Hey all
I am really stressed out right now over my DLA claim. Forgive me if this is a long post!
When I sent the renewal form to DLA I had to use my MS neuro for the medical evidence as my MS nurse is off sick having chemo. I then got a phone call from the DLA that they hadn’t received the medical evidence from him yet so I chased it up and fpund out that his secretary was on sick leave and that there was no one doing her clerical work. I chased it up about 10 days later and was led to believe that it hadn’t been sent.
I then approached my MS nurses who do the Tysabri infusions as they see me every 4 weeks and they know what my mobility and care needs are. Unbeknownst to me, my MS neuro had sent back the form but the evidence he was using was incorrect and 18 months out of date, whilst the MS nurse’s report was not. As they had received the MS neuro’s report first they decided that a medical was needed.
Now this is where it starts to get interesting! I had a medical booked in the day after my 40th birthday and I had to cancel it as I was away for my birthday. As I had given them plenty of notice they gave me medical a week later, which they promptly cancelled at the eleventh hour (almost literally!) and then the third date that came through I had to cancel as well as it fell on one of my Tysabri infusion dates. Under the rules of the DWP for medicals its two strikes and your out.
Out of the blue on Friday I received a letter from them state verbatim: “I have failed to comply with a reaasonable departmental request to attend a medical examination” meaning that I face the very possibility of losing DLA completely. As a result I fired a letter off to them over the weekend explaining what had happened and why. I spoke to the DM concerning the medicals and he said send the letter in (which I had already done so) explaining the circumstances and I had until 07/03 to send it back to them.
According to the DM the reports from the MS nurses and the MS neuro contradict each other and that a medical is still needed. I am absolutely furious about this as they are putting more weight on the medical evidence from MS neuro (whom I see twice a year) than the MS nurses at the Tysabri clinic (who I see on a four weekly basis). The neuro evidence is out of date and somewhat inaccurate and the MS nurses report is up to date. I also told the DM that I am in the support group due to the fact that I cannot walk more than 30 metres repeatedly. I have an ESA review going through as I type and I am hoping that the medical evidence my MS nurse provided before she on sick leave is enough to keep me in the support group. I told him to look at the medical from the ESA review and see what I am like, he didn’t say anyhting to that! When I spoke to him I said that was more than to attend a medical and that he knows the dates that I am not available for in March
What I fail to understand is why they think that I have got better all of a sudden as the DM admitted to me that MS is very unlikely to get better and that was they wanted the medical to see if I was on the right rates for the care component. The MS nurse reports confirms that I am entitled to MRC but the MS neuro’s doesn’t. They are putting so much weoght on to his report as he is the consultant I guess, but I don’t see him as regularly as I do the MS nurses. My mobility is still bad, I have to use a wheelchair for any significant distance and they are doubting that and the fact of my care needs due to myMS neuro’s report.
My symptoms are definitely worsening due to the stress of all this. IF I lose DLA completely I will lose my Motability car, the MRC rate AND the Severe Disability Premium that I get gor living alone and getting the M/HRC. All In all I will lose about £155 a week in benefits due to the fact that I will no longer be in receipt of DLA. I will barely have enough money to cover my food, outgoings and petrol IF I keep the Motability if they decide to cancel the claim amd I was keeping the car on appeal. I am going through all this because some jumped little jobsworth is making life really difficult for me right now.
I am at the end of my tether and I really feel like pulling the duvet over my head and forget about everything and just stay there, BUT THAT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN! I am going fight these moronic, short sighted jobsworths that are the DM’s of DLA. To that end I have a meeting with my Mp on Friday this week and I am hoping and praying that he can start a fire under the DWP’s ar$e so that they can get it moving quickly. I am hoping that this will get them to move more quickly, byt I ain’t 'olding me bref that he will be able to help.
Andy