Blue Badge Assessment

JuliaHod12

Hi Guys

So I sent off my application on 14th March and got a letter today inviting me for a mobility assessment for a Blue Badge on 17th June.

Anyone else been for one of these and got any advice?
In all likelihood I will be recovering from a TKR by that time............will be setting date when i see consultant next week!


thanks
Julia x

mig

Good luck for next week.Mig

barbara12

Hi Julia
I havent heard of this before, maybe they are trying to stop us getting blue badges now... :shock: good luck with it all, and I hope you get a date next week xx

Folara

For crying out loud more hoops to jump through. Bloody ridiculous.

I really hope you do ok and are awarded, they really make a difference for us.

Fols x

salamander

My advice is to get a letter from your consultant. One of the nurses wrote a letter but it wasn't strong enough. My OT wrote in support in the end and I got it. Also, I foolishly didn't take my walking stick to the assessment as I don't always use it. Duh! I was so bad I was in the hospital having a steroid jab the next day but still thought could explain my situation to the assessors and they would understand. Stupid or what.

JuliaHod12

I think it's because I don't claim any benefits (DLA etc)

I believe I should be awarded it as i have;

OA (both knees and maybe shoulder), hardly walk anywhere these days, my boss even picks me up for work in the mornings! ;-)
Asthma (breathlessness after a few steps)
High Blood Pressure
Glaucoma (limited peripheral vision)
Hypothyroidism

surely that's enough?
apparently the assessment will be about 45mins!

kellerman

Hi, This is the new way that was brought in this year. They don't trust your GP to be neutral anymore. Its normally done by an OT.
Like everything else just tell them what its like for you on a bad day.They do watch the way you walk. Good luck. May

hileena111

Hi
They are really tightening up on BB......they assess you from the minute they see you.....not just what you tell them. Be sure to tell them what you are like on your worse day.....not the best day.
Good Luck
Hileena

elainebadknee

Julia

They are getting really tough on this and while I think the fee has been ridiculously cheap I think being made to go for an assessment is wrong...Expecially if its done by ATOS so called professionals....
I read in my local paper of a woman who had applied she was going in for 2nd TKR and had THR too but they saw her as fit and not disabled enough for a BB....
I myself will be applying in September 2012 but dont think I will get another one as only thing wrong with me is I need a new knee so Im chersihing the time we have left as its a godsend....
You sound like th4ey shouldnt have questioned you as you have a few things that surely merit a BB...

Good luck

Elainexx

JuliaHod12 wrote:

Hi Guys

So I sent off my application on 14th March and got a letter today inviting me for a mobility assessment for a Blue Badge on 17th June.

Anyone else been for one of these and got any advice?
In all likelihood I will be recovering from a TKR by that time............will be setting date when i see consultant next week!


thanks
Julia x

SteveBurns

Hi Julia,

Sounds to me like you would qualify for DLA and now is the time to go for it.

Once you have a date for surgery and still have one OA knee as well as the breathlessness you could put in the application, I think you would be successful. Then by the time your BB assessment is due the DLA may have been awarded so BB would then be awarded as well.

It's up to you. Good luck.

DebraKelly

I had a bluebadge assessment done a few months ago and got my blue badge shortly after.

The assessment won't take long, they also get you to do a walk to see how long you do it? I think you have got to do the walk in over a minute to qualify getting the badge. My walk was in 2 minutes.

The lady who did mine was really nice and helpful.

Good luck.

tjt6768

best of luck with the assesment... Let us know how you go on?
The Blue Badge is a Godsend... I hope you get yours..

elainebadknee

Sorry am I misreading your message below you have to do the walk in one minute but yours took two minutes? Does that mean if you took more you qualify more...Apologies if im being a bit dumb!

Elainex

DebraKelly wrote:

I had a bluebadge assessment done a few months ago and got my blue badge shortly after.

The assessment won't take long, they also get you to do a walk to see how long you do it? I think you have got to do the walk in over a minute to qualify getting the badge. My walk was in 2 minutes.

The lady who did mine was really nice and helpful.

Good luck.

JuliaHod12

thanks for all the support guys...............the only one sticking point i have is that i may be recovering from TKR and therefore not able to attend the assessment...............on the other hand if i have TKR before the assessment date that may be favourable as i wont be that mobile! ;-)

DebraKelly

Hi Elaine,

You have to do the walk in over 1 minute!

elainebadknee

Ah right I see so the longer it takes the better it puts you in the running (so to speak) for getting badge...

Elainex

DebraKelly wrote:

Hi Elaine,

You have to do the walk in over 1 minute!

SteveBurns

What exactly is the walking test and what happens if you are unable to walk the distance required?

justinbarrow

Hope things work out for you and you get your blue badge, Its not nice wondering what to expect but the guys on here will help

Annah

My badge runs out in September, and it was a discretionary badge (I was turned down for DLA) so I'm thinking I have no chance of getting it renewed.

