AIBU? GP refusing my mum a blue badge

[JollyJunee]

I’m so cross with my mum’s GP! Maybe we are in the wrong.
Mum is in her 80s. She has a pacemaker and defib due to a genetic heart condition. She can walk upstairs but slowly and would sometimes need to stop half way up. If we were walking and there was an incline/steep bit, she would have to rest. If it was more than a domestic flight of stairs she wouldn’t even try it.
she walks the dog every day. Slowly, on a totally flat route. She has told me that on the ‘bad’ days she knows the spots where there is a bench/low wall and she can rest.
She also has severe diverticular disease and would occasionally have pretty big bleeds from that which leaves her totally wiped out for a few days. She asked about blue badge last year, and GP refused to fill in the form. Told my mum he wasn’t allowed to lie and she can walk perfectly well. But she struggles a lot at times. He told her if she walks and doesn’t get her heart rate up it’s not worth walking at all.
she saw new cardiologist recently with me. We asked him about it and he was amazed GP refused. Said he would write on the letter to GP about mums issues again. He is arranging a procedure for my mum and it will definitely set her back for a while. She saw GP again today and really fought her case, but GP adamant, my mum can walk and so doesn’t need a blue badge.
Are we being lazy so and so? I would have thought my mum was an ideal person for a blue badge? It’s really knocking her. AIBU?

It doesn't mean you have to have all those documents in order to get a blue badge. They just want them if they exist to help with the assessment. e.g. an elderly person won't have a PIP assessment and many disabled people won't have many of the other documents either.

Take the matter up with your local MP.
They can be helpful with things like this.
Good luck 👍

I just noticed that your mothers consultant will write a letter to the GP detailing the issues. You will be able to use that (they will send a copy to your mother) and not involve the GP.

Thanks again for input. Just a reminder that we are in RoI where GP is needed. I will have a look at that link re:consultant. Seeing another cardiologist soon in relation to the procedure she needs, and will ask him. Seems there are others in this predicament. Illness is never black and white.

@JollyJunee You can only qualify for a blue badge if you have the highest award for mobility for pip/dla. If your mum has this then you apply to your local council with the relevant paperwork and they will
issue the blue badge. This has nothing to do with your GP

Labyrinthian that looks very promising thank you. Her consultant was very supportive. She is elderly and doesn’t like change. She knows the Gp is an arse, his dad is a GP in the same practice and my dad had to see him once and he was horrible to my dad. This guy is very nice, just totally useless.

We are in RoI not UK linsey2581.

Blue badges are not limited in number. If you meet the criteria of need, you should get one. My mum had one and my aunt should have one - I m helping her apply. For some conditions there is no medical certification required- terminal illness, blindness- but for others a range of evidence can be required depending on the condition.OPs mum sounds like she needs her GP to confirm her condition and he is unwilling.My mum was turned down at first- for numerous pathetic reasons and I made a big fuss with the council. Can the consultant not complete the medical requirement? My mum's consultant wrote a letter for us to hand in and it was accepted immediately without further info from the GP. My mum had a heart condition that had been worsening and been assessed as terminal within 12 months (she didn't know that). She died 12 months and 1 week after he assessed her.
OP does your mum require a stick, a 'trolley' or a walker to walk? Or one of those walkers that has a seat you can sit on if you need to rest? Did you put the distance in metres she can walk? Does she require a wheelchair ever? It's so unfair when there is a level of subjectiveness from GPs. Could she see another GP in the practice? Could you go with her?
A Blue Badge can make a huge difference to someone frail and elderly. I hope you are successful

My dad got a bb-this was years ago mind you i hated going out with him and parking in a disabled space it was embarrassing -hed had a heart attack many years before but clean bill of health they just gave him one

In my authority you apply for the blue badge yourself and submit evidence. The evidence from her cardio saying she needs one should be enough alongside what you write.

My ds can walk. He swims 5-15k 6 days a week.

He has a blue badge.

It's not about the walking it's the whole picture of need.

Oh sorry. I missed your post about RoI. Yes, that way make a difference.

It is not a GP who decides if a blue badge is appropriate but the local council. The GP has probably declined to do a letter/ support the application which they can do as it's not NHS work and therefore classed as private.
Your mum could ask for a 'patient summary' print out (this will have a list of active conditions and medications) and submit that with the application to the local council for consideration.

"You can only qualify for a blue badge if you have the highest award for mobility for pip/dla."

That isn't true. You can qualify without that as long as you have enough evidence and enhanced pip mobility doesn't automatically give a blue badge. You need to get points in a particular area.

The form looked for how far they can walk. I had put less than 50m and as I explained to the GP if on a slope/steps etc she cannot walk that. At all. Barely 5m. She went to a funeral recently and had to wait in the car because the grave was up a small hill. We did a small gentle incline in a garden last summer and she had to sit on a bench for ten mins.

This is not correct. My mum is 72 and retired and gets pip. She has always had a blue badge and motability car due to her disability and always received DLA as well, this changed to PIP for adults and she was surprised that not only did she get it but she got a higher rate than previous for personal care as she requires a number of adaptations for using the bathroom, getting dressed etc.

Just realised my message didn’t do the ‘reply’ thing properly. I was replying to someone who said only working people could get PIP.

All I know is my Dad had to prove he couldn’t walk more than 10 metres?

As for the application. It’s best to fill these things in considering the worst case scenario. But the requirements do ask about being able to walk a certain length on the straight and her walking further than this to walk her dogs will go against her. Although not all blue badges are given on ability to walk a certain distance as some people get them due to anxiety conditions and needing to be able to get back to a car quickly if their condition changes quickly and is unpredictable.

The moving around part of PIP is based upon ability to move around pavements and roads so steeper slopes or stairs are not taken into account.

You can only qualify for a blue badge if you have the highest award for mobility for pip/dla no if you have high rate mobility for dla you get a bb, with pip it makes no difference.

YABU to say she is the “ideal” person for a blue badge.

Lots of working people who cannot walk at all, or cannot walk well, have to juggle wheelchairs and car hoists or WAVs to live their daily lives. So how you view an elderly lady who can walk her dogs, albeit slowly, as the archetypal person who needs a blue badge, I don’t quite understand.

You’d probably get further appealing to the GP’s sympathy than by insisting your mum has paramount need.

celticprincess Apologies I should have said you can't make a new PIP claim after retirement age but you can continue to receive it. Anyone with new care needs after that needs to apply for Attendance Allowance.

It is not up to GPs to decide if a person can have a Blue Badge or not. Your mum needs to apply on line (or you can help her with it) through her local council website. She will need evidence such as consultant’s letters (which she has?), medical diagnoses and a list of the medications she takes whether prescribed or over the counter. When filling in the form talk about worst days not best days because it is on the worst days that she will really need to use the blue badge, especially if she needs to be at an appointment and she is finding walking very difficult that day. If the application fails she can reapply.

My grandmother is 101, deaf, almost completely blind, cannot walk unaided, has severe deformoties of both feet and now has early dementia to boot. She isnt entitled to one. Its ludicrous, understandably she wants to be taken out, even if it is only to be taken to the supermarket. But being able to park in a way which enables this is becoming increasingly difficult for everyone.The thing is it doesnt only impact her, it radically affects those of those around her. Every day is a battle.

If you had said that you were in ROI in the OP you wouldn't need to keep giving "reminders". It seems a bit pointless to start a thread in the first place if you are in a different country to most people on Mumsnet. What advice did you expect when the criteria are obviously going to be different to the UK?