Sorry to hear about your mum sheffy its all stress we can do without as Gus said stress makes pd worse hope yor mum gets better soon
Candy
Well if they have had to clarify something with Capita then it means that your paperwork is now in the process of a decision being made , although you dont have the decision yet it is being worked on , so hopefully not much longer now , i do know it is frustrating but try not to let it get to you xxx
shelly xx
A friend sent me a link which I am posting for information only apparently its just a rumour
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news
then look for alarm over rumours about pip changes you cant actually cut and paste links on here well i have not been able to up to now...............Paul
Hi Guys,
Just a quick update, Well I phoned today as I was instructed to do yesterday, And guess what? The chap I spoke to today said there had been no queries on my claim and a decision was still being made.
I explained what I had been told yesterday, He checked again and said no, there had been no contact with Capita over my claim.
So work that one out if you can, Because I certainly can`t!!!
Take care guys,
A very confused Candy?????xxx
Oh dear Candy i bet you are more than a little confused , so there actually making a decision now ? so hopefully it wont be to long for you now xxx
Hi Candy
Wont be to long now Candy just hang on in there this reminds be a little about the tortoise and hare race were the tortoise won. I was talking to my support worker about the mobility element the other day about how silly and unfair the criteria is for example if you can move 1 to 20 metres you get full mobility if you can move between 20 and 50 meters you get 8 points enough for standard mobility if you can walk anymore than that you may get some points but not enough to get anything of course theres another section about planning and following journeys but the questions are written in such a way that you cant get any points. I mean needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid psychological distress that question is designed so you don't get it. I know the whole pip system wants overhaul but the mobility side should be first. I don't drive I use public transport and at the end of the day my walking fluctuates daily sometimes I can walk further than other days and it all boils down to the condition PD makes walking difficult and that should be all the criteria to get mobility.I was out shopping one day months ago and my legs went stiff and I had to get a taxi home I could not use the bus but apparently because I can walk according to the dwp between 50 and 200 metres I don't get any mobility help its a load of tosh and mumbo jumbo somebody should test this in the court of human rights welcome to the planet dwp.........................Paul
always say you can walk a few metres but always in severe pain! did your pdsw not prompt you to say this!
Yes Gus is right , from what i understand the underlying descriptors are you must be able to do it safely , repeatedly and in a reasonable amount of time , so if you can walk 200 mtres but it causes you pain/ discomfort and you cannot do it again that day then you should be judged as not being able to do it , the keys words are safely and repeatedly
Maybe you were being a bit generous saying you could walk 200 mtres paul , i would have though 50 metres would have been more realistic for you
Yes I have read this safely and repeatedly and as you say in a reasonable amount of time a good way to test this is to go on a website called transport direct which gives you door journey times and put any journey in for example any street in Liverpool to Birmingham
it says when I do that from my house to the bus stop at the bottom of my road is 4 minutes walk it takes me 10 minutes so 2 and a half times more than an average adult walking at an average pace so I would say I cant walk that distance in a reasonable amount of time and also I could not turn around and walk back as well.Safely not really because PD makes people stagger and shuffle I do wonder what its likew hen theres Ice and snow about I would think twice about going out Yes Gus I know were your coming from but I did not know there was such a person as a PDSW when I filled the form in so regret I am wiser after the event Thanks for the link Shelly
Hi Guys,
Another day, Another disappointment!!! Sigh.Nothing else to say today.
Candyxxxx
Your welcome Paul
and Candy tomorrow is another day xx
Hi guys,
Had an email from my Parkinsons support worker, She said that Parkinsons UK are going to tackle the PIP problem at a national level, She says she will come and see me and if a decision has not been made by then she can get them to write to the DWP on my behalf to see why it is taking so long.
It is terrible to make any sick person whatever the problem to wait 26 weeks, With them on the case hopefully it will change the way they do things.
Going to phone them this afternoon and will update if there is any news. I agree the way the assess the mobility side of things is very unfair.They need to review the way that people with PD are assessed to take into consideration the unpredictable nature of this illness and the on and off periods due to the meds.
Hopefully have some news later, Take care guys
Candyxxxx
Good luck Candy lets hope your phone call this afternoon brings some news
Yes i agree something need to be done it is absolutely awful the way people are treated introducing PIP was meant to save money not cost more in the long run
If you get no joy today at least your Parkinson support worker is going to help i hope you do not have to go down that road and you get a answer this afternoon but it is good to know you have the back up
I phoned dwp yesterday about my esa and was told they are only waiting for the Fit note now i went to get that from my doctor today , then i guess i have to wait to see if i have to have a assessment or not
Good luck today Candy xxx
Hi Shelly,
Still no luck I am afraid, The lady I spoke to said she didnt understand why mine was taking so long, Especially as there have been no queries or problems on the assessment.
