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For PIP and ESA Purposes:  There are a number of medical conditions - normally neurological in nature - that may only be assessed by doctors. 

Terry Craven
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Hope Advice Centre, Liverpool

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Joined: 6 May 2018

A client of mine has sent me a response to an FOI request in 2016.

Question:  Please supply a full list of medical conditions that require a doctor to do the medical assessment for  
1. ESA  
2. PIP
There are a number of medical conditions - normally neurological in nature - that may only be assessed by doctors. The conditions that are specified as being for ‘doctor-only’ include: stroke, head-injury, multiple-sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy and spina bifida.

This must still be the case, must not it be?

I have attached the DWP response to FOI to this post.

Interestingly, I have got an appeal for a client who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), which is a group of inherited conditions that damage the peripheral nerves. It’s also known as hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN) or peroneal muscular atrophy (PMA).

This is a DLA migration case where standard rate mobility awarded where previously it was HRM.  I put in written submissions a week or two before the hearing.Initially:

1. I am asking the tribunal to decide the PIP migration decision is unlawful and set it aside. Reinstate the DLA from date of initial PIP decision.
2, The Tribunal can then consider PIP going forward because there is a doctor on the panel and my client has got a very strong case if Judge Marcus ratio in CPIP/0665/2016 is followed. I am hoping a PO turns up from the DWP.  If s/he is one of the new ones. It should be fun and games.

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Dan_Manville
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Mental health & welfare rights service - Wolverhampton City Council

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BC Welfare Rights
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The Brunswick Centre, Kirklees & Calderdale

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According to this https://welfareweekly.com/thousands-of-disability-benefit-assessments-deemed-unacceptable-by-the-governments-own-quality-audits/ IAS and Capita only had a grand total of 4 Doctors working on PIP assessments in 2017. Unless this has changed significantly I can’t see how they can be following this policy.

Elliot Kent
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Shelter

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This has been a longstanding policy for WCA but, as far as I am aware, there have never been any rules limiting which HCPs consider PIP cases. As pointed out, it would be impossible to restrict any class of assessments to doctors only because there aren’t enough doctors doing the assessments.

Even if it were the case that the policy had been breached in your case, it would not have the effect of somehow rendering the conversion decision unlawful and it would only go to the probative value of the report.