Applied for PIP, AIBU to be scared of being laughed out the place?

[someoneneededyoubree]

I have debilitating Fibromyalgia.

I cannot raise my arms above my shoulders most of the time. Someone is now having to wash my hair and style it for me.

I now need help to get in and out of my bath/shower, of which I'm soon going to be renovating to fit my needs.

Apologies for being vulgar, but there are times where I cannot bend or move enough to change a bloody sanitary product. Yesterday I was in tears to my DMum because I was leaking but physically couldn't change myself. She couldn't get to me quickly so an amazing friend came over just to help me sort myself out. That wasn't just due to pain, for that I might've been able to bite through. But physically, I cannot do much when I'm at my worst because of muscle weakness/stiffness.

I recently dropped a pan of boiling water that wasn't even that heavy. Luckily enough I missed my own body and it dropped on the floor entirely.

If I'm visiting someone or out and about, I need to now visit disabled loos at times just so there's something there I can hold onto to lower myself onto the toilet.

I can no longer attend work and I'm on long term sick, I have been for a few weeks. Luckily they have been brilliant and are a huge company that support me to the max. However, it means I can no longer afford my old car and I'm now left stranded without, unless I have my DMum to help me get from A to B.

I have had to get shoes I can slip on as there are some days I cannot pull shoes on, and most days I can't bend for long enough to tye laces

I have applied for PIP and just waiting for the form. I'm so worried about what the assessor at the face to face will be like. I'm so worried she/he will tell a pack of lies, which seems to be the case for so many genuine people.

AIBU to be scared?

I just don't know what to do anymore. I really need the financial assistance. My DMum is a God send and I'm lucky to bloody have her. I'd be gone for if I didn't, I'm not sure what I'd do. From the outside I look fine, just very sore if I try and walk on good days. On bad days, I cannot walk more than a few steps and need my wheelchair. On other days, I have crutches. I have a DS who I'm tremendously lucky to have so much help with. He is an amazing little boy and I feel like I'm letting him down. But I know I'm not, he's bright and happy.

I have been told to include with the form -

•GP letter explaining how my condition impacts me
• A diary (a week's worth), explaining how I've been each day and how my condition has impacted me
• Letter from a consultant (fingers crossed I can get this in time)
•Letter from my DMum explaining how she thinks my condition impacts me, and how she helps me, such as helping me prepare a basic meal, washing my hair, on bad days, dressing my lower half

I am 20 years old and I feel so devastated that this seems to be my life, for now. The condition has been with me since the age of 14. It gradually gets worse as I get older, it seems.

Some times I go through stages where I'm feeling fantastic but I'm then slowly but surely back to square one, often worse off.

Blank Times, this was in a city in North Yorkshire. It wasn't the criminal court but the other one, where the Family Courts etc are. So we had no idea they'd be marching handcuffed 'the accuseds' within inches of us, waiting.

When we were waiting, I noticed the other folk in our waiting area, which was right outside where the PIP tribunal was held, was a woman and a teenaged (disabled) girl. I wondered how on earth that felt, for the girl, seeing that.

It does happen, I'm afraid. So far as I'm aware, this city is still hearing tribunals in the same court.

None of this shit with DLA and the evidence we gave on original DLA forms (I used to help people, via a charity and filled in many), would come directly from consultants etc who knew the person - it didn't matter that assessors weren't medically qualified, as the system was set up differently (and was way superior to some out of work paramedic deciding they are the world's authority on say, some cmplex neurological disorder, after a 21 day course).

This PIP travesty on its own should be enough to take this government down. They are shameful.

Essentially they have made disabled people pay for their austerity programme. And pared off the lucrative bits to their golf club pals, private companies, who 'train' and adminster the shameful PIP debacle.

I have been on the FB groups and forums and from personal experience three times now of helping family members, and from various groups and forums online seen that it isn't a case of assessors being 'inaccurate'. They LIE.

I think when this is all over, there should be some legal redress and claimants should be able to sue the individuals who lied, to deny them the benefits to which they should have been entitled. Literally, put them behind bars. Let's start demanding this.

Essentially they have made disabled people pay for their austerity programme.

Which is only right and proper. After all, they're hardly contributing to the pockets of the rich wealth of the country are they ?

