medical report ?

bluebunner
bluebunner Member Posts: 43
edited 2. Apr 2014, 04:40 in Living with Arthritis archive
In January I had a medical at home, I won't call it an examination because it wasn't?

This followed a tribunal that I did not attend, it was adjourned for a medical and a few other issues.

The report, copy received on Friday, seemed to be swaying in my favour but then to my surprise it stated I could walk 125 metres before feeling severe discomfort.

There was no walking test apart from a few steps from chair to door and back again, inside the house, I thought this was about walking out of doors?

Has anyone experienced this and what happened at the resulting hearing?

Comments

  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello blueburner and welcome to the forum. I hope we can be of help and support but I think we might need a bit more information such as what the medical and tribunal were for. It sounds as if it's probably to do with work and benefits and, if so, you might find the Citizens Advice Bureau helpful.

    What sort of arthritis do you have? I have RA which has led to OA in most joints.

    If you read through our Benefits amd Workinh Matters forum you may well find some relevant threads.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello, a little more background info would help us answer - you know what's been going on but we don't! :) Assessments for benefits are not medical reports, they are supposed to inform others as to what we can and cannot do rather than detail medical health issues. As Sticky suggested, a read through on the Benefits and Working Matters forum may give you the answers you seek but ATOS etc seem to work and live in a parallel universe to the us - I wonder why? :? Oh of course, they're healthy people! :wink: DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • bluebunner
    bluebunner Member Posts: 43
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello and thanks for being interested.

    Further info now - the medical was required by the Judge who adjourned my Tribunal in November 2013. The tribunal was following a refusal to award DLA by DWP. My application went in during October 2012 so was in time to get DWP before the rules changed.

    I did not attend the Tribunal due to my lack of belief in the system, I had previously been through a terrible experience where DLA was taken off me following a fraud enquiry, that followed a telephone call on the fraud hotline from a different government department that thought they had something on me but they didn't.

    (Complicated I know but trying to keep it brief).

    The first Tribunal were all against me from the start and it was attended by two DWP staff, one of whom was the fraud officer who had lied in his evidence, I had proof of his lies but the tribunal would not accept my evidence even though some of it related to a Weather event the he said happened, he said I jogged to the from door during a rainstorm. I have evidence from the Met Office that proves the opposite of what he said, in fact no rain fell that day.

    The fraud investigation was abandoned long before the tribunal but the they still used the investigation report against me.

    I had my MP look at the case, she was the junior minister for DWP and minister for disabled people at the time but she offered no support for me but did support her own department.

    Now to the latest Tribunal, as I say I didn't attend due to my thinking that it would go the same way as the previous. I had made a new claim for DLA because I had a TKR that failed and I can hardly walk. I believe I qualify after going through a successful Blue Badge application with walking test by OT and a letter from my Orthopaedic Surgeon supporting my struggling with mobility.

    DWP attended the tribunal and gave evidence against my claim and used the previous tribunal with fraud evidence in that tribunal. The Judge adjourned and required DWP to remove all references to the previous fraud enquiry as it is prejudicial, (good on him and a pleasant surprise to me), and he requested a medical. He also suggested it may be helpful if I attend the tribunal's next hearing.

    So now up to date and my question regards the medical report that looked to be in my favour, I have failed TKR in right knee and OA in left knee, the medical report agrees this and states it will only get worse.

    Everything looks good except for the bombshell that states I could walk 125 metres before the onset of severe discomfort despite stating discomfort and pain on walking and severe disability likely.

    The medical walking test was a few paces from chair to doorway and back again, inside my living room.

    I will appreciate anyone who has similar experience of the medical report and going to Tribunal letting us know how it went?

    Many thanks
  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,280
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello bluebunner and a warm welcome from me
    There have been quite a few people on here that have appealed after reading there reports some say there were many lies told,if I was you I would type DLS in the search at the top of the forum or PIP has it is now..good luck
    Love
    Barbara
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thank you for providing some background information. Having a BB is not evidence of mobility issues - they are awarded for all kinds of health matters including those where the owner has no mobility problems whatsoever.

    Whether you 'approve' of the system or not will not help substantiate your claim for DLA if you do not attend the hearings etc. You sound to have been very unlucky when your DLA was removed but surely different people would be involved this time? At least the Judge has asked them to remove all prejudicial evidence, which will delay things firther but as you say, good on him. They are certainly being more rigorous in assessing claimants and rightly so - I am aware that my higher-rate mobility on DLA will be most likely dropped to lower rate on PIP thanks to my 'ability' to walk the required distances using my rollator. Fair enough, that's why I bought it. It all seems cock-eyed, you can't walk a certain distance so you use kit so you can walk that far so we reduce your allowance. :lol:

    I hope things turn out better for you, I have two wrecked knees and am still waiting foe new ones - I don't honestly know if I can be bothered though because during the waiting time my ankles have worsened and the OA has moved into the hips (I have two kinds of arthritis, so a foot in both creaky camps).
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thanks for the info, bluebunner, and I apologise for getting your name wrong previously. . So, you were writing about an ATOS assessment for PIP. They are not very popular round here, as you might realise.

    I agree with dreamdaisy that whatever your feelings about the system, not attending ones own tribunal is not a good idea. It could be construed as either a lack of interest or an attempt at manipulation, neither of which would go in your favour. However, that's water under the bridge.

    The surgeon's letter will have been taken into consideration but I guess the problem lies in the discrepancy between 'discomfort' and 'severe discomfort'. It's a tough one because pain is a very relative thing which we all perceive differently. Again I'd recommend CAB as your best bet. They have helped a few people on here. Good luck.

    (As for the Blue Badge, that's an entirely separate issue. It might support your application but would not be conclusive. )
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • bluebunner
    bluebunner Member Posts: 43
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Stickywicket, no worries about the name, blueburner actually sounds better and I may use that for a future forum, thanks.