Claiming PIP when you're completely unable to leave bed? DWP won't accept she can't prepare a meal

KarenA

Has anyone had experience of claiming PIP when you are literally unable to leave your bed? 

My sister has been very ill and is more or less immobile . She is unable to move her legs, stand, sit without support or walk. 
 We have been trying to claim PIP. The DWP wont accept that she cant prepare a simple meal. They say its irrelevant whether she can get in a wheelchair or even get through the kitchen door( doorframe very small,  too narrow for wheelchair to pass through, even if she could actually get into a wheelchair)
 This seems very unfair to me. How is she meant to prepare a meal from her hospital bed? She doesn't live in the kitchen, she lives in the dining area of her house. She cant physically reach the oven or microwave. 

calcotti

The physical constraints of the property she lives in are not relevant. The test is intended to assess her ability/degree of difficulty.

That is not to say that there are not other reasons to do with her difficulties that mean she should get points for this descriptor.

KarenA

Thank you for replying.  I've not explained things very well. She cant leave her bed. So how can she cook? Am I being unreasonable in thinking the fact that she cant stand, walk or transfer to a wheelchair means she is unable to prepare a simple meal? Does this not count towards points for this descriptor? 

calcotti

KarenA said:

Thank you for replying.  I've not explained things very well. She cant leave her bed. So how can she cook? Am I being unreasonable in thinking the fact that she cant stand, walk or transfer to a wheelchair means she is unable to prepare a simple meal? Does this not count towards points for this descriptor? 

Of course you are not being unreasonable which is what my second paragraph referred to. The point of my first paragraph is that narrow doorways are not relevant.

KarenA

So how can the DWP justify giving her 2 points for preparing a simple meal. It just defies logic. When she was assessed, the assessor kept asking what aids she might need in the kitchen to cook, my sister kept telling her she cant get into the kitchen, she cant stand up. But the assessor didnt listen. So it made me wonder if this wasnt a consideration 

KarenA

Hi. She has been ill for 6 years. In her bed for 2. There seems no prospect of her recovering as her legs never heal. She has one infection after another,  on massive doses of antibiotics,  constantly being changed by the hospital to try and kill the infections once and for all. She has nearly died twice( hospital) warned hubby might not make it through the night) and had three bouts of sepsis in under 2 years. It takes over a year to recover from one bout. She hasnt stood up in two years. No muscle tone left apart from anything else. If she does recover, it will be a very long road. I'm not sure what else I can say

janer1967

Hi there 

I can empathise with this having had my leg amputated due to severe foot infections leading to sepsis , only way to end all infections wS to lose the limb 

I'm not suggesting this is the case here but judt trying to show my experience 

As for pip have you put in the mandatory reconsideration I would encourage you yo get expert advice with this from welfare rights as I think it may be a matter of not putting her case forward in the right way 

I would keep fighting and take it to tribunal if needed 

KarenA

When you say welfare rights, do you have a particular organisation in mind? I dont really know who to ask. We are already 2 weeks late in asking for MRC as my sister was too ill and depressed to face anything  so she hid the fact that they had made a decision  so I know I've got a fight on my hands. It just seems so unreasonable to me to deny her points on this when she is literally trapped in bed. How they expect her to cook is beyond me

janer1967

Welfare rights us an organisation in its own jyst Google and see where your local centre us or visit their website 

You can get 13 months to submit a mr if there us a valid reason for the delay so don't let the time lapse put you off 

There is lots info on here in our pip section too about appealing a decision 

For MR the vest is yo ho through the descriptors you think should score more points and give 2 real examples of what happened last time the activity was performed 

You have only mentioned the preparing meal descriptor did she score points in other areas at all,  was she given any award at all ? Will the preparing food aline give her the award she deserved 

Lots of questions I know only Tring to get more 7dea so we can help 

KarenA

They under scored her in all areas. So she cant wash her upper body, needs physical help with toileting, cant dress upper body, any of these things would have taken her to the enhanced rate of daily living. Mobility they just blatantly ignored what was said by us and said she could walk 20 metres but no more than 50 metres. This was to ensure she didnt getvthe enhanced rate if course. She literally hasnt got out of bed for two years except when taken to hospital by 999 ambulance 

janer1967

Did she get any award at all 

calcotti

As janer says you have a long stop of 13 months to request an MR. If DWP refuse to accept it because it's more than a month since the decision you can still appeal the decision to a tribunal.

