I've recently received a letter stating that I am fit for work, after not attending an Atos assessment. Unfortunately on the day of my appointment I became so very stressed remembering what I had had to endure last year and ended up having an Angina attack so I never attended.
Obviously they do not believe my reasons for not being there and so I have one month to appeal. As a sufferer with severe Emphysema, Angina and depression my doctor has supplied me with a letter to send to them. I have also been given one of my consulttant who is appalled that I am having to go through it all again after only one year.
My question is what else should I send, does anyone know? Has anyone had experience of this? If so please can you advise me? Hoping that someone will be able to helpDWP Appeal
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Seams
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Afternoon, I and thousands of us have all had this humiliation of ATOS assessments. Wheather we attend or not, we're all fit for work NOT ! I made my appeal way back in MAY and still have not heard of my Date for a re trial ! Having your letter from the Doctor is good, and try and take someone with you, who if need be can explain your Depression, Angina, Emphysema take hold of you. If certain weather conditions dont help, how you interact with new people etc etc and keep visiting this Site, as I do just to read if need be how others cope and dont cope. You will find lots of support from the very caring people. You could also try phoning the British Lung Foundation themselves. I have lived with depression way before COPD, and live on a daily cocktail of pills to keep me in a steady frame of mind. Not everyone agrees with pills. Please take care. Ian
Hi Seams,
Do appeal, I think having the letter from the doc and consultant is going to help you a lot, especially if they have said in their professional opinion you are not able to work because of health reasons as listed in those letters. If those words have not been included (ie not medically fit for work), based on medically diagnosed health conditions, do go back as ask if they can adjust the wording to reflect that. My own doc wrote same on the medical report she supplied to ATOS (I had ticked the box they can contact my doc), I didn't have to attend any ATOS medical or interview because of the information supplied by my doc to ATOS about my health and medical conditions.
Do keep a copy of the letters from the docs and a copy of the appeal you send. Check with BLF helpline also for further advice on this.
Possibly if you kept the documents from your previous appeal it would be beneficial towards any future appeal, but as you say you do not want to go through the same experience so soliciting advice on proceeding with something that you not intending to pursue seems rather odd considering you were successful last time
Seams
11 Jun 2012
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It is all a total farce. I suffer with severe Emphysema COPD in both lungs, Angina and depression. I attended an atos assessment last June and was told that I was fit for work. Test/CT scan results, Consultant/doctors/psychiatric nurse letters appeared to have been ignored. The whole ordeal nearly pushed me over the edge and only aggravated my health conditions.
I appealed against their decision and appeared in court in Dec. I won my case and was awarded the full 15 points. Unfortunately, I have now been informed that I have to go through the whole dreadful experience again and have been called back to attend another atos assessment at the end of this month. I really cannot go through it all again. I don't want to be like this. I'm finding it hard to accept what I have turned into, a shadow of my former self. I have no more fight left in me. I don't receive any financial benefits from them, only NI contributions and the ordeal that we are having to endure is absolutely evil torture at a time in our lives when we are vunerable enough due to our medical conditions. They refuse to accept all medical evidence available to them and cause added stress. It is persecution, as simple as that......
I think that there is a need for me to explain myself, especiall after you posted,
' you do not want to go through the same experience so soliciting advice on proceeding with something that you not intending to pursue seems rather odd considering you were successful last time'.
The reason why I stated, 'I really cannot go through it all again.,' is simply because of how it pushed me very close to the brink of a nervous breakdown last year and to have the possibilty of having to face having the whole ordeal again is such a frightening thought.
I would never 'solicit advice' if I felt that I could cope by myself. That and that alone brought me to this point of posting on this forum nothing more.....
I am sorry to read of the problems you are having, although i am not surprised as we seem to be hearing of more and more problems with the medical process. The programmes last week on TV appeared to highlight the problem even more so, doctors wanting to pass claimants but, due to strict guidelines set down by the DWP they felt they were unable to.
Seams - if you haven't already done so i would suggest you ask your GP/consultant to write why you were unable to attend the medical. Medical letters can help as well as keeping a short diary - 5 days or so detailing what everyday is like for you with the conditions you have.
An example would be, 7am - wake up, have to take inhalers/medication before i can get out of bed, swing legs round to the floor and have to sit on the edge of the bed for ? minutes before i can get up, this is due to breathlessness and feeling wheezy/pain. To get out of bed i need to hold on to the bedside cabinet to help me up. This whole process takes ? minutes.
Repeat this process across the day - going into detail re personal care - eating - motivation and mobility. Aways explain why you feel the way you do - DWP may have a very general understanding of medical conditions but don't assume they will understand the difficulties you have. It is probably best to assume the [person reading it has no medical knowledge or training and they are looking at your information/diary from that point of view.
We also have an appeals sheet we can send out to you - call us on 03000 030 55.
The very best of luck and as always give us a call - it's what we're here for.
Best Wishes
Jo
So sorry you have to go through this all over again Seams. Do you think they may have made a mistake in calling you again? I would query that if they already awarded you back in December last year.