I am a lot better than I was, but I still need to park near the shops I'm visiting, unless I use my mobility scooter. The irony is that I will be less able to walk about if I don't have the Blue Badge than if I will! And it will cost me a fortune in parking fees. I think I'll end up going out a lot, lot less.

I don't reckon I'll get it because my condition is very variable and fluctuating. Some days, once I'm 'warmed up' I can walk steadily for 20 minutes or so. Other days, 5 minutes and I'm ready to flop. I feel a right fraud using it at the moment because my mobility has been so good - I was in a wheelchair when I first got the badge.

OTOH, my condition could get worse at any moment, not to be negative, and then what will I do? The biggest problem, the reason my GP recommended me for a Blue Badge in the first place, is parking in the hospital and the doctor's. I'm very worried.

So has anyone any words of comfort? How flexible are they about people who have a fluctuating condition?

hileena111

I'm sorry....I havent got words of comfort but just to say I following this thread very closley.
My BB is due a few weeks later than yours. I dont get DLA either. I can only walk about 10 mins at the most. I dont use the BB if I dont have to but its always in the car. The main thing I will miss is not being able to park close to the hospital doors and having to pay each time I go.
The other thing is I need the extra space to get my rollator out of the back {if I'm on my own}
I have a scooter but there isnt really anywhere to go where i live and it doesnt fit in my car {I couldnt dismantle it and put it in anyway} but its great in OH car if we go away and its a large place or very hilly place.
Sorry this is no help to you but I do hope you get it.
All this because some people are mis-using them
Love
Hileena

stickywicket

Annah wrote:

The biggest problem, the reason my GP recommended me for a Blue Badge in the first place, is parking in the hospital and the doctor's.

I'm showing my ignorance here because I get higher rate Mobility Allowance so my BB tends to be a bit of a formality. However, if your GP recommended a BB in the first place, Annah, won't he do the same again?

Annah

stickywicket wrote:

Annah wrote:

The biggest problem, the reason my GP recommended me for a Blue Badge in the first place, is parking in the hospital and the doctor's.

I'm showing my ignorance here because I get higher rate Mobility Allowance so my BB tends to be a bit of a formality. However, if your GP recommended a BB in the first place, Annah, won't he do the same again?

They've changed the rules. You can no longer get a BB just on a doctors recommendation. It has to be either that you get Mobility Allowance or you are assessed via a 26 page form and a medical.

justinbarrow

Annah wrote:

I feel a right fraud using it at the moment because my mobility has been so good - I was in a wheelchair when I first got the badge. How flexible are they about people who have a fluctuating condition?

I would describe what its like on your worst day not your best ones, I sometimes feel awkward using a badge as I sometimes get looked at as if to say im not old what can possibly be wrong with him, annoys me sometimes. Then they see me struggling and look away - Its times like that I wish I could let them have my aches, pains and stiffness for just 1 minute so they can realise.

justinbarrow

Annah wrote:

They've changed the rules. You can no longer get a BB just on a doctors recommendation. It has to be either that you get Mobility Allowance or you are assessed via a 26 page form and a medical.

I understand they have changed the rules and put the fee up to £10 they also ask for a "certified copy" of either your driving license, marriage certificate or birth certificate that has to be signed by someone in good standing so I got a police officer to do mine and they contacted me after a couple of weeks because the police officer in question didn't put his work phone number and address. So I had to give that info to them and get him to sign it again with this info also. I haven't heard anything back since I re-sent the certified proof off so they must have checked to be satisfied that he is a real police officer.

Just makes you think that they check everything, God knows how people manage to fraudulently obtain these badges with all the hoops they make us jump through.

Annah

Justinbarrow, I believe that people obtain fraudulent BBs from forgers - the sort that also do forged passports. I hear (via the papers) that London is the place where you can easily get a fake BB in certain dodgy pubs, for just a few quid. I have no doubts this is true, although everyone I know with one is genuine.

All these checks and double-checks won't deter forgers, it just causes more problems for you and me.

elainebadknee

Hi

Nowhere on the form does it state you need the address and telephone number of the signatory so why did they send it back to you for that - dont make sense to me?

Elainex

justinbarrow wrote:

Annah wrote:

They've changed the rules. You can no longer get a BB just on a doctors recommendation. It has to be either that you get Mobility Allowance or you are assessed via a 26 page form and a medical.

I understand they have changed the rules and put the fee up to £10 they also ask for a "certified copy" of either your driving license, marriage certificate or birth certificate that has to be signed by someone in good standing so I got a police officer to do mine and they contacted me after a couple of weeks because the police officer in question didn't put his work phone number and address. So I had to give that info to them and get him to sign it again with this info also. I haven't heard anything back since I re-sent the certified proof off so they must have checked to be satisfied that he is a real police officer.

Just makes you think that they check everything, God knows how people manage to fraudulently obtain these badges with all the hoops they make us jump through.