janer1967

It may also be the case as was.mentioned that the dwp don't see this as ongoing condition as infections can clear up 

Did you send any medical evidence detailing the condition and the prognosis 

Just advice from what I have read I may be wrong but I get the impression her case may not have been presented in the best way and why your best chance is to do lots of research or get some expert advice for the mr 

KarenA

Thanks for all your advice. I thought they would contact the GP or hospital consultant. They say not to ask for any reports you dont already have. 

calcotti

KarenA said:

Thanks for all your advice. I thought they would contact the GP or hospital consultant. They say not to ask for any reports you dont already have. 

You need to fully explain how you are affected and the difficulties you have. They may contact your GP and/or consultant but generally don’t. It is correct that you don’t need to ask for special reports. PIP is awarded on the basis of impact not diagnosis. The person who best understands the impact is the person who has the problems.

KarenA

Well we obviously thought we had explained in some detail how she was affected. We explained about the pain, not being able to sit up unsupported, not being able to move her legs, not standing, not being able to wash her body or hair or go to the toilet without physical support, how breathless she got, how long it all took, how long it took to recover just from having a wash,  the extra pain relief she needs before the dressings are changed, the time it took for her to recover after her dressings are changed, we even sent photos in of her legs showing them to be a bloody pulp where the ulcers have eaten away at nearly the whole of her lower legs, how they sometimes have arterial bleeding during dressing changes and then it takes the two nurses even longer as they have to put pressure on the legs to stop the blood pumping out, we honestly did go into as much detail as possible. She is on a cocktail of drugs and pain relief. The ulcers have gone down to nerve endings so its like having electrical shocks going through her legs 24 /7.  Some drugs are controlled drugs. But the assessor said she was only on mild pain relief. And kept banging on about what aids would she need to help her in the kitchen. We kept saying she cant get in the kitchen, she cant stand or get out of bed. She raised the idea of a wheelchair but we pointed out she cant transfer to a chair and if she did, the chair wouldn't go through the doorway anyway.  But now the reports come back focussing on not being responsible for the building. She does have a decent GP though so we wre going to ask him to write us a letter about her illnesses.and in the meantime, I'll look online for some help. 

KarenA

She got standard rate for both sections. But I honestly think she warrants the enhanced rate

janer1967

OK sounds like you explained well 

All you can do is put in the mr and hope a different decision maker changes the decision 

KarenA

I reackon I'll be off to a tribunal personally. They ve had a good chance to read everything,  the only thing really is to see if they accept a letter from the gp

KarenA

Ok. So I need to go through this step by step.  So she cant cook because she cant stand or walk or get into a wheelchair. She was told she needed complete bed rest to allow the gaping holes in both legs to have the best chance of recovery. Part of her foot has been ulcerated too. So when she did try and stand, this meant she was standing on raw flesh almost down to the bone. The pain left her breathless and was excruciating.  She could only stand for a minute and then collapsed. This was a long time ago now because she has been in hospital twice now with sepsis since. She cant freely move her legs. She uses a hoist to move them to help her sit up in bed. She is trussed up like a mummy from above the knee down , to try and compress the skin so that it might miraculously join up . She needs 2 new knees but obviously cant at the moment,  so that's an added difficulty.  
What else can I add to explain this? Sorry to bang on, I feel like I'm trying to claim something that she isnt entitled to . She does too which is why it's taken me so long to get her to even apply.
 I cant see her ever walking again. Her legs wont heal. The obvious solution would be to remove them. The drs dont know how she survived the last two bouts of sepsis and doubt she would a forth. Her heart is in trouble too, so I guess that's why amputation has not been suggested thus far. 
I dont know how I can give two examples of why she cant cook.
Grateful for your help. 

janer1967

Explain it like you have above 

Go through each descriptor 

Again I would contact welfare rights for some support