The DWP have confirmed that speech therapists can carry out personal independence payment (PIP) assessments and work capability assessments (WCA) for claimants with any condition, other than certain neurological ones.
Earlier this year we published details of a long-hidden report on recruitment and retention of PIP/WCA assessors. Amongst the information in that report was a suggestion that paramedics could only carry out PIP assessments, not WCAs.
So, we made a Freedom of Information request to the DWP asking if this was still the case and “… if any restrictions are placed on any other type of health assessor by the DWP, as to the type of assessment they can carry out, i.e. PIP or WCA.
“In addition, please supply us with details of any restrictions imposed by the DWP as to the type of condition that any specific category of health professional may work with.”
The DWP have now confirmed that:
- Paramedics and pharmacists are only allowed to carry out PIP assessments, not WCAs.
- For WCAs “there are a number of defined medical conditions, typically neurological in nature, that may only be assessed by Doctors or Physiotherapists.”
Aside from this, any health professional may assess any condition after they have completed their training.
There are currently fewer than 10 speech therapists carrying out assessments, all employed by Capita. But the DWP's desperate shortage of assessors means there may be many more in the future. They would be well placed to assess issues relating to the upper gastrointestinal tract, such as chewing and swallowing.
But a decision maker could also prefer their opinion of the functional abilities of a claimant with, for example, severe Crohn’s disease over that of an NHS gastroenterologist or bipolar disorder over that of an NHS psychiatrist.
Moreover, at present paramedics and pharmacists are prevented from assessing claimants for eligibility for the limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA), or health element, of universal credit (UC).
But the DWP intends to abolish the WCA, making receipt of the daily living component of PIP the qualifying condition for an award of the health element. From that point on, those same 270 paramedics and 40 pharmacists who are not considered competent to make assessments for the UC health element, will regularly be doing so.
