Mother in law has to go for medical - worried what to expect

justinbarrow

This is for my mother in law who got a letter on Saturday from DWP Medical Services saying that she has to undergo a medical, she is 59 years of age with quite bad ostio arthiritis and struggles along every day as we do.

She is worried what to expect from this medical as the company who are going to do this is called Atos Origin? not DWP. She is also worried that she never filled the forms out correctly and this is why she has been called in.

She is also angry that she is just 1 year from retirment age and with the pain and discomfort each day cant understand it.

This seems that the goverment are trying to cut costs and save money by taking it from the easy target and the vulnerable,

She has to call them to arrange an appointment but wants to also know if this will be local as the letter was from wales.

woodbon

iI think some the DWP have contracted out some of the work to private companies, thats the first thing that comes to mind or has mother in law been paying into a private pension scheme? If she has then it may be that they need the medical to allow her to claim an early works pension.

Before going to see anybody, I think it is something she ought to find out about, as there are some funny people about now! :shock:

The best of Good Luck, love Sue

justinbarrow

It says on her letter its in relation to her current incapacirty benefit claim. She is so worried as she gave her gp details.

I know its been in the news recently about cutting back on incapacity benefits and trying to get money back but i feel at 59 and with how she struggles is a bit over the top.

she is worried that she will lose her mobility car if they feel that she can hold a pen in her hand.

Has anyone else had one of these medicals as she is worrying what to expect.

Thanks for any advice.

tkachev

I think anyone on Incapacity benefit is being re-interviewd to see if they can do ANY KIND OF WORK.It shouldnt be related to her DLA claim and her mobility car.That is a seperate issue.
There have been a few people on here who have had a difficult medical,despite being obviously ill with arthritis they are being told they will be required to go back to work.
I think you would need to find these threads.The medical is now linked to ESR.You can read their experiences and what they were required to do.One thread was going last week(from Pixies and Fairies).
Hope that helps
Tkachev

frogmorton

I agre with Tkachev
The mobility car is spereate this has only to do with her ability to work.
Mobility is a non-contributionary benefit.
They are seeing if she is fit for any type of work.
Can you be there with he to support or anyone else?
Toni x

justinbarrow

frogmorton wrote:

I agre with Tkachev
The mobility car is spereate this has only to do with her ability to work.
Mobility is a non-contributionary benefit.
They are seeing if she is fit for any type of work.
Can you be there with he to support or anyone else?
Toni x

Thanks - yes one of her daughters is going to go when she knows when and where. She was just thinking along the lines of if she is found to be able to do something then they will pass details onto dla people who then will want to look at her claim based on the infomation that may be shared between the 2 departments.

I will keep you all posted to let you know what the outcome of this is as said above its happening to a lot of people.

Thanks again

patriciamary

justinbarrow wrote:

This is for my mother in law who got a letter on Saturday from DWP Medical Services saying that she has to undergo a medical, she is 59 years of age with quite bad ostio arthiritis and struggles along every day as we do.

She is worried what to expect from this medical as the company who are going to do this is called Atos Origin? not DWP. She is also worried that she never filled the forms out correctly and this is why she has been called in.

She is also angry that she is just 1 year from retirment age and with the pain and discomfort each day cant understand it.

This seems that the goverment are trying to cut costs and save money by taking it from the easy target and the vulnerable,

She has to call them to arrange an appointment but wants to also know if this will be local as the letter was from wales.

Hi
The appointment should be local and they will send her a little map with routes etc. I have had two medicals with Atos because I have been off sick for nearly two years. My first appointment was 10 o'clock and didnt get called till 11.40 by this time I was sooooo stiff I could hardly walk to the doctors room. They will ask a lot of stupid questions and try to make you bend down to the floor put your hands behind your back and head etc. You need 15 or more points to remain on incapacity benefit unless you have mental health problems then you only need 10 or more. The docs are usually quite nice but seem more interested in filling in their forms (so they get paid) than anything you have to say. My first doc said I drive a manaual car (I changed to an automatic 6 years ago) I drive to town most days (maybe once a month if my daughter or husband go with me) I complained and was told the docs report cannot be changed and when I stated it was not factual I was told I had 19 points so I could continue receiving incapacity benefit I had passed the medical and therefor could not appeal it. Tell her not to worry its fairly straight forward but I felt aprehensive the first time as well.

justinbarrow

She hasnt phonned them yet even though the letter says she must ring within 2 days of the letter its will be 4 days tomorrow, she says she will ring tonight but is worried about even speaking to them on the phone she feels that anxious about it all.

What happens if she doesnt ring them and keeps putting it off - we have told her it will be ok.

ohithurts

Hi just to say i work with job centre plus and your mother in law shouldnt be scared of the medical.but if her daughter is with her get gp to read back what hes written just to confirm all correct. Also it wont affect her dla as thats totally seperate but it is true that they are changing people from incapacity to employment support allowance and in some cases to job seekers allowance age wont make any difference sorry to say

ohithurts

meant to say also if she doesnt phone them they might stop her benefit anyway as thats part of incapacity benefit ie being available for medicals as required.Also atos is a health company which is part of DWP thats the company even dwp employees have to use if off work or for health referrals etc