Blue Badge help please

[Hortonhearsawhat]

My DM has been refused a blue badge due to lack of medical evidence. We supplied a copy of her medical summary which the GP said would support her application.

Age UK have told me they no longer provide support with Blue Badges and referred me to Citizens Advice, who are taking ages to get back to me and we only have a limited time to appeal.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and can advise please?

DM can't walk at all without a frame, and even then she struggles to walk more than a few steps at a time.

Ask for them to look at it again, basically appeal the decision .citizens advice will help you.

Did you give a detailed narrative of what happens when she attempts to walk? You need to say how many metres she can walk, whether she needs a rest, how long she has to rest for, what the impact on walking has on her other activities of daily living, etc.

Sorry I.posted too soon , I meant to say C A will help you but if they don't get back to you then just appeal yourself.

I'm sorry you are in this situation. My FIL was similar. Initially refused one, then broke his hip and his mobility declined. Someone at his GP surgery helped him complete the form and came out to his house. I'm not sure if it was the practice nurse, admin or someone else, but it wasn't the GP. I realise this doesn't help, but maybe call the practice and ask if someone else can help complete the form with you mum.

Appeal and tell them you want her physically assessed and then they will see how bad she is in person .

If medical evidence alone isn’t enough then they should invite her for a face to face assessment. They will assess how far she is able to walk safely and then make the decision based on this.

I’m a practice nurse & we have a community care co-ordinator who would help with this.

Ahh, maybe that is the type of person that came to my FILs house to help him complete the form? 🤔

You can appeal and they will meet face to face. The walking frame may be deemed to mitigate her mobility issue but if she cannot walk up to 50m even with it she should qualify. Has she seen an OT or physio recently , does she have a diagnosis of a degenerative condition, or claim Attendance Allowance?

I had the same situation and wrote an appeal letter with help from chat gpt. It listed all my symptoms and how they impacted my life. I was expecting to be called in for an assessment but just got my blue badge

Not all councils offer face to face assessment in this way.

OP I agree with @Lougle about the necessary detail, but I would also get your councillor to come around and advocate for her. That is their job. Not exactly the same thing but last time I renewed mine they took over six months to not get around to it, to the point where it would have lapsed whilst I was out of the country on holiday. I was told "tough" and it would be another two months at least due to a backlog. When the councillor got hold of them it was done in two days.

Just sending a summary care record won’t suffice, you have to pad out your application with details.

As @Lougle says you have to give details on how limited her mobility is and how it impacts her. It does vary between authorities as to what they want but just sending the supporting evidence is not enough.

Do the appeal and go into details, offering or requesting a face to face assessment if needed.

Thank you, I wasn't expecting replies so quickly.

Our GP surgery have said they no longer provide any support for Blue Badge application, so I'm assuming this means any kind of referral to community care but will check.

I did ask for an assessment when they initially came back to ask for more medical proof, but will definitely request it as part of the appeal.

Does Your Gp surgery have social prescribers, OP? This is something they can help with.

@Sidge the application was very detailed, including that she needs a frame plus the support of a person. That there's a risk to her safety when she's crossing a car park. To be honest, she needs to be in a wheelchair but refuses.

When I applied for my blue badge, I was initially turned down after a face to face interview. I appealed using a letter from my GP and from the specialist who diagnosed my condition.
So I'm surprised that she hasn't been assessed in person and the GP is refusing to support the application. Best approach is to appeal it and request an in person assessment to demonstrate her limitations.

It does vary from local authority to local authority. If you Google local authority blue badge guidelines you will have a very detailed guide to what areas you need to evidence.
Some of my work is in this area.
A GP letter is not usually that helpful as it is the detail of how you meeting eligibility criteria that you need not a list of conditions.
Did anyone prescribe the walking frame as they makes a difference and is worth mentioning.
A physio report would be ideal that states walks unsteadily with a frame 5-10 metres and would benefit from a wheelchair, a nurse specialist of any condition your mum has, an OT home assessment that details mobility etc. Now may be the time to request these assessments from the wheelchair service and a local authority needs assessment. Anyone in a professional role could be helpful so for example a vicar if she attends church could outline that they have observed she is unable to walk from the carpark to church so now rarely attends.

The description needs to go further than that though. Presumably someone has to drive her, help her in and out of the car, do up her seatbelt, get her frame in and out, support and guide her. Is she stable when walking with the frame, confident, prone to falls, need to physical support. Can she use stairs or escalators, kerbs, uneven ground? Is she unsafe? Can she do anything independently? Does she get anxious, upset, tired easily? Does she avoid going out? What about for appointments?

it might be worth thinking of a trip you have made recently and highlighting what happens at each stage. The medical evidence is only part of it but useful for recording falls, instability, assessments for her frame, any operations, hospital stays or illnesses and deterioration in mobility over time.

Thank you, this is all helpful.

@LIZS, I didn't think to include the type of support that's needed. I can so this with the appeal, and provide examples of how she's affected.

I'll speak to her again about a wheelchair and see if she'll agree to me contacting our local wheelchair assessment service .