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What is a person approved by the Secretary of State
I believe it is fairly important that we know that a HP is qualified and experienced to carry out PIP assessments. I believe the registration site should be updated to say when registration first started as like nurses and doctors otherwise is it reasonable eg that a client with mental health issues is examined by a physiotherapist one week into the job from college etc.
Much of what you say is entirely reasonable.
The bit I’m struggling with is the assumption that all HCPs are ‘one week into the job from college etc.’
They are likely more qualified and reasonable than most welfare rights workers.
Just because we don’t **know** when they qualified doesn’t mean the whole thing **is** an actual doubt.
It’s the very reason that we ‘don’t know’ that causes the concern. It is possible from reading the reg site that a HP may only have several weeks registration which may suggest only having several months experience. This is not what’s required in the DWP guidance.
It’s the very reason that we ‘don’t know’ that causes the concern. It is possible from reading the reg site that a HP may only have several weeks registration which may suggest only having several months experience. This is not what’s required in the DWP guidance.
I understand your point - I just don’t think this is the social injustice you’re looking for.
Competence is the most important thing. In life generally qualifications are no substitute for experience while experience can and does often overcome lack of qualifications. For example, you wouldn’t want a student nurse doing your heart bypass but you don’t need qualifications to rep’ at tribunals. That said, there has to be some objective way of measuring competence for medical professionals and it seems to me that proven qualifications for HCP’s is entirely right and appropriate, but, I personally would not get too hung up on the length of time someone has been practising. Ongoing training and oversight is more important.
I’ve currently got an appeal case in which a 16 year old with autism who can barely engage with the world was assessed by a paramedic. The medical report was entirely judgemental and dismissive, assuming that because she had a reasonable level of academic intelligence that her impaired ability to engage was entirely due to character defects and poor personal choices. This displays a woeful ignorance of the condition and the day to day problems that people with autism experience in trying to engage with the world on its terms. The paediatricians I often write to would be appalled. Now, either the training given to HCP’s is defective or the HCP in this case entirely missed the point.
I think it is cases like these (as well as the mantra that ‘all our assessors are specially trained in assessing disability function’ – or some such rot) that leads to widespread disillusionment. And that’s before you even get round to the issue of the DWP trying to provide a service on the cheap
Competence is the most important thing. In life generally qualifications are no substitute for experience while experience can and does often overcome lack of qualifications. For example, you wouldn’t want a student nurse doing your heart bypass but you don’t need qualifications to rep’ at tribunals. That said, there has to be some objective way of measuring competence for medical professionals and it seems to me that proven qualifications for HCP’s is entirely right and appropriate, but, I personally would not get too hung up on the length of time someone has been practising. Ongoing training and oversight is more important.
I’ve currently got an appeal case in which a 16 year old with autism who can barely engage with the world was assessed by a paramedic. The medical report was entirely judgemental and dismissive, assuming that because she had a reasonable level of academic intelligence that her impaired ability to engage was entirely due to character defects and poor personal choices. This displays a woeful ignorance of the condition and the day to day problems that people with autism experience in trying to engage with the world on its terms. The paediatricians I often write to would be appalled. Now, either the training given to HCP’s is defective or the HCP in this case entirely missed the point.
I think it is cases like these (as well as the mantra that ‘all our assessors are specially trained in assessing disability function’ – or some such rot) that leads to widespread disillusionment. And that’s before you even get round to the issue of the DWP trying to provide a service on the cheap
Agree entirely with you on this point.
Me too. I have a similar case to Nevips.