She has put a priority on it and she has also asked for a call back, Which I hopefully will get next week.
It cant take much longer surely, they will of had the medical assessment report from Capita for 8 weeks next week.
Well next week is hopefully my week, Didnt I say that last week LOL
the ever hopeful Candyxxx
Hi All
I remember when I asked my MP to intervene they said they would put a priority on the claim then as well.But they didn't they just made me wait 26 weeks and they gave me a wrong decision by taking 2 points off me
Just remember Candy to check your bank when its getting near the 26 weeks I had money paid in before I got my desicon letter The decision was dated 16th of May I got the letter on the 25th May the money went in on the 23rd of May.I also wanted to tell you that when Appealed and the decision maker phoned me apart from being deliberately off putting he let slip about people going to there MP's as far as I am concerned he should not have had access to the fact I went to my MP as otherwise how would he remain impartial in the decision making process anyway I wrote a complaint about him so now with a bit of luck he will be laughing on the other side of his face good luck with the esa shelly and try not to worry to much Candy..................Paul
What date did you make the telephone call to start your claim Candy ? because it will go from that date am i correct in thinking it was very early January ? , in which case you should be nearing the 26 week mark now surely ?
Heres hoping next week brings news for you
Thanks Paul
Visited my doctor today he gave me a 8 week sick note and said if they need another one he will give me a open ended note with no end date on it so hopefully it will be sorted now i shall send as much eveidence as i can as i understand some claims are being dealt with on paper without a assessment , not sure if my Capita report can be used but i will certainly send a copy in as evidence , i can but live in hope Have a good weekend all xxx
Hi Shelly
Good luck with all that at the end of the day there supposed to be saving money so theres little point in putting you through assessment I read somewhere that it costs £900 They know about your condition and how it affects you. So it should be reasonably smooth. The fact that your doctor is offering to issue an open ended sick note is evidence that he/she does not deem you fit for work. I know some people work with PD because it effects everyone differently but it also depends on the type of work people do as well its probally quite safe working taking phone calls or filing in an office but not on a building site or safety critical roles I hope you all have a nice weekend although the weather is supposed to be bad we will see..............Paul
shelly you should get esa for the first 12 or 18 wks on a sick note not sure now ,then they will send form out form or you got to ask to go in support group thats when you get assessed or not money goes up.cant remember how it worked your pdsw will help.
Thanks Gus/Paul
The doctor did ask what work i did and i did say i was a cleaning supervisor we managed the facilities side of things for the AA, i was in charge of 15 cleaners and it was a very physical job no way i could do it now to much walking involved and to much manual work some of it was office based ie doing wages, time sheets etc but most of the time i was out on the floors of the building with my team so no i know i could not do it now so i think thats why doc said if they needed another sick note he would open end it for me it did help that i was at the end of my meds dose when i was sat in front of the doctor and he noticed the tremors in my hands , yes dwp did say i would get a work capability questionaire come to fill in and i did read some where that they are where possible assessing people on what evidence they send in so hopefully given that thy know my condition is pd and all the assessment i had for pip i may not need a assessment , there have been cases on the disabilty forum where people have been assessed on paper and put in support group so everything crossed i do not have another pip nightmare
weather is awful here got woke up at 7am to thunder and lightning and really heavy rain , been like it all day
yes thanks Gus i think i will give my pdsw a call when i get the questionaire im guessing they wont send that till the esa is actually in payment , they told me they were only waiting for sick note , although the doctor did say he would have given me a open ended one this time but he said dwp do not like them issuing open ended sick notes , why does that not surprise me
Have a good weekend everyone
yes shelly your right i did not have to do assessment paper work & photos were enough if thats good enough for esa why not pip hmmmmmmmmm
Hi, Shelly, Gus, And Paul,
Yes Shelly I first made my call to claim for PiP in early January, The 8th I think it was so yes the 26 weeks is up very soon.
Yes Paul, I will check but as far as I can tell no decision has been made at all, I was put on priority twice and also put for a call back twice, One I did not receive so I am hoping maybe I will be lucky next week. I hope you dont have to wait long for your appeal to be settled.
Shelly, I am sure that you should be put on the support group element of ESA, I am on the work capability element at the moment, But when I had my 6 monthly assessment the lady I saw said she was going to advise the DWP that I was going to apply for the support group element and that no more further assessment should be necessary.
I spoke to my support worker and she said that it is important that I get my PIP through before I apply to go on the support group element.
So until that is sorted I sort of stuck. I hope things run smoothly for you. It surely cannot take 8 weeks to make a decision, All the information is there and even the call handlers are telling me they dont understand it!
Well I am gong to try and enjoy the rest of my weekend before I resume battle on Monday, Hope you all have a nice weekend. take care all.
Candyxxxx