Proof of Fibromyalgia/Osteoarthritis

Peterph

Hi all, my wife has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis and will be applying for PIP shortly (been told you have to wait from 3 months from diagnosis) when applying how does she get proof of diagnosis, is it from her GP as they want £30 for a letter! 
Any other tips with applying would be welcome
TIA

Emilyb81

Hiya ? pip isn't about diagnosis so you may not need it anyway? It's about wether she is able to do certain things reliably/safely? The descriptors? There is a document explaining what they are but I'm not able to post it unfortunately so hopefully someone else can?
That helped me massively I genuinely had no idea about what they need to know until I read that document! Good luck with everything!

Emilyb81

Lots of really knowledgeable people on this forum so you will get some good advice no doubt ?? wish I'd of found it before! Take care and stay safe guys!

Peterph

Emilyb81 said:

Hiya ? pip isn't about diagnosis so you may not need it anyway? It's about wether she is able to do certain things reliably/safely? The descriptors? There is a document explaining what they are but I'm not able to post it unfortunately so hopefully someone else can?
That helped me massively I genuinely had no idea about what they need to know until I read that document! Good luck with everything!

Thank you, because they say you cant apply for 3 months after you have been diagnosed  i thought she would need proof?

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

You don't have to wait 3 months from diagnosis you have to have had the condition for 3 months before you apply 

You don't need diagnosis letters as above it's about how the condition affects her against the descriptors 

Have a good look at them before applying 

calcotti

Peterph said:

Hi all, my wife has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis and will be applying for PIP shortly (been told you have to wait from 3 months from diagnosis) ..

PIP has nothing to do with diagnosis, it's about how you are affected. You need to have been experiencing difficulties for three months before you can be entitled to PIP. 

If she has been diagnosed with something by a consultant I would have expect her to have got a copy of a letter confirming the diagnosis.

She can ask her GP for her complete medical records and they have to provide. In my opinion that is over the top (and puts quite a lot of strain on GPS). She could however ask for her Summary Care Record. This is usually only a few pages but will show diagnosed conditions, medical and a summary of her medical history. 

Full description of the PIP points system and the reliability test are here
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

Emilyb81

https://www.google.com/search?q=pip+descriptors+and+points&oq=pip+desc&aqs=chrome.2.0j69i57j0l3.2795j0j4&client=ms-android-oppo-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Emilyb81

Hope it's ok to post that it won't let me post the actual document for some reason... Sorry if not meant to post links ?

Peterph

Is it better to ask for a paper application or to do it over the phone?

cristobal

My boss gave me this advice when I was applying for promotion but I think that it applies here as well…

Spend time researching exactly what the criteria are and then explain how you meet them. Give a couple of examples for each and try to cover different aspects. Do not spend any time on waffle - make it easy for the assessor to find the information.

If you apply this to the first activity - Preparing Food.

This doesn’t include bending down to use an oven so don’t mention that.

Give a couple of examples of the difficulties you experience chopping/ slicing ingredients, opening packaging, checking when food is cooked etc.

If your grip is poor and you can’t use a peeler then it’s likely that you can’t chop ingredients for the same reason so don’t repeat yourself but concentrate on other aspects - e.g. if you lave the cooker on because of cognitive difficulties.

Personally I wouldn’t send loads of medical reports. In my own cases I’ve got dozen, most of which say nothing about how I carry out daily tasks and some that I can barely understand anyway. They’re written by doctors who want to make you better not help you claim PIP. If the assessor is wading through these he/she isn’t spending time reading the important stuff - which is the examples you give.


Keep it brief and to the point!

Good luck..

calcotti

Peterph said:

Is it better to ask for a paper application or to do it over the phone?

You start the claim with a phone call. Once you have got through you have to provide some extra information. You will then be sent the health form to complete and return.
https://www.gov.uk/pip/how-to-claim