DLA -denied.

[Knackered]

Just a quick post, I'm really quite tired and ill right now so I'll make this post short and make another post later or tomorrow.

I was denied DLA not so long ago and I've just got the report back today.

The report from My GP says:

Long history of fatigue & pains - no cause found. Patient diagnosed with fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue syndrome. Mild/moderate. All previous investigations normal

I have a letter here dated 2007 from the exact same GP saying I have severe CFS after being hospitalized with a virus in 2004, so I'll send them a copy of that.

The report from the doctor who saw me reads quite fairly in parts and not in others, one part says:

Around 2004 Feb- sent to hospital for 1 wk with a virus. Felt unwell from then & was told post viral fatigue & did excersize etc but never improved, has feeling fatigue & flu like symptoms.

...

He believes that CFS is biological not psychological as some consultants think and has not been to see any specialists about physiotherapy as new options

I'd like it if someone who has experience with this sort of thing can go through it all with me and work on an appeal. Or point me towards someone who can.

Thanks.

Edit:
I've posted this in to the wrong bloody section. Sorry, could it be moved?

 

[brenda]

Knackered

I knew a retired solicitor who travelled around the count y to help PWC on their appeals but can not find his web site so I guess he has stopped doing it but it might still be worth a search or two. Anyway here is a site for advisors where you might get a few tips and there are many discussion forums just for this.


http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=100

http://www.mga-charity.org/mganews/0004-17.htm

It is all down to the points of law, whether you can lift a pan of water or not for lower or if you need a lot of supervision for the higher. I got my mobility cos I had testing done to show I was sensitive to chemicals and get disoriented in traffic. I have been told you cannot get higher mobility for psychiatric conditions ie cfs. Citizens Advice are often good. Good luck!

 

[Knackered]

. I have been told you cannot get higher mobility for psychiatric conditions ie cfs. Citizens Advice are often good. Good luck!

The point is, I don't have a psychiatric condition.

Thanks for your other input though.

 

[froufox]

Hi Knackered,

Its fine for them to describe how your illness started and what some of your symptoms are but what they have written is very general and doesnt give a clear picture of the extent of your disability. The reports you get from doctors need to specifically address the questions that the DLA ask about on their form regarding the two components of self-care and mobility, as that is all the DLA are interested in. So they need to say things like "He/she is not able to eg lift pans, chop food up etc, wash themselves without a severe exacerbation of symptoms afterwards" and for the mobility component they need to explicitly state that you cannot walk at all or walk a specific distance eg 10 yrds, again without relapsing afterwards with severe pain, fatigue etc etc.

What your opinion is of your illness and whether it is psychological or physical is irrelevant and besides the point so they don't need to include that. You need to get your doctors to specifically address these questions, you don't really need a general report about your illness although obviously having an official diagnosis does help a bit.

Have you looked into getting some help from the Citizens Advice Bureau or a local Welfare Rights Service? WRS are sometimes based at your local county council so I would defintely recommended making some enquiries with them. WR will come out to you if you are housebound, they did that with me and will fill in any forms for you if you are unable to do so. I found them particularly helpful and they the welfare rights officer I saw really understood the problems with the lack of understanding the system has for people with ME and how the system works against us.

Good luck.

 

[brenda]

Knackered, the point is that they are putting cfs under the pscho category.

 

[Adam]

Have you looked into getting some help from the Citizens Advice Bureau or a local Welfare Rights Service? WRS are sometimes based at your local county council so I would defintely recommended making some enquiries with them. WR will come out to you if you are housebound, they did that with me and will fill in any forms for you if you are unable to do so. I found them particularly helpful and they the welfare rights officer I saw really understood the problems with the lack of understanding the system has for people with ME and how the system works against us.

Good luck.

Hi Knackered

This is good advice. I was turned down at first. I filled in the form without any help. Some time later I got help from Welfare Rights and I am currently on higher rate mobility. I am capable of looking after myself now and would not expect to recieve any care component (which I did for a time when I was at my worst).

The mobilty element is based on the '50 metre test'.

This can be difficult to prove to their satisfaction. Much depends on your gait I imagine. Without a stick I walk like a ten pint drunk. With a stick, like a stroke victim.

Get help Knackered with the form. Get advice about how best to conduct yourself with the DLA doctor.

best of luck mate

Adam

 

[Esther12]

I'd suggest trying to get some help from legal advice.

Good luck.

 

[Countrygirl]

I'd like it if someone who has experience with this sort of thing can go through it all with me and work on an appeal. Or point me towards someone who can.

Hello Knackered,

I'm sorry to hear that you are in this wretched position. I have been there a few times and it is very stressful. When I went to appeal, the first question was 'What NEW medical evidence do you have. They were totally uninterested in any challenge to the visiting EMP's report. It had to be new medical evidence only.

When I have helped people with appeals, I send a very ME-knowledgable doctor to them, who writes up an accurate and comprehensive report, which is then used as the 'new' evidence.

