How do I obtain a Support letter from ? Christine

[havering]

For use at an ESA appeal hearing

[kulie13]

Support letters have different functions so I will mention several kinds. If you want one from your GP or consultant it can give info about diagnosis/prognosis/functional difficulties (the last of those 3 is the most important bit) but a lot of GP practice managers are insisting on £60 or £70 for a basic letter these days although consultants may still provide for free. An alternative is to ask for a copy of your medical records for the last 2 or 3 years which you are entitled to under the Data Protection Act, and they are not allowed to charge you more than £10 for computer records - they should not make a profit on what is essentially a photocopying exercise. Make sure you ask for copies of any referral letters to be included. Another important way to get support letters is to ask friends/family/neighbours/carers to write a letter to explain what they know about your condition. These do count. It is well known that a GP does not know everything about what you are like in your own home - not many know their patients that well. Make sure that the person doing the letter is someone very familiar with your problems on a daily basis, and that they stick to evidence about your functional problems - although they can comment on your emotional state and how changed you are as a person to put your problems in context (if for example you used to enjoy a lot of walking it would make you a lot more depressed if you found yourself hardly able to walk). Try to make sure any evidence is relevant and supports your stated level of difficulty - if you say you can only walk 20m without severe discomfort, try to get your GP or carer to be specific about what they have witnessed. I hope this helps - good luck.

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi Havering,

If you're looking for a supporting letter about lupus from LUPUS UK then please email [e-mail] outlining briefly what you need and including your full name and address.

[havering in reply to Paul_Howard]

Dear Paul

Thank you for your kind response; I have made contact with Christine today. I also visited a Tribunal today as an observer. Unfortunately they had changed the listings from ESA (04 cases) to Disability Living Allowance cases! I will go again and check the listings as near to the date as possible.