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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Work capability issues and ESA  →  Thread

guidance on when WCA must be carried out by a doctor

AndreaM
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Debt team - Citizens Advice Southwark

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Total Posts: 123

Joined: 16 June 2010

Hi
One of my clients is due a WCA next week.
I thought I had read somewhere on the discussion forum that claimants with neurological conditions have to be assessed by a doctor and not by a nurse or physiotherapist (or whatever), but I can’t find anything about this.
Can someone confirm whether this provision does (still) exist, and where I could find it?

Thanks

Stevegale
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Torbay Disability Information Service, Torbay NHS Care Trust

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Joined: 29 June 2010

There is mention in the Atos WCA Handbook (page 62), it states: ‘It may also be appropriate for further
neurological examination to be carried out by registered medical practitioners in some cases to assess such areas as cerebellar function or other more complex neurological conditions such as spinal injury.’

Link here: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wca-handbook.pdf

Ariadne
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Social policy coordinator, CAB, Basingstoke

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Joined: 16 June 2010

It is certainly my understanding that this is the practice - and that if such a case is by mistake listed for a member of one of the other professions it will have to be rescheduled. I went to a presentation on the LIMA system and there is a compulsory question on it which stops things in their tracks if this happens.