- Messages
- 10
- Location
- Brighton UK
Hi, I wonder if anyone in the UK has paid for a medical report on their condition. And any worthwhile tests? Would this be a way to be forearmed with regard to ESA etc. Thanks for any advice
Paying for medical reports in the UK
- Thread starter kafkaboots
- Start date
Some DWP decision makers are rejecting private medical reports, but others accept them. There was a London doctor who people recommend but I'm afraid I don't remember the name. Perhaps someone else will. Having said that, I did not have a medical report, because my surgery denied that the doctor I named as the only one in the group that had ever seen me, even existed, but luckily I did have my notes, showing her name at the practice and my diagnoses.
There's a lot of caselaw on ME/CFS, saying it is a physical condition, and more people than you might think are aware of the shoddy way we are treated by the NHS.
Here's some stuff to chew on, if you want to be prepared:
http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/Aspx/default.aspx Search engine for caselaw
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/em...e/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/forum?func=view&catid=10&id=22671
Joining Benefits and Work, and using their guides, is the best way to prepare for an ESA assessment. If you sign up for the free emails, the membership fee gets progressively discounted, but at £20 full price it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a doctors report.
There's a lot of caselaw on ME/CFS, saying it is a physical condition, and more people than you might think are aware of the shoddy way we are treated by the NHS.
Here's some stuff to chew on, if you want to be prepared:
http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/Aspx/default.aspx Search engine for caselaw
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/em...e/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/forum?func=view&catid=10&id=22671
Joining Benefits and Work, and using their guides, is the best way to prepare for an ESA assessment. If you sign up for the free emails, the membership fee gets progressively discounted, but at £20 full price it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a doctors report.
- Messages
- 10
- Location
- Brighton UK
Hi Justy - did you pay to see the specialist or just pay for the letters? I did see the Sussex ME service years ago but they don't encourage rereferrals. I wondered if there were private specialist worth seeing just to have some decent documentation on my side. Feels odd to have been ill for 20 years and not much on paper to prove it!
- Messages
- 10
- Location
- Brighton UK
Thanks Jace; that is all very helpful. I found out last week that it was one of my GPs who went to great lengths to have Sophia Mirza sectioned several years before she died of complications arising from ME. Very sobering. Because I suffer from depression as well as ME I feel acutely aware that the ME is half-ignored.
I've not had any of my medical evidence and private tests taken seriously for benefits. Even a report that I had from an NHS consultant (which had been prepared for another reason) was disregarded. All of this was pre-ESA and was for DLA.
The only example that I know of a useful report is the one from Dr Myhill where she explains an individual's results in this test
http://drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Mitochondrial_Function_Profile
Dr Weir (has a Harley St office) has a lot of experience with preparing reports for benefits and legal cases but I don't know how sucessful they have been for the current benefit problems.
The only example that I know of a useful report is the one from Dr Myhill where she explains an individual's results in this test
http://drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Mitochondrial_Function_Profile
Dr Weir (has a Harley St office) has a lot of experience with preparing reports for benefits and legal cases but I don't know how sucessful they have been for the current benefit problems.
As I understand it Gps in the UK are not paid to provide specialist reports on their patients - it is not part of their contract with the NHS. That is the job of a consultant. Of course most of us do not have consultant level care.
I have offered to pay my GP to provide a written report for me as I think this is an extra duty for them they have no obligation to do. Make sure your GP has all the relevant information about your condition to work from before they write the letter - many GPs know little about ME and welcome the help we can give!
I have offered to pay my GP to provide a written report for me as I think this is an extra duty for them they have no obligation to do. Make sure your GP has all the relevant information about your condition to work from before they write the letter - many GPs know little about ME and welcome the help we can give!
Kafkaboots - you may find your GP is more sympathetic than you think - my GP had a similar experience and now feels angry that she was misled by the medical establishment about ME for so long and not given support when she wants to do the best for her patients. Your GP may have more subversive feelings than you are aware of!
Hi - i had the report written by Dr Myhill. I had already had the mitochondrial profile tests done through her website at Acumen labs. I included this as well as her letter. I had laready seen her once in person and one phone consult. She charged £40 for the letter. I also joined benefits and work site, downloaded their guides and spent a long time filling in DLA forms. I was awarded both care and mobility on the information i provided without a medical.
ESA is a different story as mine has now stopped due to the time limit - had already been claiming fr more than a year. I didnt think to ask to go in the support group at the time as not many people with M.E where getting in - now they tell me its too late and i have lost £400 per month.
I did ask my GP to provide a letter, he merely wrote that i had depression (i dont) when i rang up the surgery to challenge this i was told that that was what was on my notes and it couldnt be removed. Unfortunately i was misdiagnosed with depression rahter than M.E for years - despite not having any symptoms of depression, other than some understandable anxiety and concern about being so ill all the time.
All the best, Justy.
ESA is a different story as mine has now stopped due to the time limit - had already been claiming fr more than a year. I didnt think to ask to go in the support group at the time as not many people with M.E where getting in - now they tell me its too late and i have lost £400 per month.
I did ask my GP to provide a letter, he merely wrote that i had depression (i dont) when i rang up the surgery to challenge this i was told that that was what was on my notes and it couldnt be removed. Unfortunately i was misdiagnosed with depression rahter than M.E for years - despite not having any symptoms of depression, other than some understandable anxiety and concern about being so ill all the time.
All the best, Justy.