Hi there. I failed my assessment and Mr.i now have tribunal in June. I'm under kings college London neurosurgeon. I have suspected nerve damage in neck which eventually they have said they will operate on but only has a65% success rate.
Ireceived 9 points but was told I need more up to date medical evidence. I have sent specialist notes and letters also a Dr's letter. I had to take pip also to tribunal and won.
My esa 50 form was filled in in 2014 Sept and they have took evidence from that although my condition has worsened. I had my whole year of esa that finished 09/15 and Stull didn't get assessment til Feb 16. It's plain awful. I live on Zomorph oral morph and amitriptyline and paracetamol too. Can anyone advise as I'm a wreck with worry. I cannot work as I can't stay awake in a good day let alone a bad day. My Dr put that with extremely strong medication doesn't combat the pain.
I am also now under a skin special because I have a three inch bald patch of alopecia on top of my head. Which has really knocked mconfidence! Injection in head monthly. And I've worked all my life and at 50 I never ever thought I would end up like this.
Please aby advice?? Xx
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Sallyk42
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If you have a copy of your original form, work through all the questions again with current info. Get GP and consultant letter . The tribunal will want info as at date of assessment. Go to Worksvand Benefits website, and using their advice and info, go ahead with tribunal appeal. The tribunal are more than fair and with the above info you should have no trouble. I wish you luck, but doubt that you will need it
Thankyou so much hun. I wish I could be so positive. It has all been sent to tribunal so just awaiting d day! I'm sure I'm loosing more hair as each day gets closer. Thankyou for your kind reply 🙂
I've been to a tribunal and I can't lie it was scary! But within half an hour I had been given a higher rate of DLA indefinately. I know I'll have to do it all again when they change to pip but I'm not meeting trouble halfway and stressing just yet.
I hope you have time to go to benefits and work site as it is very helpful. I was lucky as I had my brain injury support worker with me last time.
Tbh hun I haven't got £18 spare so can't join it. But I understand what your saying. It's so hard not to stress over it all. When your change happens I wish you luck x
You need to Google your local DIAL centre. I live in Cambridgeshire and mine was in Papworth. You take all your paperwork and hospital letters and they actually help you fill out the forms and face the appeal system and tribunals with you.
I'm pretty certain you can just Google it and it should come up or perhaps your local citizens and advice bureau will be able to tell you too, but I was given the information from my adviser at the job centre.
Thanks for the help but my forms are all in, so really sadly can't change them. June I have tribunal but I will Google them and ring to see if they can offer some advice. Thanks again
I went through a tribunal. I went to my local community centre and got a Welfare Rights Officer with me. If you can get access to one, I'd highly recommend taking one. They'll meet you at the venue, having talked to you beforehand about the process/what to expect and give you much needed support.
they fail roughly 70% of people, so do not worry too much . You see these people doing the assessment get kudo's for failing people and they then hope you will give in, so do not give in , if your disabled then you have every right to have it recognised .
There is always a difference if you don't get help, so please get help so that they can either go with you or write out your form, maybe get your consultant or gp to give you a reference regarding their point of view in your disability, that I'm sure will make a big difference, because most assessors do not really have your doctors experience regarding your symptoms.
Trouble is that going in there makes you feel like your begging, when nobody wants to be called a scrounger or a burden and this process can cause your symptoms to get worse due to stress.
But believe me the DWP are not all that bad there are good people working in that office, and yes a lot depends on who you see, so don't allow the process to depress you too much, all the best Alex
Thankyou Alex your so right it did make me feel like I was scrounging! When I went for pip and I feel the same now. I eill try and get some advice and just praying they will accept my case and allow me to have what yes I am entitled too. Thankyou
Oh dear thanks for that! Yes I am but I've never seen him. His team I see which has meant 5 different all with different angles on what's wrong and what to do. Tbh I had to see a professor locally about pain through kings and his report he sent to Kings and my gp was brilliant so that's the letter I sent.
What can I ask do you see him for and treatment?? X
I dont any more, but he gave me my first diagnosis back in 2003 when he was a junior or what ever it is you call them.
Back then i was diagnosed DDD, PROLAPSED DISCS, SPINAL FLUID LOST BOTTOM 7 INCHES OF THE CHORD. told never to work again and to take life as easy as possible, and try not to walk especially up hill, and my spine was delicate like a thin spring that could snap at any time.
Then when i went back to get him to do a report for ESA 2 years a go he denied saying any of that and was not willing to give me an up to date report.
I honestly thought I'd replied to your message, I'm sorry.
That is bloody awful!! Why should he be that way? He wrote my first report thatstated that I had demylation. However all 5 other specialists said no sign of it! So I can quite believe you.
How did you go on without a report from him? I think that isdisgraceful, what did it cost him to write it again. I really hope you got help!!
Hi Sally, I will never know his reasons, maybe political, maybe his original diagnosis was wrong so opted to for the easy way out, but which ever it was its all so wrong because if he was wrong i could of carried on working and my life right now could be a whole lot better.
I since then have had a MRI from bum to head and the diagnosis is much worse than the previous one in 2003, but i am still walking so very thankful for that, my life with pain is unbearable at times and along with bowel, heart, diabetes, and a life time of anxiety and now depression i fight on. But after a long fight to get a home visit for my ESA the sensible Doctor only reported on my mental state and got me my award on that alone as he said they would probably fail me on all the other illnesses.
life can be hard but we must not stop fighting for what we are entitled, i wish you much luck with your claim and health.
That's just awful that they have the power to actually change lives but think it's belittling to do so.
Thankfully I haven't seen him and now hope I never do. I'm glad your Dr was sensible and knew the ropes.
Is there nothing that can be done to help your back or is it just pain management? I get so sick of pain like you. It's everything you never imagined it to be and mire. I had cbt therapy a while ago and yrs it did help as I no longer spend hours thinking about the past and how different my life was. I still think but just change it back to now as I think we all know how ever much we want it to go back to that it never will. Keep in touch and all I can say is good luck to you, as I think we know enough about bad luck xx
Sorry I sent another post. I got wrag at tribunal. But because my hubs was working it meant 39 weeks component wrag. So today got £1148 a tad less than £5000 which eould of been if I had spoke up at tribunal and got support group. She asked where we parked and hubby said about 200 metre away. She looked at me and asked how many times I stopped. I said 4 but didn't think to say he dropped me off just under tribunal court. What a complete Pratt I was. And that was honest. I couldn't walk 200 metre. It wasn't toll I got home I realised. Sad day that was. Now to go to jobcentre interview. And the first thing the lady said was you don't have to be here as we aren't paying you.
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