Can I film my medical?

I tried to add this to my last post about the shorter forms but couldn't find it sorry.

I filled out the new form and said only my meds had changed, was then forced to talk to a woman on the phone even though my husband explained I don't use the phone.

Then I received a letter saying they were going to contact my GP for more information.

Then today they phoned and spoke to my husband (I was in bed) and said what is her new doctors name so he told her, then she said well she hasn't been there long enough he won't know anything about her we will have to send a doctor out, so hubby asked when and she said in the new year tell her that is what we are doing and hung up!

Due to the brainfog that comes with Fibromyalgia I get confused and don't always remember things. I would like to have a copy of what I was asked and how I answered in case of appeals etc, If I tell the doctor I am filming before I start can I film the medical?

Thanks in advance

Hi,

Sorry, no you will not be allowed by the doctor to film your medical. Indeed you cannot even record it in audio.

Atos Healthcare has advised all it's medical examiners to refuse requests for any kind of recording. If the claimant persists, the examination won't be carried out.

It is NOT illegal to secretly tape your medical provided the recording is for your own use in order to help you remember what took place.

However, see this link on the site Claimant’s benefit stopped for recording medical

Pat

Hi F

I think there is another question you need to be asking yourself.

Should you be filming the medical?

There's advantages and disadvantages to everything and so if you are allowed to film then you need to consider them.

Doctors are not normally filmed at medicals and the doctor could rightly or wrongly take offence at this. That you don't trust him or her.

It starts the medical off on a bad footing, one of suspicion and mistrust and the doctor won't like you for it, and it could cause the doctor to be less sympathetic towards you.

I live on my own, am very forgettful and have no-one with me when I have my medicals. I would never ask to film a medical or even tape it because I know for the above reasons it would not be as helpful to me as I would like to think it could be.

I have a bad feeling about your idea of filming a medical. I have to admit I am also suspicious of your motives.

I could understand you thinking of filming a medical when you've had repeated unfair medical reports, but you haven't.

I wonder, are you wanting to film an ward winning demonstration of yours disabiltys which can be shown at a Tribunal so they are convinced of your needs.

I'm sorry to sound so cynical, but you must accept that the DWP are entitled to require you to submit againand again to thorough medicals. You cannot think that you can do a short film and think you can use that for indefinate evidence and proof of your care and mobility needs.

If I was a doctor coming from the DWP and you said you were going to film the medical, Iwould immmediatley distrust you and be suspicious of you and your motives. I would immediately suspect that you might not be a genuine claiment but someone who is trying to find a way of making sure (by putting on a convincing) act) that they get DLA.

You might find my comments offensive, but if I a long-standing claiment of DLA who suffers from CFS?ME is a if not a little suspicious of your motives how much more other people

I think you'll find that even if they agreed to any filmed interview, you would have to provide a professional sound and vision, engineer and the cost of that would be prohibitive to most people living on benefits.

Even though the DWP have recorded interviews under caution, and they don't have to have the same conditions, you do.

If and when you read that link above, you will see how complicated the tribunals were, and that the appellant was fortunate to win the case. I imagine they would have tied up any loopholes by now.

Remember that these people are experts at anticipating any anomolies, and have the ultimate power of stopping all your income, and rely on the fact it might take you years to recover any through the appeals system.

I advise extreme caution.

Best wishes,


Angelica.

Hi Fibromite,

This is taken from Atos's Handbook for Medical Practitioners. Regretfully, I cannot find a link for it, so this is from my hard copy which was provided when I sat on tribunals.

11.9 Audio or video taping of examinations

The DWP never requires that a medical assessment for the purpose of advising on entitlement to state sickness or disability benefits be recorded on audio or videotape. Any requests by claimants to tape an examination should not be directly refused, but our policy in these circumstances should be fully explained to them.

Claimants may request that their interview and assessment by a Medical Services doctor in respect of a benefit claim be recorded either on audio or videotape.

Such a request can only be agreed with the prior consent of the examining doctor, and then only if stringent safeguards are in place to ensure that the recording is complete, accurate, and that the facility is available for simultaneous copies to be made available to all parties present. The recording must be made by a professional operator, on equipment of a high standard, properly calibrated by a qualified engineer immediately prior to the recording being made. The equipment must have facility for reproduction so that a copy of the tape can be retained by all parties

The responsibility for meeting the cost of the above requirement rests with the claimant. Any request by a claimant for an assessment to be audio or videotaped must be declined unless the above safeguards are in place. The claimant must instead be offered the opportunity of a rescheduled assessment in the presence of a companion or other witness. If the claimant refuses to avail him/her self of this opportunity and refuses to proceed with the assessment, the doctor should return the file to the DWP with a note explaining the situation.

11.9.1 Unauthorised Taping

It is for Medical Services, in conjunction with their legal advisers, to determine the action to be taken in the event of a claimant making an audio or video recording without the prior knowledge and consent of the examining doctor, or without ensuring that the safeguards defined above are in place.

Hope this is of help to you.

Jim

Hi Fibromite,

I don't have the tiniest suspicions of your motives in wishing to record your medical.

I do, however, have enormous suspicions of the DWP's motives in making it virtually impossible for claimants to openly record their medicals: see this link:

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/members-o...-record-your-medical

After all, to use the oft quoted argument, if the DWP are not doing anything wrong, what do they have to worry about?

Indeed, I think that it would be a reasonable adjustment under the Disability Discrimination Act to allow claimants in your position to make a recording of their medical. Refusing to allow a recording to be made solely for the claimant's own use may well be an unlawful breach of the DDA and I look forward to the day when a claimant tests this in court.

I don't know what the law is in relation to secretly recording images, but it seems clear that it is entirely lawful to secretly record sound provided it is for your personal use only. There are risks involved in secretly recording your medical as the links in this and the preceding posts from Pat and Jim show and you need to be aware that it could result in your benefits being stopped.

But the desire to have an accurate record of a medical for your own use is an absolutely reasonable one.

Good luck,

Steve