2021 waiting time for assessment

Hi @tanya2595 have you heard anything yet?. I read a post on here somewhere last week that their forms were in middle dec 2020, have they had a phone call. X

Update. Mum had her assessment on 11th May 2021. This was a reassessment and has been on lower raye PIP for about 2 years but her health has deteriorated rapidly over this time. This was one of the worst experiences for mum and I found the process hard to listen to without losing my patience. A female health professional called and began asking a series of questions about mums health but then refused to listen to the answer. Every time mum tried to speak she spoke over her and said 'Thats not relevant'. It didnt matter how she tried to answer they did not want to record mums answer. She kept asking hyperthetical questions and expecting her to answer. One eg: If you go to the supermarket how long are you in there walking around? Mum said 'I dont go to the supermarket because I cant walk more that a couple of steps at any time. My son does all my shopping'. The heath professional replied 'I know what you said but, hyperthetically if you could go, how long would you walk round for?' she asked the same question 5 times before I intervened and told her it was impossible to give any further ther answer because its not something she does because she cant walk and wouldnt put herself in a vulnerable position by going to a supermarket and attemp to walk round. The health professional then got very stroppy with me and said she had to ask the questions. Throughout the process the same questions were asked time and time again. I felt like they do this to try and catch you out. I also felt like they were trying to put words into my mums mouth. On the few occasions my mum did manage to speak, what she said was not recorded at all and it was only recorded when I intervened. Mum falls on a weekly basis and has caused herself quite bad injuries over the last year or so. The health professional said it wasn't relevant. I questioned why it wasn't and again had to explain that it was very relevant and needed to be recorded. By the end mum was in tears. She was made to feel like she was a fraud. The whole experience was awful. Im not sure if we just got a useless health professional on the day, because I have heard some good stories. But unfortunately mums is not one of them. We are playing the waiting game again now and have been told it should be 8 weeks before we hear back with the outcome.

The whole experience of reassessment has not been a pleasant one. From the initial call, when the male operator asked her if she was sure she wanted to be reassessed because if she 'Gets cold feet' halfway through she would lose what she already gets. I said 'what do you mean if she get cold feet, shes a poorly women that needs a reassessment'. 

Then the waiting and now this experience.

The Dwp should be ashamed of how they treat people with disabilities or ill health in this country. 

I will update when we get an outcome.

Please dont take our experience as being the norm and if you have read this please dont let it worry you for your assessment. Im hoping that this is a one off and you get treated better.

Good luck to everone for future assessments. 

Ross_Scope said:

Thanks for the update @Gazz1981

Sorry to hear the assessment didn't go as you'd hoped.  How is your mum now a week on from it? 

She just wishes she hadn't bothered with the process. I believe that is how they want you to feel. 

@fonz thanks for sharing this and fingers crossed for good outcome and that the wait is nearly over 

Thank you for the update @fonz -  pleased the healthcare professional was pleasant, & will be writing your report up. Yes it can take about 8 weeks to hear back, but of course some do get their decision letter earlier.

thanks everyone @ashmce did it all go well