Well, some eight months after it all began, my Employment and Support Allowance reassessment is finally over. I confess it has not been one of the happiest experiences of my life, and neither has it been the fairest. I had heard and read that this might be the case, but never did I think that the process would be so skewed in favour of the DWP.
It started with a letter and form through the post last October (2016), which I completed and returned the following week. I had previously been placed in the Support Group and, considering my condition had got worse, I expected to be returned there. By January, I had heard nothing about what would happen next, and so called the DWP to find out what I should expect. I was told that I was being called in for a face to face assessment. This was booked for February 3rd but, unfortunately, I was too ill to go on that date and had to reschedule. As with the first appointment, I reiterated that I needed a ground floor room due to my disability. When I arrived for the appointment it turned out that a ground floor room had not been booked and I was sent home. A new appointment was set up, which was promptly cancelled with a letter through the post that told me that an appointment was no longer needed, and also that another would be set up in due course (talk about mixed messages!). This finally happened, and eventually I had my assessment.
I was rather taken aback at the assessment in that this “health care professional,” when looking at my form and online records, declared that he had “never met a Doctor before.” My sincere hope is that he meant he had never assessed anyone with a doctorate before, but considering what later occurred, I’m simply not sure. The assessment itself was relatively pain free, despite the fact that it lasted well over an hour and a half – most of which was spent giving the same answers to the same inane questions that I had already responded to on the form back in October. Presumably the reason for asking the same questions again is to try to trip you up.
And the questions asked are downright bizarre. In an effort to find out if you are fit for work, you are asked if you can pick up a pint of milk, if you can move an empty cardboard box from one surface to another, and if you can raise your hands above your head. I have no knowledge whatsoever what kind of job such activities are meant to make you qualified for. What job involves lifting cardboard boxes all day? Or, indeed, a pint of milk? And why do the questions all relate to physical jobs? Are people who are disabled automatically assumed to be good for nothing other than manual labour? Are they not just as likely to be book-keepers, or teachers, or doctors, or lawyers? But no, the whole system is set up in the belief that people who are disabled are not going to be intelligent and, just as bad, that those who do manual jobs are more likely to suffer from physical or mental health problems.
Finally, the assessment was over and I was sent on my merry way. And then, once again, I heard nothing. Back to limbo land, not knowing whether benefits would remain the same, change, or be removed altogether. In the end, I called the DWP to see what was happening. I was told that a decision had been made and that I was put in the support group once again and that I would get a letter in the next week or so.
That, I thought was that, but it was not. The letter failed to materialise and so I called back, only to find out that the information I had been given on the telephone was incorrect and that no decision had been made yet. To recap, I had been told over the phone the WRONG decision. There was no decision to tell me about and yet the man I had spoken to was clearly not well enough trained in order to read whatever information was on the screen in front of him. I complained and asked the DWP to listen back to the call. Mysteriously, they could find no record of my call, which much have been down to a very convenient “blip” in the system.
After another lengthy wait, I heard that a decision had been made…that I had been moved from the support group to the work-related activity group. In layman’s terms, that means a reduction of approximately £100 a month in benefits and regular contact with the job centre so that they can help you prepare for the work that you have just been deemed unfit to do. I asked to have a copy of the medical report based on my assessment, and what I received in the post astonished me.
Firstly, despite having arthritis in my ankles, knees, hips, elbows, wrists and fingers, plus having bipolar disorder, I only received the bare minimum points to get ESA. To put that into perspective, here is a partial list of comments the assessor made regarding my condition.
Uses aids to get dress.
Uses a bath lift to get in and out of the bath
Has a raised a toilet.
Struggles to grip walking stick due to arthritis in hand.
Has to use phone on speakerphone as cannot hold to ear for long periods due to elbow pain
Poor grip of pen
Struggles to use shower gel bottled due to reduced grip
Cannot chop or peel food
Orders groceries online due to mobility issues and reduced strength
Cannot raise either arm above head to reach for something
Unable to manage steps.
Lower limb movement are slow, stiff and painful
Had difficult rising from sitting in an upright chair
Stood up very slowly
Walked 15 metres very slowly
Stooped bent knee gait and a stick
Unable to use the step to mount the couch
Used his elbows to manoeuvre on the couch
Left and right hip bending considerably reduced
Left and right knee bending is slightly reduced
Unable to straighten knees
Hip movement limited by pain
Power in legs significantly reduced
Ankle movements reduced
Arm muscle power is significantly reduced
Thumb and finger grip is weak
Fist grip reduced
All upper limb movement appeared slow, stiff and painful
Significant disability is likely in mobilising and reaching activities.
All of THAT results in the MINIMUM points for getting the benefit. And nothing was written about debilitating effects of my bipolar – presumably because the assessor couldn’t see it and it didn’t manifest itself at the assessment.
Even more shocking were the lies contained in the report. As an example, the report read that “Feels he is able to manage walking about 50 metres before needing to stop due to pain. He feels he will able (sic) to repeat this a few times.” This was not what was said at all. I said more than once that I could not repeatedly walk fifty metres in the course of a single day. The same was stated clearly on the form I had filled in. It’s one thing if the assessor had stated “I feel he could manage this a few times a day,” but to put my words into my mouth and make out that I said it is another thing altogether.
Elsewhere, he wrote “He can sit for over an hour, but tends to be more stiff.” This is in relation to the question of how long we can sit at a work station. Again, I did not say that I could sit for over an hour, but was more stiff. I said that I had been advised from the GP and the hospital to sit whenever possible with my legs raised, with my feet higher than my hips. I scored zero points for the sitting/standing at a workstation question, and yet I deny anyone to tell me how one can sit at a workstation with their legs elevated that high in the air…and work! Yes, I sat at the assessment for over an hour…but there was no option. No foot stool was offered, for example, when I referred to the above. But the question clearly states “for the majority of the time” and does not refer to one off appointments.
In other parts of the report there were other minor things that were, again, completely the opposite of what I had said. However, the key question was the one regarding whether I could walk fifty metres repeatedly during the course of a single day, as this is the question that decides which group you are put in. Therefore the lies written about that were effectively causing a £100 a month reduction in my benefits.
I spoke to a number of people at the DWP about what to do next. All of them encouraged me to go through the mandatory reconsideration process. One of them asked me “what day of the week were you seen?” I said it was last thing on a Friday. “That’s why this has happened,” I was told. “The assessor had already reached his quota for the support group by that time.” And, in case you think that was an exaggeration, here’s some footage of assessor training:
And so I went through the reconsideration process (that’s the first stage of appeal to me and you). I needed to obtain a letter from my GP to back up what I was saying and needed a taxi to go and pick it up as I can’t walk to the nearest bus stop. In total, the reconsideration process cost me nearly £50. It should also be mentioned that the assessment itself had resulted in taxi fares of around £15. The assessment centre will pay bus fares – despite the fact it is nowhere near a bus stop and all the people going there are disabled. They will pay taxi fares too, but only if you get a letter from your GP to say you need to get a taxi – a letter that they will not pay for and costs more than the taxi fare itself!
I was lucky. I was put back into the support group thanks to my appeal. But it had taken £65 and eight months of uncertainty to get there. Did the letter I receive address my points about the assessor lying about what I had said? No. Was there an apology for that happening? No. Was there an offer to reimburse the expenses I had occurred? No. Was I told that my allegations would be investigated? No.
Welcome to Britain in 2017.
Mental Health, the Media, and Me 