ESA No Way!

countessheather

Its a common practice. I went for a post with `MIND' and the same thing happend. But now I am re-training of my own initative in management and law. I don't know where this will lead to but im not breeding carboard boxes for M&S via REMPLOY or packing biscuits - have a look at ADP- an orginisation set up for promotion of the `professional disabled' they also take on `studnets' for a 5 year membership. They should be able to give specialsit advice to you. H xx

woodbon

Hi, i'm so sorry, I've known this happen before. It seems so unfair to give you the hope that you may get work, the nerves, I for one, suffer about interviews and then to find that its all a load of rubbish, to be polite! Its hard to be in our position anyway. I feel a bit trapped from all sides. If I do one thing, then that will upset the other. I hope things turn out all right for you in the long run. Love Sue

countessheather

You know Sue, we are `damed if we do or damed if we dont'. This weekend I read an artical from the `observer' mag entitled `The Lost Generation' written by a 29 year old who is an BSC, unemployed and brassed off! Quote: "Our parents had free education, fat pensions, early retirement and second homes. We've been left with student debt and a property ladder with rotten rungs. And the only career choice is `Crap Job' or no job.Thanks very much"-Andrew Hankinson. He goes on to site the `grey haired ceiling' and what the modern job club for the young,educated and experianced(voluntary and unpaid) proffesional unemployed person has to put up with - really helpfull suggestions such as `we can help you write a business plan' which is really usefull as NOBODYS GOT ANY MONEY TO START A BUSINESS and that rubbish was tarted about in the 1980's as the`Business Enterprise Scheme'. Not exactly `blue-sky-thinking' or THINKING in the first place. How the hell do they think that `they can get the disabled in to any proper job/careers that don't pay minimum wage' when these eager bevers are snapping on our heals? xx

happy_feet

delboy wrote:

After educating myself and blagging my way into office work I got myself an MBA and if some under qualified toerag told me I had to do some menial job I'd beat them to a pulp (Not really as it would really hurt my hands ). No way would I go back to 'the good old days'

Thats the thing Delboy, theyre giving people no choice. If you can do one of the tests at the medical they find you fit for work, even if you cant do your old job they see you as fit for doing A job.
I worked full time in a sweet factory when I left school, sitting at the end of a conveyor belt from 9 till 5 picking out the sweets that were mis-shaped. It nearly drove me mad and to think Im going to be told I have to do something like that again makes me feel ill.

sharmaine

Hi Countess H

I took your advice and sent an email to radar@radar.org.uk complaining about the number of people who are being treated so unfairly. It seems very unjust that the people carrying out these medicals are not really looking at the person who has been disabled and in constant pain/discomfort as a result of arthritis but to observe whether or not they can lift their handbag; get up from a seated position or bend etc. It really is quite ludicrous that Easter Block practitioners with no expertise in the field of arthritis or an individual's condition can make decisions on whether or not a person can get ESA. I for one would love to be able to work but even walking around my home (with the aid of my stick) is a challenge!

Does this mean they don't trust GPs or Rheumy Specialists to diagnose a person's condition? Why go through a PRIVATE firm and waste more or the tax payer's money? It surely must cost them at least £37,000 per annum to pay for these foreign medical people. This money could be better used on people who suffer daily with arthritis be it osteo or rheumatism.

It's no wonder people get cross. I'm sure there are people out there who try and get one over on the 'system' but surely they are in the minority and they have organisations in place to catch these fraudsters. It's a shame really that the innocent have to suffer again because of the guilty.

I would urge others to email. If we don't make a stink about the system then it will continue to be run in this shoddy manner.

