Pip decision

ilovecats said:

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The amount of people that have sat in front of me claiming various restrictions, stated they take XYZ high dose opiate pain relief, yet they are functioning just fine is beyond belief. I used to administer these drugs, I know what they can do and how they affect people so its actually insulting when people try to pull the wool over my eyes.

And that is why people are sent to face to face assessment. That is also why the assessors use informal observations above the functional history because they carry for evidential weight. 

Similarly, I have seen people play down their illnesses due to embarrassment or stoicism and actually I could see they were really struggling and were too prideful to admit it. Those are the cases I liked doing because I felt I was making sure people who needed  PIP really got it and for a good length of time. 

Not all assessors are heartless cretins :-)

Thanks for those comments and I am pleased, as a taxpayer, to read that during your time as an assessor that you had the public purse in the forefront of your thoughts when dealing with those types of people. 
For some, however, their mannerisms and abilities will let them down. 
Of the large quantity of different drugs that I personally take, the following four are supposed to give rise to some pretty obvious side effects. Oramorph 600ml a month as and when needed, Sertraline 200mg a day , 90mg MST twice a day and 125mg Pregabalin twice a day. 

However I am still able to reasonably have a normal life without those side effects. I do admit to having a strong constitution and an enormous amount of will power which means that I fight my issues daily not wanting to give in to them  and any medication does not appear to be a problem.

So whilst claimants like myself would appear to be normal in many respects certainly when talking to people , what is not apparent are the times when in privacy I can drop the persona and just feel like today has been another battle won and tomorrow is another day.

The level of medication and diagnosis is not in doubt at all - there is plenty of evidence to support the issues. The problem is therefore that the person you would see does not match what you would expect to see given the medication and the conditions/side effects/symptoms.


 

djbantiques said:

A nurse assessor who does not know the difference between Osteo and Rheumatoid arthritis and which medication is used for which is to my mind incompetent.

Is that particularly important when assessing whether the claimant has some difficulties with pain and moving around?
I have no idea which type my wife has - it's just arthritis to me but given that I know that it causes her difficulties for which she has the day and night award of Attendance Allowance it doesn't matter.

djbantiques said:

It shows a lack of knowledge and incompetence for a medical professional which brings into disrepute all their other findings.

I don't see how? Would I expect a competent medical professional (assessor) to understand the workings of the mind and associated psychiatric conditions? Would I expect them even  to have a good insight into Chronic Pancreatitis, it's symptoms, collaterals, peusdocyst, thrombotic splenic vein etc when they have never come across a case before? No is that answer. 

Besides which PIP is not awarded because of a name put to a disease or condition.

djbantiques said:

Yadnad said:

djbantiques said:

It shows a lack of knowledge and incompetence for a medical professional which brings into disrepute all their other findings.

I don't see how? Would I expect a competent medical professional (assessor) to understand the workings of the mind and associated psychiatric conditions? Would I expect them even  to have a good insight into Chronic Pancreatitis, it's symptoms, collaterals, peusdocyst, thrombotic splenic vein etc when they have never come across a case before? No is that answer. 

Besides which PIP is not awarded because of a name put to a disease or condition.

So if your wife was in hospital, God forbid, for another complaint and the nurse was issuing her with the wrong medication for her arthritis because she didn't know the difference between the various types of arthritis you wouldn't call that incompetence ?

It would not be a nurse that would be expected to diagnose her would it? The nurse would be following instructions from someone who had carried out the diagnosis and had determined the treatment , probably a consultant.

djbantiques said:

It would not be a nurse that would be expected to diagnose her would it? The nurse would be following instructions from someone who had carried out the diagnosis and had determined the treatment , probably a consultant.

Agree. But a nurse assessors brief observations is taken to be more relevant than a consultant / specialists report by the DWP .

You do like to go round and round in circles.
Yes they are more relevant.
None of my consultants have the faintest of a clue as to how I live my life - it has nothing to do with them - in fact it is of no concern to my GP either. So how can they give an opinion?
An assessor is more qualified to assess function.