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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
A disabled man has been asked to prove he is unable to work by the Department of Work and Pensions despite having both legs amputated due to diabetes.
Chris Cann, 57, was left wheelchair bound after losing both legs and four fingers to diabetes.
Despite being housebound, the widower has been ordered to attend an assessment centre to prove he is too disabled to work or his ?600-a-month benefits will be stopped.
Chris, who developed diabetes six years ago, started claiming disability allowance in 2008 - before he had his legs amputated.
I've read a few stories recently about people being expected to make their way to appointments rather than being assessed at home - the thing is, if he did move heaven and earth and managed to attend then they'd probably say he was clearly not disabled 🙄
Not entirely true, as part of the assessment is recording how a person reached the assessment centre. So, if he could only get out with help of a friend, plus an adapted taxi, that doesn't mean he could do that every working day.
ESA / IB (Employment & Support Allowance / Incapacity Benefit, both "out of work" benefits) examinations have always been carried out at assessement centres; unlike examinations at home for DLA / AA (Disability Living Allowance / Attendance Allowance), which are about effects of disability on care needs and mobility, irrespective of employment, not least because children aged under 16 years can get DLA and those past retirement age can get AA. Not everyone claiming DLA & AA gets an examination.
As he's a double amputee, he should not have even been asked to attend a medical. That's in Aholes handbook. 😡
In a Freedom of Information Act, request into the contract between The Department for Work and Pensions and ATOS Healthcare, it was revealed that there are a list of Conditions and Categories for people being referred to them for a medical.
Catagories
1) Unsuitable for calling to a Medical Examination Centre.
2) Reference to Medical Advisor required for advice.
3) Tentatively invite to Medical Examination Centre.
4) Invite to Medical Examination Centre.
5) Any other Diagnosis.
For each category a list is attached.
1. Unsuitable for calling to a Medical Examination Centre.
Age >75 years
Age <12 years
Both Blind and Deaf
Registered Blind (needs to be seen in own environment)
Cases accepted under the Special Rules defining Terminal illness.
Alzheimers
Amputation of both legs
Asperger's
Autistic Spectrum Disorder / Autism
Cerebral Palsy
Dementia
Hemiplegia
Huntingdon's Chorea
Korsakoffs Psychosis
Macmillan Nurse attending.
Motor Neurone Disease
On oxygen
Paraplegia
Quadraplegia
Renal Dialysis
Severe Mental Impairment
Severe Learning Difficulty
Spastic Diplegia
Tetraplegia
Total Parenteral Nutrition
Unstable Angina
Wernicke's Encephalopathy
2. Reference to Medical Advisor required for advice.
I wonder whether he was in a bad way before diagnosis or if he just got poor care/neglected his care?
