Written evidence submitted by Sarah Ross
I have been attempting to get a reassessment of my
ESA as my conditions have now worsened but after having rung them
consistently for weeks and not received the promised paperwork
I gave up. That was months ago. They now claim I have the paper
work and that I count as on the appeals process. This meant that
when I needed to apply for a crisis loan I was not eligible for
one as they didn't recognise my benefit as being active despite
the fact it was. I had to make a very confusing round of phone
calls to different parts of the DWP trying to figure out what
was going on and what to do about it. This took all in all about
two hours to sort out.
Additionally when I was applying for ESA and Disability
Living Allowance (DLA) both parts of the DWP, during the initial
application process they handled paperwork incredibly badly. ESA
failed to inform me that my doctors note was not the right kind
and kept telling me to get a doctors letter or note rather than
the required medical certificate. DLA claimed that they had not
received letters from consultants and doctors of mine despite
the fact that I saw evidence to the contrary with both my consultants
and GP. Both of these things caused huge delays to my applications
and also meant that I was denied some of my back pay because it
was seen as these issues where my fault not theirs.
I have attended my own Atos meeting and that of friends
to support them. In both my own and the appointments I attended
with friends the Atos doctor did not look at us, he stared persistently
at his computer screen. The only time during my interview with
him that he looked at me was when he came to the section about
mobility and was about to ask to examine my mobility and then
he finally noticed my wheelchair. With one friend who also has
mobility issues he caused her such physical pain that she was
in tears and yet she had to go to appeal as he scored her zero
on all of her mobility factors. Another friend of mine who has
many mental health problems that make it impossible for her to
work was told that she is liar by the Atos doctor when she told
him about her psychological problems and when I attempted to defend
her we were told that anyone who claimed purely because of psychological
problems was a liar and trying to cheat the system as psychological
problems cannot be proven or measured. This particular friend
was however lucky that her psychiatric nurse dragged her back
down there the same day to confront the same Atos doctor and after
20 minutes of stern talking to about the errors of his ways as
well as the reality of my friends condition and her treatment
plan the Atos doctor conceded that indeed it was a genuine case.
I now fall into the category of those who need support
in returning to work. Against all advice I am looking for a job
because I feel very pressurised into doing so despite the fact
that you are told in "work focused interviews" that
you do not have to look for work if you are not ready the under
lying message is still the same, that you are a waste of resources
because a doctor who cannot get a job in a normal practice or
hospital has said you are fit to work. I personally cannot move
my arms very high due to sub luxation in my shoulder, I am in
a wheelchair as I have two knees that are displaced permanently
and the rest of my joints are deteriorating due to severe and
degenerative hyper-mobility, This is not recognised by ESA as
a serious condition due to the severity of my condition being
rare with hyper-mobility—usually they just laugh and tell
me how lucky I am to be double jointed and bendy—and this
is coupled with a very poor immune system and M.E. which makes
it impossible for me to work as other people could if at all.
I feel pressurised into finding a job which I know I could never
possibly hold down. At first I felt pressurised into finding any
job at all and am now being pressurised into finding jobs that
are full time which I certainly cannot do.
April 2011
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