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DM said they are not able to take in to account whether someone sits down to get dressed
Hi,
Just looking at a client’s decision letter and it says -
‘I cannot consider any help you need not covered by the activities for daily living and mobility including sitting to dress…’. Then it also lists the usual stuff like climbing stairs and shopping etc.
What is the DM on about here? I have never seen that be raised before. Client got 2 points for dressing but I am just wondering why needing to sit down would not be relevant? Maybe I have been missing something, I have always treated this as pertinent to the activity!
Thank you
Joel
EDIT: spotted this on https://pipinfo.net/activities/dressing-and-undressing -
“In [2015] UKUT 572 (AAC) Judge Mark ruled that a bed could be an aid for the purposes of getting dressed. However, in [2016] UKUT 197 AAC, Judge Jacobs disagreed finding that, whilst an item did not have to be specifically designed as an aid, it nevertheless must be sufficiently ‘connected’ to the activity to count as an aid for the purposes of PIP; in this case sitting on a bed was a common way of getting dressed and it was therefore not an aid. In [2016] UKUT 501 (AAC), Judge Markus prefers the ‘connection argument’, holding that sitting was a ‘usual and normal’ way to dress and that standing was not a necessary function of dressing or undressing.”
so [2016] UKUT 501 (AAC) seems to be relevant here? I guess in that case then they are correct and sitting isn’t seen as a relevant factor
[ Edited: 21 Feb 2018 at 01:29 pm by JAS1 ]