Sharmaine

countessheather wrote:

So I take its a `NO'then sue? Theresa, I know I keep banging on about this BUT ALL OF YOU WHO ARE ARE RHUMY ARE COVERED BY THE DISSABILITY ACT OF PARLIMENT 1995/2005 AS EXCEMPT! Ok, what does this mean in the real world? Well at this moment as you all are experiancing NOTHING unless you challeng ATOS and the present GOVERNMENT. ATOS ARE JUST AN AGENCY, JUST A PRIVATE FIRM.
HOW?
Firstly, please can I ask EVERYONE to send an email titled`weflare reform act,ESA' to - radar@radar.org.uk.
They are in direct consultation with the JOB SITE and GOVERNEMENT in `creating this mess' by thier insistance that `all disabled people should have a right to work' BUT I FEEL they are being MANIPULATED by these other parties as a MEANS TO AN END -by getting the top `disability rights campaigner' on board TO LOOK GOOD`- `Well, we covered our JAXI by consulting RADAR'ect.
From what I can see they are `completely unaware' of what IMPACT thier involvement has REALY HAD upon disabled people. NEXT,WRITE AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU HAVE HERE! Pto -

suncatcher

I went to the job centre as been asked. When i told them i was turned down for esa and waiting to go to tribunal. He asked why i was there he looked on system and said as the esa claim was still live they he would treat me like he would like organisng where i am to attend for my work focus interview.
My file was in parts not filled in or inaccurate from the last time i went through this lot. He said he was discussed how many people are not now protected by there doctors.
He agreeed with me i had little or no chance to find work urged me to write to my mp and told me they should not be putting me through this and could not belive they had left me with no money at all.
I came home and found esa medical had given me no points this time i had only 9 on my incapacity apparently i can do every thing and have had a complete cure by the look of it. news to me. I am going to write to get results of my medical as i am curious to what was said. This is a real farce we should all make a stand the government should hang there heads in shame for what they are doing to us all from joanne

woodbon

Hi, I got six points for not being able to sit for more than 30 mins. without having pain getting up, ( can't sit at all without having some pain getting up!) . She said I could bend and kneel without probs. even though she asked me to bend to the floor, but my back gave such a loud snaping noise, she shouted for me to stop! Actually, the noise dosn't hurt, the problem is I can't get up very well without help. Although according to them, I can. I am not going to the Jobcentre, as I can't get their on my own, its too far away and I can't drive that far 17 miles, and my husband is at work. Does this make sense?
Love Sue

lizzie7ne

Hi, The whole system makes my blood boil. The doctor who examined me had poor english and so communicating was difficult.
When I told Atos that my Rheum GP O.T. and Physio would disagree with their doctors idea on how far I could walk I was told "Ah but our doctor is a disability expert",!!!!!!! and that my own interpretation of how far I could walk and their doctors interpretation were a difference of opinon, the doctor was not wrong!!!!.

Yes I am emailing RADAR, we all should, we need to get something done about this unfair system, even if it is just getting competent doctors to do the medicals but why can they not take the word of our own doctors!

Airwave - Have RADAR replied to you? Have they told you the Charities who support the bill etc.

The more organisations who can help get something done about this unfair system the better, we live in a country which is supposed to care about the sick and disabled but we are not being treated that way.

Also our MP's I think they should all be asked for help. A general election is on the cards and MP's should be going out of their way to try and win votes.

For those that are refused ESA and told to work and put on Job Seekers allowance what happens then if your GP writes a sick note out straight away? does anyone know?

lizzie

countessheather

Sue you are going to contest this and ask for an independant tribunal? 6 points will put you in the `go to work group' on a reduced rate!!! If you can not get to the `work group' then this will stop your entitlement to benfit which is disgusting! Im mad as hell for you :x Heather xxx

suncatcher

woodbon wrote:

Hi, I got six points for not being able to sit for more than 30 mins. without having pain getting up, ( can't sit at all without having some pain getting up!) . She said I could bend and kneel without probs. even though she asked me to bend to the floor, but my back gave such a loud snaping noise, she shouted for me to stop! Actually, the noise dosn't hurt, the problem is I can't get up very well without help. Although according to them, I can. I am not going to the Jobcentre, as I can't get their on my own, its too far away and I can't drive that far 17 miles, and my husband is at work. Does this make sense?
Love Sue

nothing makes sense the whole system is totaly mucked up as usual its the genuine ones who are suffering. I bet the scroungers are still getting their :x moneymakes my blood boil

