont feel that the letter is very good either but, thats all she would give me.When I asked her secretary to ask her to do me a private letter and i would pay, my gp still refused and said she won't do me one? all she kept saying was, if the dwp want information she would be happy to help. She did also say, which i forgot about, if it went tribunal which she doubts that will happen, she would support me? I doubt that very much when she could help to prevent that from happening. She obviously has had deaing l with this before.I do have copies of evidence but cant remember which letters i sent. to be honest. I have lots of letters but allot are quite old now. Shall i send everything i have regardless of the date and will it be ok if there is stuff that i didnt send already. The letters i have are basically stuff that has been written to others from my old gp and correspondence back to her ie. physio they all include my conditions and do say i am troubled by them.

shazier

the problem i have is that i dont go and see my gp anymore, she does a home visit when i am bad with my copd. i never get her out for anything eles. my specialist appointment for my heart i have missed due to my agrophobia. Its a big problem fo me to get newer evidance when i cant keep appointment, all the other specialist have dischargd me for not attending. I have the mental health team coming beg of sep with my support worker. The won't accepts evidence from my careworker because she's not a gp. I have a OT asssesment report from 2016 and they are coming out again to re asses but i wont get a report back in time. Im getting to the point where im thinking this just isnt worth the stress anymore.

poppy123456

As i said a lot of GP are refusing to write letters to support a benefits claim. There's not a lot you can do if your GP won't write it for you. Saying they will be contacted if evidence is needed is incorrect because they rarely contact them. It's up to you to prove you're unfit for work and not the other way around.

As for more evidence then you'll need to ring the assessment providers first thing Monday morning and ask if you send more evidence would it help? A home assessment may still be refused without the letter of support from your current GP. Your support worker won't be able to write you a letter asking for a home assessment that's correct. Good luck.

Ripples

@shazier I don't believe GP's are paid to fill in enquiry forms from DWP , in fact there is no legal requirement for them to fill in any such request. The DWP don't routinely send out requests for information on every case although I understand the numbers contacted are rising.
The increase in workload of the GP has probably a lot to do with their attitude to writing letters, filling out forms etc. The DWP only deal with your claim, making decisions, payments etc. CHDA ( assessors), are the ones who will have your ESA50 and relevant paperwork When they say they have no evidence, the form your doctor has faxed to them and any other information you sent them should be evidence enough you would think.
It appears incredibly difficult to get a home assessment. You do however have four weeks to hopefully change their minds. I do appreciate that the nature of grief can have that impact on daily life having lost three people close to me within four years and the stress you must be under at this time

CHAT_chat2us

Some great help here. When I went to cab she wrote a few words in each column. I know now to write as much as I can about my condition and how it affects me that's why I know help other people. Best of luck with your tribunal @Shazier...oh and I bought my notes and xrays from the hospital it was cheaper than buying from my GP at £20 each one!

shazier

hi everyone. Just a quick update. MY appointment for the medical that i recieved has been cancelled. I recieved a letter yesterday telling me that it was cancelled and not to attend.My gp surgery slightly changed my gp evidance letter. Instead of it say, she didn't feel i would be able to attend the centre for assessment and felt a home medical would be appropriate, it was change to, I am not able to attend and she feels a home me assesment would be approprate. then she put, the gps do home visits.That was faxed and a copy of my esa113. so, they couldnt say they didnt recieve them, I cant believe that just changing her wording changed there minds. I personally think they may of found my further evidence? I find it very strange that they said, i sent no evidance and then say, they hadnt recieved my esa113 form from my gp. My daughter rang them yesterday to see if they were allowing a home visit, im shocked, no medical is required, they have done a paper-based assessment.
I hope I dont have to go through all this again with my pip, I posted my form back to them in july and heard nothing yet.

susan48

@shazier I’m glad your not having to go through the f2f assessment, I bet your relieved.

Keep us posted on how things go.

Take care

shazier

@suan48 Thank you, I am relieved yes but also still very unsettled and annoyed that Isusan48 said:

@shazier I’m glad your not having to go through the f2f assessment, I bet your relieved.

Keep us posted on how things go.

Take care

have been put through all this unnecessary stress. it very upsetting and stressful, things like this affect me for days, its part of my anxiety disorder. don't get me wrong im relieved its and pleased with the outcome but i can't just shrug things of like i used to. By the time i have calmed down pip will be on my back. It a vicious circle. I hope all is well with you x