I carry out PIP assessments - AMA

[PIPnamechanged]

The disclaimer:

I changed my name for this.

I can’t tell you why your claim was declined, or if you’ll be accepted with a particular condition.

I can’t comment on individual claims or look you up on the system on Monday.

I won’t bother with any “how do you sleep at night?” comments as they’re just inflammatory.

I’ve done the job for around 8 years, so covered the job in pre and post-pandemic times. Work full time, 9-5 and I’m a nurse by profession.

My part of the job is the actual consultation.

Ask away!

That’s a hard one, lol. I don’t think it’s as high as some might think. Most people provide evidence of their condition (doctors letters etc). Some people do lay it on very thick, but I think the majority are legit.

If a person has a progressive chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis why do they need 3 yearly reviews?

I'm submitting a claim now as I've been awaiting a diagnosis for ages due to lack of staff. I heard it's about your need rather than diagnosis - does this actually happen? Some days I can't move far due to joint issues ( currently looking at inflammatory arthritis) but also PTSD which a work counsellor told me I had and GP... but you never get official diagnoses through that route, except I'm often incapable of walking far with joints, or stay home for days/weeks due to PTSD/depression .... how do you balance that if there's no actual diagnosis on paper?
Thank you ... must be a tough job!

Do you have any input from services? The ideal evidence would be a letter from the GP, ASD services, MH team etc confirming the above.

I love it when we get letters like that as it makes it rock solid to give an award.

Do you have targets for number of cases that you do or don't approve PIP for?

What's the standardisation process to ensure they are all carried out in a kind and professional way?

I've been to two to support someone and the difference was immense. My friend didn't want me to complain about the awful one as she was worried it would affect her claim. I was beyond appalled by the vile woman who interviewed as if she was part of some torture club.

Yeah, bias comes into it, although we receive a lot of training on how to remain objective.

People with drug/alcohol issues fall into the bias category. Ex prisoners (especially ones who diagnose crimes like rape or child sex offences) too.

I'm so stressed at DS not qualifying for PIP, when he's qualified for DLA for the last 6yrs.

I will hear in the next three weeks apparently as I've just had the letter saying "we have all the information we need to make a decision".

Hi. I know you said you can’t comment on conditions, but do you get many people that struggle after having something like cancer? Sorry if that’s a stupid question.

On those cases, it’s evidence from the person’s specialists that we rely on. I’ve had a few ones where the consultant has very helpfully written a breakdown of symptoms/effects of the condition, which is gold.

Do you request reports from health professionals involved or just read those sent with the application?

I'm a health professional and always say to list our team on the application but have never had a request for more info.

Do you think there has been a substantial increase in PIP applications in the last 10 years and is the rate of applications continuing to rise?
How do you think the govt will respond to the increase in applications?

Why do you send renewal forms out for people to fill in a full 12 months before it's due, and then not complete the claim until 2-3 months after it was due? (So a year and 3 months after they completed it and sent it back!) Why not just send it out 2-3 months before it's due? Why torture people making them wait and wait, and not be able to get on with their life, leaving them in limbo?

Why are you so far behind? Covid is no excuse. It was nearly 5 years ago.

Why do you send the form out, dated (eg) 3rd May, with a deadline for 30th May, but never manage to get the form to people til 14th-16th May? (Giving people only 2 weeks to fill it in and get all the information and supporting paperwork, and send it back?)

And why do you always send a letter 10-12 days after the form has been sent saying 'we have not received your form yet!' when there is no WAY anyone could have sent it back by then, because they don't get the renewal form for 10-12 days. It ends up stressing people out hugely, and makes them wait an HOUR on the phone for you to answer and say 'oh yes we have got it.'

Why do you ask the same question in the lengthy (often one hour long) assessment 5 or 6 times, in different ways? Is the claimants first answer not good enough?

Glad to hear you had a good experience!

Ah yeah, it can be taxing. Most of the time, it’s ok as the majority of things we see are conditions like back pain, arthritis, diabetes etc.

The mental health ones can be harder as there’s often a story behind it. Domestic abuse, death of their child…sometimes very sad. A few people stick with you afterwards and you wonder how they are.

There are no real ASD services after diagnosis. They seem the paediatrician for an annual medication review. In that review a few months ago, we mentioned the pain when walking short distances (pain after a 10 minute walk) a d so they referred to a physio for this.

We asked the mental.health Dr if they'd notice how hard it was to keep my girl on task and the inattention and they agreed that they'd noticed it. I asked if they'd write a letter saying that they'd noticed it and they willingly agreed to do that.

They wrote the letter and it said 'Mum says' implying that it was only me that noticed! That happens alot!

Also, how would they be able to put that when they're not aty house seeing me dress and wash her.

She has a blue badge and EHCP and goes to a special school and specialist mental health hospital.so I guess that helps?

Opting out of surgery isn’t frowned upon but it’s essential you get across why you chose not to - fear, risk, unpaid time off from work…get it across so they can include it.

I assume the driving/jar comparison will have been to show the person had grip. That they could put their fingers round an object and twist.

Often this is because they have been awarded a standard award and may be entitled to the enhanced award down the line, once their RA gets worse.

Thank you! I know of a few with it and I am somewhat cynical 🙈

Back in the day, it was no diagnosis = no award.

That changed completely with the pandemic. The waiting lists to see specialists now are considered good if it’s 18 months or less. Physio tends to be 18 months to 2 years, autism/ADHD can be several years.

It would help if you could ask your GP to refer you to specialists (if they haven’t done so already). That way you’re in the queue, and you can explain this if/when you’re asked to come to assessment.

What's your work / life balance? Do you have a set amount of assessment to complete in a day?

Yes, we do.

It’s done over a six month period. At the end of that time, if your award rate is too high or too low, you’re asked to adapt it accordingly.

I’ve never actually fallen outside of the acceptable parameter for this, but if I did, I wouldn’t change my practice. It would be totally unfair to be unduly harsh or lenient because of a statistic.

@PIPnamechanged - I've got my GP records and seen rheummy specialist with a letter saying investigating inflammatory arthritis and looking at immunosuppressants but still not diagnosed. It's more about the blue badge in hopeful for, I often can't walk far at work, shopping etc so only go a few places where I know I can park and not have too far to walk, but it's not helped by the PTSD ISSUES affecting my mental ability 😢

Ah good! Hope it goes smoothly. I know, it’s an incredibly stressful time and you’ll be watching the letterbox every day.

Absolutely! Even if the treatment is successful, they’re often left with long term fatigue, frailty, body image issues etc.

We get people who claim for their cancer then when they’re due their review they come on and tell us they’re better, back at work, seeing the grandkids every week and want to withdraw their claim.

Those are the best ones!

I don’t personally do that. That’s a job for the decision maker (who gets involved after me).

I don’t think they often do it though, I’ve never had someone tell me that their professional was contacted.