Sat in on an EMP visit yesterday as I thought it would be useful. Dr was very nice and well intentioned but found I had to intervene several times as as he missed some glaringly obvious stuff. Client suffers constant intense pain, has become unable to work and lifestyle consequently dropped considerably. He admits to drinking a bottle of wine a day, yet EMP skipped over mental health page saying 'no problem here'.
Main problem was re mobility though. Client was asked how far he could walk before he had to stop - 20M. Next question 'How far is your absolute limit?' '?' 'how far if you push yourself as far as you can go?'.
The answer to this (75M) is now on report as distance he can walk.
I'm so glad I was there as this is the sort of thing that can skew an appeal. Client can't normally remember exactly what was said as they are anxious, confused and don't appreciate the relevance.
Felt I had to share this with you.

Sounds much the same as what clients tell us goes on at examinations.

A lot of clients say they felt they are pushed to give an answer that is "acceptable" instead of what the actualities are.

Did the Doctor know who you were?

Yes. Introduced myself and shook hands before start. Very civilised and he was interested as he told me DWP give Drs no feedback, so he had no idea what happened once report submitted to DM. I told him how important EMP reports are, so how essential they are complete and accurate. He started well, but I got the impression he was running out of time and getting faster and less thorough. This was point I started to pee him off by suggesting questions he had missed.

Interesting - a lot of our clients also say they felt the Doctor was rushed.

Now that we can request judge direct DWP to obtain EMP report before tribunal, am starting to think should find time to sit in on all of these (in the interests of justice).

In an ideal world maybe - we just would not have the time unfortunately.

I know - still a girl can dream!

We are also extremely concerned that Healthcare professionals will not fully utilise all of the options, that the software developed for purpose offers. As many of you will know, there are drop down boxes under all of the descriptors, in addition there are also blank boxes for the physical input of information. It is this opportunity for additional information that is often missed, so whilst the descriptor is answered, there may be no further justifications on any limitations a person has regarding their disabilty or condition.

It's been a few years since I last sat in on a DLA EMP report visit but I suspect that the new software has made matters worse rather than better. The last one I sat in on (I did not tell the EMP my job) was predominantly for mental health and I was dismayed to be told by the EMP that mental health problems could not give rise to a need for supervision outdoors. Apparently that's only for visually impaired!