countessheather

Delboy - RESPECT! Guys, you know what pisses me off is just about everything but what realy is unforgivable is the perception that `everybody who is disabled is a work-shy scrounger'. Those of you who have read Delboys input will equate with this. We have slugged our guts out to survive and pay the bills and done more than our fair share by taking on 2 jobs and working like the idiots we are for our bodies to pack-up under the strain of carrying `everybody else' - those who sit in comfortable offices in the jobcentre who are like all civil servants and MPs, divorced from reality and protected with guilt-edged pension schemes that we pay for with our health,
our dignaty, our sanity and our freedom! We are the survivors of when `health and safety' never excisted, exploited,broken and forgotten. Now we have become `a punchbagl' in the minds of the politariat for all thier failed dreams. Well, IM HITTING BACK AND HARD! I challenge every slur on our charicture and challenge societies misguided perception that its OK to discriminate against me and mine. When did this country become so vile as to pick on those who are its vulnerable and find that socialy acceptable? :x

woodbon

Hi,
One of the things that really gets me down is that the system seems to use the sort of language that sounds very accusitory and makes you feel that the best thing is to give up. I had a comment on my medical form that said the speed of my walking was consistant with the pain reported and slow, but the medical examination showed no reason for this. In other words, I was making it up. The damage may not have been apparant to the woman who examined me, but not the view of the consultant who saw my x-rays!

Oh well, thats life, but we should fight it, I think.
Love Sue

countessheather

Evening All! Firstly Sue, I have had an email from a `Jane Marshal' who would like everybody to sign up to www.civilrightsmovemnt.co.uk. Its free. Secondly if everyone would like to send David Cameron an email you can contact him at cameron.d@parliment.uk. You may recall that he had a PLMD child that was much loved?
Next, I have been looking into what can be leagally done to challenge a governmental department and have found from the ministry of justice that articals 6 & 8 under the `Human Rights Act' would be usefull BUT, we need to have a specialist law firm of which there are a few in the uk that deal with Disabilty rights/Benefits such as Howells or Heros. I have asked the Civil Rights Movement for thier support. The government has a paper that has been submitted to the `United Nations' under the title of EAS which outlines its preposals for wefare reform amongst other things such as laws and order. Again the ministery of justice. H xxx

countessheather

sorry I did'nt explain that we need a `specialst law firm' in international law because they have to be willing to take on `a class action' (which is why we need to band together to make it financially viable for them) and do the necceary resurch into finding a similar case in th European Court of Human Rights that they can bring action with. I don't even know yet if such a case excists as this may well be the first time a `government' has done this to its disabled and knowing these slimmy buggers that could well be what they are banking on! However never say die when the chronic pain keeps you from the `sleep of angles'.
Unfortunately, under the DDA, it can not be used in any case involving benfits as that has been written in specifically and I would say planned for such a time as now. H xxxx

sharmaine

Sharmaine

It appears the government have covered their backsides to ensure that the millions of people who suffer each day with arthritiswill continue to be treated appallingly at these pseudo medicals no matter what the cost. What we need is a legal buff who has suffered from arthur and is prepared to take this forward. The challenge of having this condition is bad enough.

The government has had to bail out banks last year and fighting a war costs billions of pounds. Arthur sufferers appear to be just small fry in comparison. I wonder how other civilised governments in Europe deal with their arthritis sufferers?

Sharmaine

countessheather wrote:

sorry I did'nt explain that we need a `specialst law firm' in international law because they have to be willing to take on `a class action' (which is why we need to band together to make it financially viable for them) and do the necceary resurch into finding a similar case in th European Court of Human Rights that they can bring action with. I don't even know yet if such a case excists as this may well be the first time a `government' has done this to its disabled and knowing these slimmy buggers that could well be what they are banking on! However never say die when the chronic pain keeps you from the `sleep of angles'.
Unfortunately, under the DDA, it can not be used in any case involving benfits as that has been written in specifically and I would say planned for such a time as now. H xxxx