Petition: End assessments and consider disability benefit claims on medical advice alone

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
The Government should remove the requirement for people claiming disability benefits, such as the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), to have to go through an assessment process. Claims should be based solely on evidence from medical professionals, such as a letter from a GP or consultant.

We are concerned about how the disabled, with conditions such as inflammatory Arthritis. Heart disease, lung disease, respiratory diseases, poor mental health etc, are treated by the benefits system. Claimants with medical evidence of their condition should not to be subject to degrading assessments.

These delays in assessing claims risk deterring genuine claims. It has to stop.
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BrightCandle said:
Oh hell no that is a terrible idea given the state of medicine! There are far too many debilitating diseases that medicine is busy denying exist for that to remotely work.
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I agree. This would only be a good solution if we could count on medical staff to give an accurate picture of illness/disability. I suspect the person who started this petition does not live with a 'contested' illness.
 
This'd be the same 'medical staff' that post on reddit and other places openly giving their real opinions as to patients and medical conditions, which are often at best dismissive and at variance with our reality?

These same people, who apparently despise us, should decide if we live or die?

As opposed to other people who despise us, the DWP and their agents?

It'd be nice, for decisions that affect me, to not be made by those who despise me, but that's possibly far too radical an idea to float.
 
Wonko said:
It'd be nice, for decisions that affect me, to not be made by those who despise me, but that's possibly far too radical an idea to float
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The old DLA system worked like that, at least where I lived. Both my assessments were done by a lovely retired GP who was selected because knew about ME. He was sharp and funny, too, so rather than being an extremely stressful hour, it had its entertaining moments. Second time around, when I knew it was going to be him again, I didn't even feel nervous about it; I knew he'd ask the right questions, and he did. By the time my first award ran out I'd got worse rather better, so he recommended I was given a lifetime award. And I was.

Nice fella as he was, I don't think he'd have been at all easy to play by someone trying to get support they weren't entitled to. He gave the impression he was listening carefully to make sure the picture I was giving added up, and when he felt it did, he was supportive. Which is how it always would be, in a world that made any sense.
 
DWP confirms PIP process may be made easier for severely disabled and assessments scrapped
An online petition calling for people with certain medical conditions to be exempt from attending a health assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has received an official response from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after it received 26,800 signatures of support. Although the DWP has said video and face-to-face assessments are necessary to assess most PIP claims, it is testing a new procedure for people with "severe disabilities" which will hopefully make the application process easier.
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DWP confirms PIP process may be made easier for severely disabled and assessments scrapped (msn.com)
 
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That would be similar to what the US does for people claiming Social Security Disability Insurance. You don't see a doctor from Social Security unless your medical records are spotty.
 
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