I would ring them and ask why you need to go through the procedure a 2nd time after having already been awarded after appeal. Do you still have the copy of the letter where they awarded you the benefit? You can refer to that letter, reference and date. As suggested before, do ring the BLF helpline and mention about being called twice in past 1 or 2 years.
hi, i was declared `fit for work` and appealed luckily for me the decision maker changed the dec`ision and put me in the support group. I sent off letters from docs and consultants which the atos doc said she had a copy of although they had been ignored! I also printed off loads of stuff off the internet and sent that and i went through my medical report and made statements on every point and expanded on points that were made. If you have to go to appeal take someone with you. I went through all this when i first became ill and put in a claim for incapacity benefit, i was refused and actually went to appeal- it took them 4 mins to decide i couldnt work!! One thing i feel i must mention though people calling the appeal `court` its not a court its a room with two people in it - one a doctor and one a lawyer i have to say they were really nice and i was allowed to state my case i think calling it a court puts people off from appealing i know the dwp refers to it in this way but it is not its not held at a court either mine was at the same building atos use for their medicals . Get all your evidence together and try not to stress too much. I hope this helps good luck sandra
My sister was kicked off esa last december and told she was fit to work, She has severe osteoarthritis and sciatica - she can barely write her fingers are so arthritic. Her appeal was for JULY this year. She won it and has now been reinstated and back paid the extra benefit. I always advise you to appeal. I think the government is doing it purely as a cost cutting excercise. And it is arbituary.
One other thing if you are unable to travel to see them you are entitled to ask that they come to your home instead. That might be the answer. Good luck xx
It might be worth considering asking for a reconsideration as well as making an appeal. If you can show your non attendance was as a result of an angina attack on the day, this would be classed as providing information not available to them when you were disallowed.
Thank you so very much to those of you who have offered help and advice. I need to clarify my original post though and that is that my appeal will apparently go to a decision maker first. Not only do I have my doctor's letter and my specialist's, I have all last year's documentation that I took to my orignal atos assessment and my Tribunal Appeal decision papers.
I will print off information about my conditions as advised by tyran57 and if I do have to be interviewed by anyone, I will make sure that my partner is present. I must admit that my doctor's letter confirms what I have already advised them as my reason for non-attendance and I couldn't have asked for a better one from my consultant, 'I was amazed to hear that the DWP are still referring her for medical assessment in case she has somehow become fit for work. This is of course impossible as her airflow obstruction is fixed and there is no possibility of her being able to follow any form of employment...'
Hopefully this will be enough information for them. I can only hope and pray, keep my fingers crossed and once again sincerely thank you all again
Hi I recently read on the guidelines for PIP tha tit dose not take into account the disability of the claimant but only looks at how the claimants abilily to fit into society. it doesn't look at any medical evidence at all just how you manage to fit in with thier resticted idea of how to get us all back to work. I was recently turned down for DLA I have Bronci and asthma Me and arthritis and a rectal prolapse and was told that " although i am experiencing severe difficulties that i was refused because i pace my day and try not to use a walking aid" for god sake let the right ring have some of our problems and then they might just understand that we all would rather go to work than face everyday in pain, depression and feel that our lives are not worth it .... we are not scroungers we are actually ill.
Just had My First back to work interview with job cntr , after my tribunal failed,
the Girl took one look and said ( Sorry , but probly wont be able to find you work????) Didnt know that### will put it down on Your notes that you need a sympathtic employer due TO HEALTH RESTRICTIONS???? ( query ESA??? and Health and safty at work act) , anyway signed on as fit to work, Conntacted last Employer about a JOB, got an e-mail back from him :(" due to the drugs you are getting NO WAY , even if i had a job it would involve standing around for 8-10hrs,) as i cant even sit for 10 mins thought GOOD on you Boss thats what i need ,
Next day letter from Yet An other Govt Paid Agency comes through the door, YOU must attend this interview or your benifits will be cut,
Went to interview lasted 5 mins ( after a very painful bus journey of 40mins to get there) was told NO ONE will NOW be sanctioned by DSS for lower rate ( ie limited capability for work ESA ) as Govt are phasing it out , This from a office worker who heard it DIRECT from a MANAGER of a JOBCENTRE , SO i ask what chance do we have under the NEW Laws and Descriptors??
I think in reply to your comment that the answer is we all have very little hope at all only to move to a large house owned by a very unpopular member of the Reigning government and to ask them to supply all us with long term health care needs with personnal care and financial support for our families and loved ones as the chances of us living to retire are slim and now even worse as they are so intent in kicking us when we are down and dont have the energy to fight their narrow mindede views of disability.
We should all occupy the gates of Downing street with nebulisers oxygen cylinders scooters beds pillows (for whenwe are tired) and most of all letters to the PM so that he is aware that you actually need healthy lungs to live in society and take part normally ....how would he like someone to tell him that just because he had poor health that he was not able to sub exist like he would like us to we have rights under e.u.law surely
At the Moment NONE as waiting for switch over to take place from getting ESA to JSA , they have not done it yet phoned them this morning, so wont be getting any payment till Sept 7th ish???? if all goes well,
As to the start of this thread, ESA is payable by the year and every year you will get called up to fill in a new ESA50 form, then ATOS get you again, i Won Appeal last sept, got called up for ATOS assesment in January and was declared fit for work , having last years appeal papers didnt help as they have changed the descriptors for qualifing, and have also reduce points awarded .
I lost my appeal because the GP asked if i could you a wheelchar as i dont have problems with upper body????said dont know never had one suppose so( wrong answer then), walking is now covered by resonable aid????
Outreagous anyway lets see how things evolve after the papa olympics....they will use a lot of mobility aids during the games then Atos will prob take away loads more benifit for the ones who take part as that seems to be the attitude that it is about what you can do not how your disability really affects you
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