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Bipolar, Physosis and Physiotherapis and Vets

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kah22
kah22 Community member Posts: 52 Courageous
edited May 2018 in PIP, DLA, and AA

I’ve just be taking a closer look at my GF PA3.  It gives the HP registration as a physiotherapist. Her condition is Bipolar, Physosis and her assessment was paper based on her GP’s advice.

Re-reading her PA3 form the first paragraph suddenly caught my eye, it read

’19/02/2018 Other Professional-psychiatrist – telephone advice: DA. A.Person called Consultant Pschiatrist on 2/2/18@ 11.35 am. Secretary informed me the Psychiatriss is in clinic this morning but she has taken my details for a callback..
Clinical Coach Another Person called Psychiatrist on 19/2/18 @ 11.35 am, spoke with secretary. Confirmed the Psychiatrist has received the request for a factual report and was planning to complete this on 16/2/18 after the customer’s outpatient appointment however she cancelled so the report won’t be completed until she does attend for review….’ The award letter was dated 30/3/2018

Several things occurred to me:

What does DA in DA  A.Person mean. I haven’t come across those initials before

Secondly, and perhaps more important. On the 19/18 DA called the consultant BUT on 19/2/18 Clinical Coach Another Person called Psychiatrist secretary.  

A quick Google shows that a Clinical Coach is either a veterinary surgeon or registered veterinary nurse working within the practice who agrees to ‘mentor’ the student through their training. They will be responsible for supporting the student and supervising the completion of the Nursing Progress Log (NPL). SEE

Two questions arise here.  Were two people involved in her assessment and if so why? is this normal? What does a veterinary surgeon/nurse know about acute mental conditions and for that matter what does a psychiatrist know?

Needless to say I will be bringing this up in my MR but how best to present it for maximum effect? I would of course appreciate any points or suggestions. I am, of course, working my way through the descriptors and trying to emphasis the safety angle of the conditions

One final point, but a little off topic. While her consultants report was referred to in the PA3 there wasn’t a mention of mine as the person who knows her best.  Is that something I can use


Kevin  

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  • whistles
    whistles Community member Posts: 1,583 Disability Gamechanger
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    DA disability assessor possibly.


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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 1,741 Listener
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    The user and all related content has been deleted.
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  • kah22
    kah22 Community member Posts: 52 Courageous
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    Sorry Victorid I should have said: what does a physiotherapist know about mental health will have to watch my wording ?

    Your comment re the clinical coach at a best guess would you think they would have a good knowledge of mental health
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  • dee4848
    dee4848 Community member Posts: 256 Pioneering
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    @Kah22 Hi is they any mobility issues that you stated in the claim form?
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  • whistles
    whistles Community member Posts: 1,583 Disability Gamechanger
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    kah22 said:
    Sorry Victorid I should have said: what does a physiotherapist know about mental health will have to watch my wording ?

    Your comment re the clinical coach at a best guess would you think they would have a good knowledge of mental health
    Don't worry about words or spellings. We all get sausage fingers. :-) 

    The person you see at the assessment doesnt need to know about your condition. It's been said so many times on this forum now  that even I have remembered it. 
    They are assessing how you function with the what's on the forms handed to them and briefly putting you to the forms.
    The DM is not qualified medically, they are not diagnosing your condition. They never have been back in the day of just paperbased DLA.
    Hypothetically anyone can make a phone call, ask questions and write down the answers. I say hypothetically because I would be sacked the first day for  my contribution to the chaos!

    My fwiw advice is to focus on how you scored points in each descriptor you don't agree with. 
    Supply supporting evidence of why you have come to this decision.
    The assessment is a % of the whole process, your points don't hang of it. Otherwise the assessor would be called the DM. 


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  • kah22
    kah22 Community member Posts: 52 Courageous
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    Points taken although I do think that unless you have experience in a particular field of medical conditions then you can’t really judge how a person is affected in their everyday life
    An example: a paramedic might be skilled in saving the life of a heart attack victim but that doesn’t translate into knowledge as to how that will affect heart attack patients in their day to day life 
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  • whistles
    whistles Community member Posts: 1,583 Disability Gamechanger
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    Exactly, so had your gf been seen by a psychiatrist- you still wouldn't be happy? Because as you said they don't know. It's not about knowing your condition.
    You need to show is effects on you as an individual.

    I saw a paramedic. Based on the evidence he had, the most important- me and the carer speaking where I couldn't,  he was able to make an opinion.

    I think we need to remember the dwp are only humans and the only person who really knows what your day is like is you. So it's you that's the most important evidence.


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  • Waylay
    Waylay Community member, Scope Member Posts: 973 Pioneering
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    @kah22 I agree with you that the assessor should, at least in some cases, be related to the disability being assessed. My conditions: refractory major depressive disorder (clinical depression - 24 years), generalized anxiety disorder (22 years), borderline personality disorder (7 years), and chronic pain (10 years). The paramedic who assessed me clearly had no clue about mental health or chronic pain. He described my mental health as "low mood, anxious" and said that my mental health was fine because I wasn't sweating or down, and he seems to have assumed that chronic pain is basically acute pain that lasts a long time, when it's actually a syndrome. Um. Noooo.
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