PIP Assessment - assessor medical knowledge
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Cody0709
Online Community Member Posts: 11 Connected
So my son has had his assessment back and was unsuccessful. I will go for MA but have a query regarding the assessor medical knowledge. My understanding is the person undertaking the report will not be medically qualified. Yet the person who completed my son's report has stated that there is no proof that my son has panic attacks as he is not prescribed any related medication. Now he is prescribed medication (fluoxetine/prozac) which he has been told by his GP and at least two psychiatrists is to help him with his anxiety. The manufacturers accompanying leaflet also states this medication is for treatment of anxiety disorder. On the basis the DWP does not seem to accept/want to know about medical opinion when it comes to PIP's, do I have to accept that the assessor is correct and these highly trained medical professionals (plus manufacturers) know nothing? Or maybe the assessor 'googled' fluoxetine, saw it was for anxiety but does not know about the relationship between anxiety and panic attacks, and I need to point that out?
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Comments
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Fluoxetine is primary given for depression. Anxiety specific medication is normally something like diazepam, clonazepam, temazepam, propranolol that sort of this. They may have worded it badly and actually meant ‘acute anxiety medication’0
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Hi @Cody0709 - & welcome to this online community. The assessors will have some medical understanding as the majority are nurses, & also some physiotherapists & paramedics. As woodbine has said however, PIP is not based on a medical diagnosis, nor on the medication taken, it's rather how does a disability affect certain activities/descriptors of daily living such as dressing, bathing, cooking a simple meal, budgeting, etc. & /mobility problems. So in that regard the assessors don't need to have an understanding about your son's diagnosis, nor medication. Moving forward, hard tho it may be, try to put the assessor's report behind you; you are certainly not alone in finding 'inaccuracies' in the report, but highlighting these does not get an appropriate PIP award put into place, & should you end up appealing to a tribunal, a diagnosis & medication will rarely be disputed by the panel.Again, as above, you should concentrate on where points should have been scored for your son's MR, & give a couple of detailed examples of exactly why for each applicable descriptor. Just in case, this website may help a little more. It's about completing a PIP form, but looking at the descriptors in this link, & some reasons as to where points may be gained, I hope is helpful. Please see: https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/pip-mental-health-guide/help-with-your-pip-claim/how-to-fill-in-the-pip-form/
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Advice on completing the PIP2 also available here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/fill-in-form/
If you didn't cover it when you originally completed the PIP2 this will help you to work out what extra information you may need to include with the MR.1 -
@justlooking88 thank you for your comment. My son is prescribed propranolol but as he is severely underweight he has low blood pressure, and taking it risks passing out.1
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@woodbine thank you for your welcome and reply. My son scored nil, so the only way is up! What I am struggling getting my head around is giving a real life example and not explaining why his condition causes it to happen. For example with regard to mixing with other people - my son was 'let go' from his first and only job because he took what a manager said to him literally. If I do not explain that as a difficulty (taking things literally) suffered by someone on the Autistic spectrum, then an assessor with no understanding of ASD is not going to believe such a thing could happen and discount the whole thing as a lie. In fact the main thing I get from the rambling assessor's report, is that my son does not have learning difficulties so he should be able to do everything.1
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@chiarieds Thank you for your welcome and the link, which I will definitely look at. I hope that the assessor here was not a nurse, because I would pity her patients - her distain was palpable over the phone, had my son in tears and she let out a loud 'ewww' at one stage at him. However you are correct and I will take your advice and put the assessors comments behind me. I had completed the same forms for my mother who is wheelchair bound after a stroke affected her legs and was successful first time. Her disability in terms of its affect on independence, finance, quality of life and health is nowhere near as bad as my son's. Naivety on my part.
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mikehughescq Thank you for your comments which made me take a different approach to completing my son's MR. Also to others on the thread who kindly gave me helpful links. Have received DWP decision today and my son has gone from zero on both mobility and daily living to 10 and 11 points respectively. Very relieved.1
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@Cody0709 That's great news and testament to Mike's exceptional advice. Thank you for coming back to inform us
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@berry123, My son disability is not physical, so this may not be of help to you. But I went into detailed, layman terms of what happens when my son tries to do the daily living tasks or we try and get him to do the tasks. Also I gave specific examples. I included letters from various medical professionals detailing his mental health problems, which I did not in my first application as they did not describe his day to day difficulties. In the MR, they accepted that whilst he had the physical and cognitive ability to do the tasks, his mental illness meant he could not do them without support. Wishing you the very best of luck Berry with your MR.1
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