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PIP mobility - Moving around with/without aids - any helpful tribunal decisions on use of prosthetic leg?

Richard Tong
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Financial Inclusion Team-New Progress Housing Group, Lancs

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Total Posts: 2

Joined: 18 February 2013

I am an occasional rep and have PIP tribunal (probably late April 2018) for claimant, who following below knee amputation of left leg due to Neurofibromatosis (NF1) uses a prosthesis.  Due to blistering, pain, soreness etc this can only be worn 50% of the time and the remainder of the time they mobilise using double elbow crutches.  They have recently been x-rayed with moderate osteoarthritis in the knee of the non-amputated leg showing deterioration in the weight-bearing leg.  In 2016 they were previously found to be able to stand then move around only 1-20 metres (12 points)/descriptor 2e, but recent decision found able to move 50-200 metres with aid (presumably prosthesis/crutches or combination) i.e. descriptor 2b.  I am looking for any useful case law particularly relating to use of a prosthesis and the limited support this can provide.  Unfortunately their PIP review form was completed mainly by ticking ‘No change’ for each descriptor.  My query has 2 parts:

1) I assume that if they are only able to stand with aids then this is inclusive in the ‘stand’ part of the descriptors and this is not broken down into 2 sub activities?
2) Whether any reliability of use of prosthesis or effects of repetition of use of either prosthesis or crutches can be used to argue a lower mobility distance or whether descriptor 2c should apply, as they are unable to move around at all without the above aids?

Any helpful case law or suggestions would be most gratefully received.

Daphne
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Joined: 14 March 2014

Hi Richard - ave a look at pipinfo - https://pipinfo.net/activities/moving-around

The commentary mentions a couple of cases that might be helpful -

In the unpublished case CPIP/2377/2015 the effects of pain, its severity and frequency, and the extent of any rests, are all noted as relevant to the question of whether a claimant can complete a moving around descriptor ‘to an acceptable standard’. The effects of pain are also considered in [2016] UKUT 326 (AAC) where Judge Markus holds that even if someone may be able to carry out a moving around descriptor repeatedly and within a reasonable time, they still may not be able to complete it ‘to an acceptable standard’ if they do so with difficulties such as pain or breathlessness.