Query on the ESA descriptor for voiding of bladder or bowels

[nrollin]

Hello everyone, sorry to pick such a topic for my first post
I'm trying to help a gentleman who has been told he finally has to move from IB to ESA, and so will have to fill out the assessment and perhaps attend a medical.
He has significant walking difficulties and for many years has been entitled to the mobility element of DLA and has had a motability vehicle for about 12-15 years, so I am hoping he will be entitled to go into the Support Group for ESA. But he is worried incase they try to tell him that he can walk further than 50m, and therefore would only be entitled to go into the work related activity group. He really can't walk 50m without extensive discomfort, but he has heard stories about the medicals which are keeping him up at night worrying.

I was wondering about the descriptor relating to bladder or bowel issues. It seems like a long shot question, but is it always applied to bowel and bladder issues only? This man had extensive surgery around the groin to remove cancer, which meant that all the lymph glands in his groin and legs were disrupted. This meant that the muscles in his legs were repositioned after the surgery (causing the walking problems), and the lymph fluid no longer drains from his groin area and legs as it should.

(Apologies, some slightly graphic and not too pleasant sounding descriptions coming up now)
The way this affects his day to day life is that he can no longer walk or stand for any period without the lymph fluid that collects in his groin leaking. This causes severe pain because the skin of the area is constantly wet, raw and enflamed. The leaking is severe enough that he must constantly wear a type of absorbant pad to try to stop it showing through his clothing, and even when it is regularly changed he often (much more than once per month) experiences leakage to the point where he must shower and change clothes.

If he is made to stand for any length of time, this not only causes severe discomfort in his legs, but it exacerbates the leaking. If he sits, he must change position every few minutes due to the potential for leaking and also the discomfort of his skin in the affected area.

Had the issue been caused by urine leaking, I would feel he would fit the descriptor easily, but I suspect that the DWP would apply the wording strictly and say that as it is not bladder or bowel leakage he would not fit the descriptor.

I am wondering if anyone has heard of any similar cases where a person has tried to apply this descriptor to other bodily fluids?

Thanks in advance!

[davewhit]

Hello everyone, sorry to pick such a topic for my first post
I'm trying to help a gentleman who has been told he finally has to move from IB to ESA, and so will have to fill out the assessment and perhaps attend a medical.
He has significant walking difficulties and for many years has been entitled to the mobility element of DLA and has had a motability vehicle for about 12-15 years, so I am hoping he will be entitled to go into the Support Group for ESA. But he is worried incase they try to tell him that he can walk further than 50m, and therefore would only be entitled to go into the work related activity group. He really can't walk 50m without extensive discomfort, but he has heard stories about the medicals which are keeping him up at night worrying.

I was wondering about the descriptor relating to bladder or bowel issues. It seems like a long shot question, but is it always applied to bowel and bladder issues only? This man had extensive surgery around the groin to remove cancer, which meant that all the lymph glands in his groin and legs were disrupted. This meant that the muscles in his legs were repositioned after the surgery (causing the walking problems), and the lymph fluid no longer drains from his groin area and legs as it should.

(Apologies, some slightly graphic and not too pleasant sounding descriptions coming up now)
The way this affects his day to day life is that he can no longer walk or stand for any period without the lymph fluid that collects in his groin leaking. This causes severe pain because the skin of the area is constantly wet, raw and enflamed. The leaking is severe enough that he must constantly wear a type of absorbant pad to try to stop it showing through his clothing, and even when it is regularly changed he often (much more than once per month) experiences leakage to the point where he must shower and change clothes.

If he is made to stand for any length of time, this not only causes severe discomfort in his legs, but it exacerbates the leaking. If he sits, he must change position every few minutes due to the potential for leaking and also the discomfort of his skin in the affected area.

Had the issue been caused by urine leaking, I would feel he would fit the descriptor easily, but I suspect that the DWP would apply the wording strictly and say that as it is not bladder or bowel leakage he would not fit the descriptor.

I am wondering if anyone has heard of any similar cases where a person has tried to apply this descriptor to other bodily fluids?

Thanks in advance!

even urine has to be more than "leakage" to get in support group best chance IMO would be special reasons

[nrollin]

Thanks davewhit. I've had a look at the special reasons, and the only one I can really see that would fit his circumstances at all would be "recovering from the treatment of IV chemotherapy". However, as that particular treatment ended many years ago and it's the aftermath of the treatment and surgery that is causing his current problems, I guess that would be quite a long shot.
Of course he still has the fact that he can't walk more than a few metres without significantly exacerbating his physical discomfort and having to stop or rest, but I just would have liked to have other things to help bolster his confidence in the process. Thanks for taking the time to read and reply