Well, I'm fucked.

I just rang my GP surgery to enquire if our GP's do supporting letters for PIP claims.

She said "yes but first we'd need to see the paper work from the x and z county court. I said I think she may be mistaken, as it sounds like she's talking about extra evidence for a tribunal, when the case goes to court.

She said "oh, well I really don't know then".

I said does she have any idea how much a letter would cost. She said, if it's a 'to whom it may concern' type of letter with what medication and what conditions from a GP, it'll be around £60 to £80. But if just a general thing saying a list of conditions/in a form of a list, it's more like £27

£60 to £80?! I just don't have it. I can't believe they're wanting much. I asked her if I should book an appointment to see my GP and discuss what I need to be included in the letter, she said I should put in writing to the surgery itself what I want and from whom.

Honestly, I just don't know what to do. I feel stuck.

I asked if I should make an appointment

I just rang my GP surgery to enquire if our GP's do supporting letters for PIP claims.

Do you not have correspondence with that already ?

DWs notes from her consultants always start with a "Saw XXXXX in clinic today" with brief summary of her condition (was diagnosed in xxxx, with a supplementary diagnosis of secondary progressive in yyyy)". It then goes on to note individual symptoms and changes since last consult. There's rehab, neuro, uro-gynae, physio, and counselling. Plus OT reports.

You should be copied in on all of that. And if not, you can ask.

Joffrey Did you ask about why the prisoners in handcuffs were there in that Court? It doesn't sound as though they should have been there.
I just assumed when we saw them handcuffed at the hospital that it was standard practice because nobody else batted an eyelid.

someoneneededyoubree
A lot of GPs now do not provide support letters for PIP, ESA etc.
If I was you, I'd make an appointment with a GP who knows my condition and ask them what sort of support letters they can write for you and the costs.

You can get the whole of your GP Records for about £50. At ours they charge £10 for one photocopy of one letter if you want something specific. It was cheaper for me to buy the whole lot. The request had to be in writing and signed by the person whose records they are.

There are also Hospital Records which are different to GP records they depend on what you want as to how much it costs.

In both cases you can look for a small fee, but any copies can cost quite a bit. It was cheaper for me to have the whole lot.

A relative's GP's surgery was approached by a firm asking for details of disability and the GP's surgery replied to them and said they had no record of any disability. That's when I got their full GP records and guess what, it was full of medical reports showing evidence of disability from childhood to present. You really couldn't make it up

universalcreditsuffer.com/2018/09/02/proof-the-dwp-intentionally-misleads-personal-independence-payment-applicants/

Following my journey through the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) application process and first stage of appeal, I can show how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are intentionally misleading applicants. The way they are operating is leading to disabled people losing out purely on how things are worded.

(contd)

I don't know if all surgeries are the same but on my online booking account I can also access my medical records, this shows all my appointments and copies of letters to and from the hospital I was able to simply print them off. Don't know if that's an option for you.

OP, under GDPR you can ask for all your medical records, this is called a Subject Access Request and it’s supoosed to be free, although I suppose they might be allowed to charge an admin fee, but certainly not a huge amount surely. This is just admin since it’s printing existing records.

If you want a letter from your GP, I suggest you make an appointment with your GP, explain what you need - you could print this and show it to them - and ask them directly what the charge would be.

YY to accessing your records online, that’s a good idea as you will be able to access them for free and can print what you want.

Thank you for all these helpful replies

I'm wondering if you can help me some more I have attached an image of my online health records. This is the only thing I get to see when I access my health records online.

It's via something called Patient Access. If you click on the condition, it doesn't take you into anymore detail. It just redirects you to a page that tells you about the condition itself.

I'm guessing the people on here with access to theirs have a better App?

What happens if you click on consultations? Mine then gives me the notes the dr writes during the appointment and what was decided, prescribed etc, On my consultation page there are also attachments letters forms etc so I can print them off. Your pictures don't look the same as mine so it may be your surgery uses a different system

YY click on consultations

What is after immunisations on the list?

Please do not make an appointment to see your GP just to ask about letters, someone may have an urgent need for that appointment. You could ask for a telephone appointment instead.

Or speak to the Practice manager.

