Hi guys
Yes, it was time for my 3rd PIP assessment.
I was up at 3.30am as I have an awful sleep pattern due to fibromyalgia. I take tramadol (which is useless as a painkiller unfortunately). I also have stress/anxiety with IBS which was going berserk in knowing what I would have to do this day.
The way I try to prepare for these is to have (a) my medical diagnosis from specialists of all my conditions, (b) how my conditions affect me and (c) applicable Upper Tribunal Case Law regarding how these satisfy a particular descriptor. I had prepared for 18 months for this to the best of my ability getting loads of medical evidence and a thorough "how my condition affects me" submission. The assessment, however, was horrific.
I was already extremely fatigued due to lack of sleep and in extreme pain due to my fibromyalgia as well as going to the loo numerous times due to the stress and anxiety triggering bouts of IBS. The assessor was barking questions with a 'why' to absolutely everything I said. "Why do you wear incontinence pads"; does she need me to draw a diagram??!! I was getting more and more embarrassed, stressed and I just wanted out of there - by the end I was saying pretty much anything and everything to get out the door before I lost the plot.....
I have a few questions:
How much relevance is put on evidence from medical professionals? How old does evidence have to be before it's no longer relevant? For example, I have letters from an Occupational Therapist (showing how my fibromyalgia is affecting me and the need to move to more suitable accommodation 2018), a physiotherapist (showing how my fibromyalgia affects me and a care plan I need to put into action but struggling to do so due to the stress and anxiety of the PIP process 2018), a rheumatologist (fibromyalgia diagnosis and how it affects me 2014), colorectal surgeon (faecal incontinence also showing panic attacks as I needed a camera test but needed to have a general anaesthetic to get it done 2018), GP (list of diagnosis 2017) and a CBT therapist (whose evidence the tribunal for my current PIP award was of found importance - 2014/2015). I also included a receipt for a bath step and a letter from my council I have a condition which means I need to move (although a 2 year wait is likely).
I also gave a 9 page thorough description of each descriptor I satisfied (1b or 1e) - current award 1b, 3b, 4b - current award 4b, 5b, 9d - current award 9d, Mobility 1d and 2f. Within this submission I included excerpts from the Assessment Guide Part 2 such as being reliant on pre-prepared vegetables or using my alarm on my mobile for medication purposes. I have also used Upper Tribunal Cases such as CPIP/3104/2017 for needing incontinence pads overnight and CPIP/1127/2017 as well as CPIP/2983/2016 for Descriptor 9.
I did not get a mobility component last time but the laws have now changed and I know that pain, fatigue, breathlessness, mental health etc are now taken into account (or at least meant to be). I stated CPIP/1347/2015 and CPIP/1328/2016 relevant to Mobility 1d. I tried to stress I would have panic attacks (shown in numerous evidences that I have these) in trying to follow a route I didn't know and I always have a taxi to travel anywhere I don't know. I was asked if I can travel on public transport which I do TO PLACES I KNOW like to my family. I was asked if I could read a map from A to B - I said I wouldn't do this and I would need a taxi no matter what especially with panic attacks and symptoms of fibromyalgia.
For 2f I stated 'CPIP/665/2016, CPIP/2377/2015 and PIP Assessment Guide (2016), 3.2.5 'Impact' - including Pain, discomfort, breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety' all relevant. I can walk with a walking stick but any distance walked causes significant pain and I push through this pain to be independent and not stuck in 4 walls all of the time!
The assessor was quite rude, abrupt and told me off when using the word 'descriptors'. I felt as though I was in a Gestapo interrogation. She noted 'you got a lot of points last time' which makes me think she's going to take them all away this time and she said 'I think it's funny that you have awarded yourself points' in regards to the submission showing each descriptor I felt I should be awarded etc. She wanted to do all the physical assessments which I declined to do any of them as I was in too much pain but then wanted me to fill in a form but made me try to reach across a desk to get it. I saw through that straight away.....
What does anyone think of this? I feel my intelligence is going against me massively. I have business qualifications and I have (classroom) legal experience but both of these do not make my conditions better. I say Sir Stephen Hawking was one of the most intelligent men on Earth but this did not mean he could leap out of his wheelchair and recover from his conditions!!!
I know I have to wait for her report (or more than likely bunch of lies as so many PIP farce to farce appointments are). If the report has as much fact as Lord of the Rings, how much weight would that report have against my plethora of evidence I have from numerous medical sources listed above?
Any thought?
Slash 1975
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