PIP decision being made off of medical evidence, despite having an assessment

orangefresh

Hi, 

this is a strange one (I think) and wondered if anyone has ever come across this before. 

I had my pip assessment 2 weeks ago, the day after I requested a copy of my report, received 5 days later, to find tons of discrepancies. I rang dwp to speak to a case manager to air my concerns. She listened to me and decided to run through the assessment questions again and make note of my answers so the case manager could look at that also. 

I rang back couple days later as I had understand the report a little better and was astounded by even more contradictions. 

When I called back they said, the assement has been sent back to the assessor as there is so many discrepancies so we will be in touch. I rang the day after to see if it would be worth me formally complain to atos, however, the lady on the phone told me the assessors had responded regarding the discrepancies and it didn’t make much sense to the advisor and she had to speak to a case manager to confirm. She come back on the phone and said from what we can undertand the assessors have just said there is too many contradictions in the report and have advised us to gather as much medical evidence as possible and make a descision based off of that. 

I mean I have never come across this route in any forum. Has anyone else? 

Thanks 

poppy123456

I've not heard of this happening before. I don't know how she spoke to a case manager that quickly because it's a call centre you ring so please be aware that they often give incorrect information. All you can do at this stage is wait for the decision. Once it's made if you're not happy you can request the MR.

orangefresh

@poppy123456 she actually transferred me to the case manager after and she was just saying we will try make a decision off of the evidence we already have if we need more we will contact your gp. But the assessment centre already got a report from my gp!  Very odd! Xx 

orangefresh

Kerrie2k said:

Hiya, back in 2019 I had a review, the assessor got everything totally wrong, made things up, it was nothing like my previous assessment report, the case manager disputed the report and Capita ended up asking my GP for a GPFR to clarify my health conditions because the assessor was trying to say I don't struggle mentally when I do and have for a very long time.

However, that didn't go to plan due to Capita making mistakes again, I won't bore you with it but I ended up having to appeal, it was overturned at the appeal stage.

I hope it turns out well for you.

Hi Kerrie, 
thanks for your response. It’s such a stressful process anyway regardless of all these little hiccups. The fact the assessors have basically told dwp to gather the medical evidence and make a decision has baffled me. I’m assuming it’s with my case manager now as I have had a message this morning saying a decision has yet to be made. From what I can gather on the forums this usualy indicates the case manager is now looking at it. All I can do is sit and wait. I am the same as you. Massively struggle mentally. Strugggle to leave the house, don’t eat much have lost other 3 stone and am extremly thin. No motivation, sit in a quiet room most days not even with thre tv on just procrastinating and napping, I struggle to get myself washed and dressed. I have major depressive episodes where sometimes I don’t get changed for nearly a week. It’s awful. She wrote all this down in my report but then give me 0 on each descriptor claiming I needed no support as my condition is improving and my doctors have started reducing my medication. My medication has been lowered as I need weaning off of it I can’t just stop it. It is not working and I need it changing and they have referred me for specialist intervention to try and get me on the correct medication. It’s so draining. Massively adding the my anxiety and over thinking. It’s an awful process I don’t think I have the strength to appeal if I don’t get an award xxx

orangefresh

Kerrie2k said:

I'm sorry to hear what you're going through, it's not fair is it.

I would talk about my experience but I always end up ranting because of how ridiculous it all was and how poorly the DWP and Capita handled my review, both were to blame and both caused me a lot of unnecessary stress, same as my experience with the ESA assessment company last year, it was shocking.

Honestly, I can only imagine. This is so stressful and considering the people who are applying for pip are poorly and mental illness always comes hand in hand with physical pain even if they are not claiming for mental illness. You would think the process would be a lot smoother to save additional stress and anxiety when the claimants are already struggling xx

Tori_Scope

Hi @orangefresh  

I hope that you've been finding it helpful to connect with other members in a similar situation to you!

It sounds as though you're really struggling with your depression at the moment. 

Do you have a support network of family or friends who can offer you practical or emotional support? I realise not everyone does. If you do, I'd encourage you to lean on them for support.

It's definitely important to taper off of medication under a doctor's supervision. Do you feel as though you're receiving enough support for your mental health at the moment? 

I'd encourage you to have a chat with your GP about your depressive episodes, and weight loss, if you haven't already. 

Please remember that the following organisations are there for you, if you'd like to talk to someone who'll listen without judgement. You don't have to be suicidal to get in touch with them.

• Samaritans: call 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org 
• SHOUT: text SHOUT to 85258
• CALM: call 0800 58 58 58, or use their live web chat, between 5pm and 12am

You may also want to look on the Hub of Hope to see if there are any services you could access in your local area, such as those run by local charities.

As you seem to be struggling a bit with daily tasks, you could also consider referring yourself for a needs assessment from your local authority. There's some information about that on the NHS website.

Tori_Scope

Hi @orangefresh I just wanted to check in with you to see how you've been doing over the past week or so. How have things been? 

orangefresh

Tori_Scope said:

Hi @orangefresh I just wanted to check in with you to see how you've been doing over the past week or so. How have things been? 

Thank you for checking in. So kind of you. I suppose I’m doing as well I can. I’m trying to to think about it. I called again last week to see if there is an update and the lady said what I had already been told. It’s with the case manager and they need to speak to my doctor to make a robust decision so they are waiting to do that. Godknows how long that could take. I just wanna get it over and done so I can forget about it. I’ve finally had my new medication prescribed so will be starting that in a week once I have finished weaning myself off of my current medication xx

Alex_Alumni

Thanks for updating us @orangefresh it can feel very stressful and frustrating when it seems something won't ever come to an end, but it will, and you're doing everything you need to. 

I hope you adjust well to your new medication soon, and let us know how everything goes