Applied for PIP for the first time awaiting an invite for an assessment and had to go in to hospital

vera

Hi, i was wondering if anyone could advise me, my aunt who has rheumatoid arthritis, diagnosed in 2005 has been waiting 10 months for a operation on her hip replacement which is 7 years old, the replacement was coming apart so we decided towards the end of September to make an application for PIP, something we had no idea about until i read an article about it, we filled in all of the information and provided some medical information, we have applied for her medical records, but there is a backlog on this, so anyway as i said she was awaiting an operation which was written on the form as we did not have a date, but a couple of weeks ago she was complaining of a rash on her leg and we got in touch with her GP who rang an ambulance when she was brought into A&E it was discovered that she had a severe infection in her leg caused by the hip, when eventually on a ward she was put on antibiotics and was told that she would need an operation to remove the hip replacement and have a temporary fitting in place, however she had the operation on Tuesday and the surgeon has inserted a new replacement but the bone further down the leg was so badly damaged a metal plate had to be inserted into her knee and it is unknown yet whether this will be it or if more surgery will be required, so she is currently still in hospital and hopefully this week she will come home, but what i would really like some help with is what should i do, as i said she has applied for PIP and got a text to say they have received her form and another one to say that they are going through her information and that she may need an assessment but we have not heard anything else, so do i need to get in touch with them and tell them about this, as when she comes home she will be non weight bearing and will still need the same amount of help that she was receiving when the form was filled in, also because she was brought into hospital it is a different surgeon that done the operation then the one that was written on the form, do i need to send this information in? sorry for the long post but if anyone could advise i would be grateful, thanks.

Nurina

Hi. I think the decision takes around 12 weeks. You can update the evidence with new information that could help them to make a decision. X

frogmorton

Hi @vera

Of course you can contact them to update them although as yet you ahve no idea what the outcome will be for your Aunt which makes it difficult.

I am really unsure what I would do because your Aunt still has RA so in some respects nothing has changed. Her mobility will still be restricted too post op.

Just a thought - she is in hospital now why not ask to see the hospital social worker and take advice from them? They will be far more expert in these matters than you are.

Best of luck to you and your poor Aunt who has all my sympathy ((()))

Toni x

vera

Hi, thanks for your advice and wishes.