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My second assessment
emw
Member Posts: 2 Listener
hi i am a disabled lady of 60 ad will be facing my second assessment some time this year i lost my higher mobility last time and waited a year before my appeal was heard and won dreading my second assessment because of how the so called nurse sat and wrote a pack of lies about me it is wrong that we must go through this it should be up to our doctors that should decide whether we are ft for work not an unmedically trained lying penpusher
Replies
Welcome to the community. I am sorry to hear this. But I am happy you won your appeal in the end. Best wishes with your second assessment and please keep us updated.
And of course it is normal to pay more for doing more work.
But taking this back a few posts, we all know including myself that glaring errors do appear in some assessment reports - Takes dog for walk - haven't got a dog or indeed any pet, does not have any mental health issues - the PIP2 states otherwise as does the evidence from the GP and CMHT for Older People, was seen to be 'shuffling' papers and continually reading from them - actually holding my passport and the appointment letter which was shown to the receptionist.
If the assessor has two hours, and has spent the hour of the assessment continually typing, how can the report and not just my reports - all 3 of them over the past 5 years, be so wrong factually?
Your last few lines says it all. I can't change how I am around some people so will just have to accept the consequences.
As for leaving evidence for the case manager to read, most of us know that they do not read this evidence preferring to just accept what the assessor recommends when making the decision probably thinking that if it is wrong then that's the claimants problem - let him/her appeal.
Could I ask one further thing which will almost certainly be able to address a major concern that I had?
Much of my assessment was an interview along the lines of "Can you walk to x", "Do you have a downstairs bathroom?", "How often do you go to the supermarket?" My responses to these, and many others, were wrongly recorded. Now I accept that everyone makes mistakes, particularly if you are forced to do a "rush job", but I'm struggling to see how there could be so many errors (unless the interviewer was having a really bad day) Many of the questions (about seven or eight) required a Yes/ No answer.
Worryingly, in my case there was some information included that I wasn't even asked about and the only conclusion I can come to is that the HCP forgot to ask and made it up afterwards. This could be the same with the questions above - she guessed whether I've got a bathroom downstairs because she never asked me.
Does this happen, in your experience? Surely once the interview process is concluded then that's it, there's no scope for 'adding' bits afterwards?
Thanks for all of the info you've provided...
Something to think about regarding bonuses and assessments. people seem to think that assements are 2 hours a time, no they are not, many are done within half hour or less. This is where mistakes and the untruths and shoddy reports are done, it's all about money.
I created one of the campaign election video for Labour, and Jeremy Corbyn,
This is a new version of Emeli Sande, Hope "You Are Not Alone
You can see the video here.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P5o8hRHh9IY
You tend to confirm I think what I had already concluded although some of my interview is so bad that it looks like it might have been written without even speaking to me! I imagine that my assessor didn't feel able to ring to clarify things...
I share your view on the bathroom. Not sure what you think about "enjoys reading poetry on-line" which seems to have crept in from somewhere!
Thanks once again
(PS Don't feel the need to answer the last bit...)
You are advised to give chapter & verse of why you are making the claim and what happens when you carry out that particular activity, giving a couple of examples along the way.
I have always given yes/no answers to every closed question - that is all that is required of me. In doing that I know that I have failed to impress on the assessor what the impact is. The assessor only having the previous assessment report to compare with they would have no idea that the actual decisions at MR stage went from 0 points to enhanced for both elements.
Even if you refer to the current claim form it is highly likely that it isn't completed correctly in any way or form as many never are. As an example I have no real idea how to complete it, what information to give or where I can get up to date relevant evidence from - I have never had any professional advice.
Yet you are suggesting that long winded answers should not be given but to keep it simple and say yes/no?
I note that you had professionals initially to help in completing these forms, many like myself have never had that opportunity - that is the start of the 'us and them' - still to this day I do believe that the assessor is there to extract relevant information from the claimant in order to prepare the report and to guide the DWP more so than what you write on the claim forms.
Yes it will be very interesting to learn how you do get on and I really do wish you the best of luck.
What I can say is that I have had 3 face to face assessments 2013, 2015 and 2017. All resulted in 0 points although the first 2 were changed at MR stage to Enhanced Care & Mobility. The 3rd I gave up with as at the age of 70 I didn't fancy having re-assessments every other year for the rest of my life!
In all 3 assessments the majority of questions were closed - 'would you agree', 'you mention that you can walk no more than 15 metres, if the building you were in was on fire and the nearest fire escape door was 60 metres away could you walk that distance', you claim that you have two NHS hearing aids because you say you are deaf, yet you only have one in at the moment, can you still hear me', 'did the NHS provide the walking stick you are using', 'if the power to your electric bath chair failed to raise you would you still be sitting in the cold water until someone came to help you', ……
I think, and yes I am guilty also, that most people don't bother with the form filling side for many reasons - it is too long and complicated, they have no one to help them fill it out, they don't understand what they are to put on the form, along with the belief that the assessor is supposed to extract all of the relevant information from the claimant at the assessment (it's the easy option I suppose).
Unfortunately for some claimants, and despite how debilitating a condition is, they end up back at the GP as there is nothing more that can be done for them - my typical situation is that I went off the radar of the CMHT purposely as I didn't see the good in what the consultants psychiatrist was doing. Getting back into the 'service' is now almost impossible - it doesn't mean to say that I am not having difficulties in coping.
I will be honest that after the 1st assessment when I tried to explain on the form all about the impact the mental health problems cause, I was faced with 14 or so reasons why I can't have any mental health problems - didn't rock in the chair etc. For the 2nd and 3rd assessments I did not raise any mental health issues as it was clear from the 1st assessment that I was not going to be believed.
. @ilovecats
It really is enlightening to read your posts and the different perspective they offer. I wish I could find more insight from ex or indeed current assessors online.
Many thanks
Good luck.
The Not So SecREt Assessor #KeepRockingTheBoat
@secretassessor1