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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Disability benefits  →  Thread

revised guidance to HCPs

BC Welfare Rights
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The Brunswick Centre, Kirklees & Calderdale

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Joined: 22 July 2013

I am reliably informed that there has been a slight change to the instructions given to HCPs completing PIP assessments (this may already be reflected in guidance somewhere, I couldn’t see anything flicking through earlier).

Previously a HCP may not have fully completed the report before going on to do the next face to face. This may have happened where they needed further advice, or needed to do some research on findings at the consultation, or appts were running late. Now they have apparently been instructed that they are not permitted to move on to the next face to face interview until they have completed and submitted their report. This is apparently the result of audits and a general clampdown on quality control

Locally this has resulted in a much stricter policy towards claimants arriving late at the assessment; being 10 minutes late will usually result in you not being seen. My client today was 8 minutes late due to problems with wheelchair access and parking but was refused the appt as his was a ‘complicated’ case with multiple health conditions. (Incidentally, we were told to ring IAS to rearrange the appt but when we did so IAS said that the HCP had to rearrange in these circumstances. IAS tried to ring the assessment centre to tell it to do so but couldn’t find their phone number! So it put some notes on the system and we had to return to the centre to tell the HCP to check these notes and rearrange the appt. Reluctantly did so and were met by a receptionist who was insistent that we had to ring IAS, they are a contractor and only IAS can rearrange appts… Eventually sorted out by the HCP ringing DWP but 3 hours of my life I will never get back).

Also, face to face interviews are being restricted to 45 minutes maximum. This allows a further 45 minutes for the HCP to write up the report before their next appt.

As I see it this will result in:
-more claimants being told they had failed to attend due to being slightly late
-more rushed assessments that fail to cover all of the claimants conditions and limitations
-more rushed reports, more cut and paste, more typos and nonsensical statements
-more appts being delayed/cancelled as there are bound to be assessments that overrun and whereas previously the HCP could have finished off writing up the report at the end of the day so as not to delay the next appt, they are no longer able to do so
-less likely that HCPs will seek further advice or research stuff they are unaware of making it more likely they will just wing it
-on the plus side, reports will be written up in a timely manner rather than days afterwards as I have sometimes seen

Many of these consequences are probably unintended but a worrying development overall, I think.

Vonny
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Welfare rights adviser - Social Inclusion Unit, Swansea

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Joined: 17 June 2010

Has anyone found this guidance, I’m currently looking at a report completed 5 days later.