Really you need a letter from a consultant, or whoever is in charge of your ongoing care at hospital.

Unfortunately, nothing really happens when I click on consultations.

When I tap on a specific one, it just comes up like this - With the date, name of Dr seen and location (my GP surgery)

Blank I just double checked as I went to the ssame building many, many times for the Family Courts when my ex was trying to get access to my kids and I assumed they were just a family court.

It is indeed, a Crown Court and a Family Court...

So they do indeed put people waiting for PIP tribunals in the same building (and on the same floor) as criminal cases!

I knew the magistrates' court was elsewhere and actually hadn't realised the place I think of as the family courts is something else too.

I attended many many times over a period of years (persistent ex) and never once, on the floors I was on for the case, saw or was anywhere near the criminals!

Apparently PIP tribunal people don't get extended the same courtesy.

Re attempts to get records - the person I went with who was tuend down flat at tribunal - had voluminous hospital records, and a couple of covering letters from a dr and an audiologist (hearing difficulty was just one of their difficulties) and the tribunal asked the applicant to explain for them what % he was disabled. He got confused - gave one answer, then another so they dismissed it.

The complex, detailed HOSPITAL records were right there in their hands. Rather than look at them they wanted the disabled person to give an answer.

Go figure.

He had a GP letter as well.

It is all pointless.

My GP secretary phoned today - She said I could have all of my medical records from the last 5 years, in a disk, free of charge

She said you put the disk into any computer or laptop and print what you want.

I bet you a few pennies that the disk won't work, for some random reason or another, but we shall cross that bridge when it comes to it... crosses fingers I'm wrong

I bet you a few pennies that the disk won't work, for some random reason or another

IT Procurement has an unnatural fascination with proprietary file formats (while Germany, for example mandates open standards in all IT tenders )

That said, they should be in either Microsoft Word format or (more impressively) a PDF - which you can get free readers for.

Trouble is, they won't read it.

At the tribunal I attended with my family member applicant, the muppets present actually asked him to say how deaf he was - give a percentage - whilst holding all the hospital printouts in their hands... He got confused, so they said there was nothing wrong with him.

The pile of reports in front of them - said otherwise.

They'll try anything to trip you up. They have a target of % of claims to deny and will deny regardless, even saying there is no evidence, whilst physically holding the evidence.

Bree that sounds brilliant, a free disc, I hope you can read it all easily on your computer.

Trouble is, they won't read it
I'm so sorry that happened to your family member Joff it's dreadful.

Our experience was totally different. Completely the opposite. The Judge said that he and the other 2 panel members, a Disability Expert and a GP had each had a copy of the whole of our documentation. That included medical reports and private assessments for the last 15 years and the previous DLA awards were indefinite.

He said that the previous day they had all read their copy in their own homes, then on the morning of the Tribunal they had a meeting and discussed what they individually thought.

He said the panel were all independently of the same opinion before the hearing, so we didn't have to have one unless we wanted to go through and dispute every point. He made the decision there and then.

Bree I hope you'll have a better experience than Joff's relative, all you can do is what I did, provide as much medical evidence as you can and include detailed descriptions of how you're affected every day.

I can't remember if it's already been suggested but if not get an Occupational Therapy assessment for your daily living, they'll write a report and recommend things like a perching stool for the kitchen, adapted cutlery and/or utensils, knives that have handles like a saw etc. Ways of safely using the kitchen like a kettle tipper, only filling pans and cups half-full, chopping boards that grip anything you are trying to cut, non-slip mats, ways of adapting the bathroom for easier use and all sorts of other things, grab rails/handles beside doors if there's a step, anti-fatigue mats for areas you stand in, there are loads of things. Anyone faced with a list of interventions like that which has been written by a medical professional cannot fail to see you need some help.
Like my relative, you'll also be quite a rarity for the OT service as most home adaptations etc. are done for the elderly.

For example you may incur extra costs if you have to buy grated cheese, ready chopped packs of veg etc. because you don't have the ability to prepare them safely or in a reasonable amount of time. It's things like that which seem so ordinary because you just do it, but when you stop and think, most people don't have to do that.

All the differences between how you have to do things and how other people your age do things need to be explained in detail.