PIP assessor here

[Fsj88]

Good evening

I’ve been encouraged to sign up to Mumsnet by a friend who has suggested that some people might find it useful to be able to ask a PIP assessor questions.

If there’s anything you think I can help you with, please ask away

Can I get PIP for alcoholism?

Oh wonderful so even more people on mumsnet will now be telling us anyone can claim pip by making any old shit up with no evidence.

If they claim they have a condition or are under a specialist why aren't you asking for evidence of diagnosis/ongoing care or assessment or checking with the service instead of 'taking it at face value'? Why are you dishing out money to people who can't provide any evidence?

why are those of us who dish up mountains of evidence denied it? Clearly we just should say we have acne and you'd give us a full whack award 🙄. Or so you'd like us to believe.

which part of the assessment do you do?

And it will only get worse now @Sparrowsandbudgiesthanks to this alleged pip assessor

What’s your actual medical qualifications? It irritates the hell out of me that my consultants with actual medical dr qualifications can be overridden by a pip assessor with a healthcare assistant qualification.

How many hours do you normally have for considering one application?

So what you're saying is that anyone can just say they have a certain condition and are receiving treatment or are under a consultant and that will just be taken at face value without any proof.

Really?

So why did I have to provide all kinds of evidence for DD?

Isn't it obvious that those who do provide medical evidence, scans and consultant letters confirming diagnosis are more likely to get awarded than someone with no medical evidence.

I’ve never completed a DLA assessment so I couldn’t say I’m sorry

It was probably audited and found to be not fit for purpose by the DWP i.e clinically inconsistent or missing information needed to make a decision

Yes and yes

Absolutely

Yes - depending on the day to day functional impact of the addiction

What do you think about people with enduring conditions having to keep reapplying for PIP? I'm talking about things like severe rheumatoid arthritis / amputation / progressive neurological diseases. This has never made sense to me, it seems like a costly and stressful waste of time!

it is indeed very frustrating at times but it’s on the direction of the DWP, not us healthcare professionals completing the assessments.
A lot of people who apply for PIP are vulnerable- for example they may have significant mental health problems alongside their physical health conditions and aren’t in a position to obtain and organise their evidence. Similarly a lot of people are moving between various temporary accommodations and may not be registered with a GP to wherever they’ve been moved to be able to request any evidence. It ensures vulnerable people are safeguarded and not disadvantaged.
I completed full PIP assessments.

This information is easily accessible from trusted sources. It’s not a secret

I’m a nurse

2 hours to prep, assess and report write. It’s nowhere near enough for complex cases and I work over my hours regularly

Yes that’s right. I’ve explained it in a post a little bit further up. The purpose of sending evidence is to give more context to what you’re reporting. So someone without medical knowledge might tell me at assessment that they’ve got arthritis in xyz and experience pain daily. If I can actually see the MRI report for example it helps give me some more context to the likely severity and impact of the condition

It’s not ideal in many cases but functional impact does change over time, both for the worse and for the better. Someone with a neurological condition which is degenerative is likely to deteriorate over time. Someone with a degenerative condition which has been awarded enhanced/ enhanced is unlikely to be reassessed

@Fsj88how do people get PIP if they don’t need it, if they are being assessed? surely that makes for a flawed system

Yes it’s flawed and that’s been widely reported. Unfortunately, people are prepared to over exaggerate and in some cases do lie

I can’t think of a single system that helps everyone that needs it, and no one that doesn’t. I think that’s an almost impossible aim.

This is so true. The government is currently conducting the ‘Timms review’ which is supposedly a comprehensive review of the whole process so it’ll be interesting to see its outcome

I think it’s due to be published imminently. Provisional findings were that the benefit itself causes barriers to work and that the whole process is overwhelming and stressful for claimants

Always find it crazy the hoops and loopholes these people manage to find, yet apparently work would be too stressful for them!!!