ESA Medical assessment

paul46uk

Hi all, i need some advice and a bit of moral support. i suffer from anxiety, depression, back and nerve damage and Osteoarthritis in my hands, shoulders, neck and spine and i claim ESA. I was previously a head chef for 25yrs.
So now its time for me to go for the ESA medical.
On the form i requested if it was possible for someone to come to my home and do the assessment but when i finally received my date for the assessment they requested me to go to the assessment center. So i managed to phone them and ask again , but i was told that i need a letter of my Doctor. So i phone my doctor and get a letter done and faxed off to the number they gave me . 2 days ago i received another letter from DWP saying that the letter off the doctor wasn't sufficient enough and i still needed to attend and they booked a taxi to pick me up!?
So this Wednesday 25th Oct at 9 am i have got to be ready.
i am already suffering from bad chest pain caused by the stress and anxiety, i will be in pain as i always am , and i have got to find someone to go with me to a place i have never been to before.
Why??? What do they want from me? my doctor's and my pain management specialist's diagnosis not enough for them?
I don't know anymore , i really do feel like giving up! i cant cope with the physical and mental pain and the stress ! i am not sleeping already .
i have been to these medicals before and you are made to feel like a criminal!! i have actually had to go to an appeal hearing after one time my money was stopped for 7 months. They said i was fit for work. then i wasn't able to sign on , so i was then told to reclaim ESA and i couldn't because id just been told i was fit for work.
i am so worried.
any supoort and advice is welcome .

Thank you all

[Deleted User]

Hi Paul46uk,

You sound to be really struggling with the ESA assessment you are due to have next week, and no wonder since you have had problems in the past.

Do ring the Helpline on Monday 0808 800 4050, they will help you get your priorities organised and help you work out what to take with you.

Lots of people here have had to claim ESA and/or PIP and they will be along soon to send some support your way.

Here's a link to the Citizens Advice website where they offer advice on ESA assessments
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/help-with-your-esa-claim/esa-medical-assessment/

I know this is going to be really difficult but you need to relax a bit each day - try doing something relaxing - maybe a soak in the bath or listen to music, that sort of thing

Take care
Yvonne x

bubbles

Hi Paul, sorry that you are going through hoops, it seems to be the norm for a lot of us and it is wrong.

Unless someone has been through or is going through ESA or PIP applications and assessments, they don't really understand the stress that it puts us under.

I don't have a magic answer, but I would advise that you take someone with you, a friend, or family member, who knows the trouble you have with daily living and your inability to work. Even if they do not say anything, they are a third person, who is a witness to what is said. As much information as possible, which I am sure you have already sent to them.
The emphasis is that your problems are not isolated, they are progressive and your health is not a life choice it is circumstances out of your control.

I hope that everything goes ok, let us know, please. We do have to fight our corners I am afraid. X Aidan

frogmorton

Paul you poor thing

The system these days is against the claimant so much. It didn't used to be this way at all; in those days a DRs note was enough. I think the issue was (and also for blue badges) that Drs probably found it less easy to say no to their patients face to face in their surgeries. Of course we are also an expanding population and we are an easy target I think.

I would think the fact that you have stressed your anxiety already at going to a strange place is a good thing. They are forewarned that this assessment is not going to be easy for you. Them booking a taxi to take you does indicate that they are aware travel is not easy for you.

Bubbles' advice about taking someone with you is essential. Support should get you through this. Another pair of ears is so useful and them being there should give you extra strength.

If you go to pieces during the assessment so be it. They will see just how 'unfit' you are for work. Do not think you have to do your best - if you can't do something say you can't!

Moderator Yvonne's advice about contacting citizen's advice and the arthritis care helpline is good too. You are not alone.

Do let us know how you get on.

Toni xx