Second medical assesment

Hello to everyone
i'm new to this site and hope someone can help me with a couple of questions i have. Firstly i was assesed by Atos some years back at home as unfit for work due to osteo arthritis in my neck and soulders , since then i have it now in my left thumb left big toe joint and less painful in the right knee. Ok so since the Atos medical i developed panic attacks and to my shock agrophobia ( Atos unaware). I have been sent another appoitment from Atos to go for another medical , as you can guess with age arthritis does not improve with age , i am now 60 years old and find i have the harsh treatment of Atos medical proffesionals to decide if i'm fit for work. After already being declared unfit. If i have to do this again once again i will ask for a home visit assesment. Is this the normal proceedure of the DWP? To add to it i filled out a questionare last year simular to the one i had filled out before and included in that all the proof of my condition, including perscription details , exray details etc with a stamped addressed evelope to return them to me. You can guess they were never returned. Now i have this second medical to atend without my medical proof i sent them last year. Foolishly i sent all the originals as i thought it was better than copies.
Does anyone have any advice on this or has had the same experience, it seems i am still claiming jsa after being declared unfit anyway. this agrophobia that has come alongside the panic attacks relly worries me if they demand i must attend a face to face medical at their choosen building.

Ray wrote: Hello to everyone
i'm new to this site and hope someone can help me with a couple of questions i have. Firstly i was assesed by Atos some years back at home as unfit for work due to osteo arthritis in my neck and soulders , since then i have it now in my left thumb left big toe joint and less painful in the right knee. Ok so since the Atos medical i developed panic attacks and to my shock agrophobia ( Atos unaware). I have been sent another appoitment from Atos to go for another medical , as you can guess with age arthritis does not improve with age , i am now 60 years old and find i have the harsh treatment of Atos medical proffesionals to decide if i'm fit for work. After already being declared unfit. If i have to do this again once again i will ask for a home visit assesment. Is this the normal proceedure of the DWP? To add to it i filled out a questionare last year simular to the one i had filled out before and included in that all the proof of my condition, including perscription details , exray details etc with a stamped addressed evelope to return them to me. You can guess they were never returned. Now i have this second medical to atend without my medical proof i sent them last year. Foolishly i sent all the originals as i thought it was better than copies.
Does anyone have any advice on this or has had the same experience, it seems i am still claiming jsa after being declared unfit anyway. this agrophobia that has come alongside the panic attacks relly worries me if they demand i must attend a face to face medical at their choosen building.

Hi R,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

Before we go any further,

Was your last "medical" for IB, SDA, or IS due to incapacity for work, or was it for ESA ?

In any case, any "medical" now will be for ESA, and the qualifying criteria will have invariably changed. (most recently, after 28/01/13)

The whole ethos of ESA in regular assessments/reassessment, so it would be the norm to be reassessed, see : How often will I be reviewed

If your conditions have changed or deteriorated in any way since your last assessment, you should make ATOS and/or The DWP aware of this.

You do seem to be rather confused by the whole process, and it is not absolutely clear "where things are up to"

Have you filled in and returned an ESA50 in recent times, as a pre-curser to this face to face assessment that it seems that you have to attend ?

What makes you assume that you are "still claiming JSA" ?


As an aid to your understanding of all this, it may help if you read through our :

ESA Claims Guides

&

ESA FAQ’s

If you are to attend a "medical" you could make a written request that it is recorded, a template letter regarding this is on the page from the first link above.

You are allowed to rearrange a face to face "medical" once, but if you fail to attend you may be found fit for work, and your benefit may cease.

See : ESAMedical – What to expect

If you have problems attending a "medical" due to your agoraphobia, or any other issues you should contact ATOS, ASAP :

E-Mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Or you can contact ATOS WCA Customer Services on this page :

www.atoshealthcare.com/claimants

If you can obtain a letter of support from your G.P. stating that you are unable to attend an ATOS Assessment Centre, this may help with a request for a "Home Assessment"

You could then forward this to ATOS.

I would keep all correspondence to ATOS in the form of e-mails so that you have a paper trail.

If you wish to obtain copies of documentation that you have previously provided to ATOS or The DWP, you could issue a SAR :

SAR Form Download

From this page :

DWP Data Protection Policy

Unfortunately, once a SAR is received they have 40 calender days to reply.

For future reference, you should always provide copies of any supporting eveidence, and keep originals.

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

I hope that the above has helped to clarify matters, somewhat.

Feel free to post any other queries that you may have by replying to this topic.

bro58

It is likely that this face2face assessment relates to the form you completed last year (there are huge backlogs at both ATOS and DWP). If your condition has cahnged substantially since then you can send extra information/evidence to both ATOS and DWP. You could also give a copy to your assessor on the day and ask them to read it before they start the process.

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

Thankyou for your replies
yes confused i am , not even sure of the code on the booklet questionair i was sent . I presume i'm getting job seekers allowance because my information always come from the job center. Why i don't know. In the questionair book i was sent i did add that the conditions had indeed increased and gave my evidence but its like writing to a brickwall.

I will request a home visit at any cost as i can be to unreliable to attend as in 2 mornings ago i was hold onto the bedroom wall to get myself to the toilet ( left knee). i will look at all the links that was included in your replies to thankyou.
I have read an artical in the paper that a memo was put out by the dwp that no re-assements would be done by Atos from Feburary 2014 until they found someone else to carry out this work. It said there was no need to tell claiments or MPs , has anyone read this? Its online to.

Regards Ray

ok i have now traced back and find my claim was SDA , which i found out by reading back into the letters i have recived. I have used the link you gave me for the SAR TO FIND OUT WHAT DETAILS THE DWP HAVE about me. Also i am aquiring my full medical history notes that i have had to pay for at my GPs tomorrow which i will send in to my DWP claims office along with the SAR forms and another letter i have typed out seprately. And this time will send it to Glasgow Northgate London Mail handling site A Wolverhampton recorded delivery.

Although i explained in the form boolet last year about the fact i was suffering pannick attacks anxitey and the shock of agrophobia now in the mix with Doctors report it has made no difference apart from they seem to have lost it all.