For my own appeal, I got a lot of legal information concerning past commissioners' decisions and quoted them to the tribunal. This was very useful. I also topped my huge amount of papers with a very visible copy of the Human Rights' Act, which seemed to make them a little wary.

A very useful place to start is the benefitsandworks web-site. It costs 16 to join, but they give invaluable information and guidance.

Very best wishes,

C.G.

 

[Quilp]

All good advice. Like Esther says legal advice would be very helpful. Your local Law Centre will offer free and practical advice, and some of them will have expert knowledge of these situations. They can even represent you at any would-be tribunals. The citizens advice workers are also excellent, but they tend to be very over worked. You are ahead of the game in that you seem to have a supportive GP. I think you'll find that this carries a great deal of weight.
I would also say that there is a high percentage of appeals that are successful, quite clearly highlighting how floored the policy is in the first place.
Good luck Knackered, let us know how you get on.

 

[Knackered]

Mild/moderate.

I don't like that my doctor wrote that, I don't think he remembers me as a patient. He wrote a letter previously saying I have severe CFS.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[Esther12]

I don't like that my doctor wrote that, I don't think he remembers me as a patient. He wrote a letter previously saying I have severe CFS.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

It's all such a botch.

 

[creekfeet]

Knackered I'm so sorry you have to deal with this idiotic denial, but fight the good fight there and I'll fight it here in the US and eventually it will be widely accepted that what we have is a physical disease.

I was furious from the start of my disability application because my social worker (for "the dole") advised me that I needed to go for psychiatric causes because physical were too hard to prove. I told her, "but I'm not depressed" and she sent me to a psychiatrist who said I had ptsd, but he also said I might be "exaggerating symptoms in an effort to get help," and that really burned me up. Nobody had attempted a quantitative measurement of my symptoms so how the hell is he supposed to know if I'm really in pain and really exhausted?!! GRRRR. If anything I usually play down my symptoms in an effort to get stuff accomplished day to day.

So as you can see, it's just as bad over here. But the thing is, most people get denied on the first or even second application, here. Maybe they're just running you through the mill in a process that weeds out all but the most severely ill. Those who can work, give up on trying to get disability, might be their theory.

Persevere.

 

[hensue]

Denied once went through reconsideration appeal and won today! Sorry knackered I went through a company Allsup. Also went to mental exam.

 

[Luke]

When I had to appeal Action for ME (spits) were doing an info/advice sheet about doing so with some usefull info in, you have to contact them to get hold of it as they don't advertise it on their site, I think it costs a quid or two for non memebers.

I think ME Association do one too, memory failing me a bit their though.

Benefits and Work do some good geneeral guides and have a message board with some veritable benefits nijas on, but you do have to pay a bit to join.

My experiences would say to be a bit cautious with the welfare services/ advice people, I had a really disturbing experience and if I ever have to go that route again I'd shop about if possible to find someone who I felt I could trust, I actually ended up being completely undermined by my 'adviser' who was under the very misguided impression she knew all about ME/CFS. Bit of a nightmare really.

All came right in the end though as I got it on a revision and didn't have to go to appeal.

Good luck and hang in there!

 

[valia]

Moderator Note: Post requested to be removed by BBC. Poster not at fault but it's been removed.

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

Edit

Issue resolved.

I have been advised by BBC journalist, Liam McDougall, this morning, that all notices emanating from Benefits and Work (Steve Donnison) in relation to ESA with Liam McDougall's contact details and any comments which repeat this information must be taken offline, as a matter of urgency, since this breaches BBC guidelines.

If readers are aware of other sites and forums which are still displaying this material, I should be pleased if you would contact me PM or directly through the Contact box of ME agenda site so that I can speak to the site owners, on Liam's behalf.

 

[valia]

Edit

Issue resolved.

I have been advised by BBC journalist, Liam McDougall, this morning, that all notices emanating from Benefits and Work (Steve Donnison) in relation to ESA with Liam McDougall's contact details and any comments which repeat this information must be taken offline, as a matter of urgency, since this breaches BBC guidelines.

If readers are aware of other sites and forums which are still displaying this material, I should be pleased if you would contact me PM or directly through the Contact box of ME agenda site so that I can speak to the site owners, on Liam's behalf.

Sorry about that, I had seen it posted elsewhere before I posted it here, but don't remember where now

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

Hi Valia,

Not your fault, at all, nor the fault of Steve Donnison of Benefits and Work.

I had posted it on my own site in good faith (and it's now been picked up from my site and is being posted elsewhere). It had also been posted on Action for ME's Facebook site and on the ME Association's site and they've now removed it.

A misunderstanding on the part of the journalist of the BBC's protocols.

But he's very concerned that all references on the internet are removed as soon as possible, so if you do spot it elsewhere I'd be glad of a heads up, and if I cannot resolve it myself I can put Liam in touch with the site or forum owner.

Suzy