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Are PIP assessments more likely to be refused at the end of the month?

Dan_Manville
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Mental health & welfare rights service - Wolverhampton City Council

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On the basis of my filing cabinet yes they are.

Chatting to a disgruntled PIP claimant friend of mine last week someone told me that she’d heard that a PIP claim was more likely to be refused at the end of the week. That got me thinking and, knowing that my filing cabinet was due a clear out I thought I’d have a look.

I had 21 PIP reports in my drawer, of those 12 were refused in the last 10 days of the month; strangely, mostly in the top half of the alphabet as well.

There was some deviation; 3 were refused earlier in the month but all three had extenuating circumstances; one is the only PIP appeal I’ve lost as it was quite borderline (and met a very conservative Judge), one was a full time student and one I’ve advised has no prospects of success.

Of the 6 that succeeded only one was in the last 10 days and that was a wheelchair user with severe and enduring MHPs so pretty much bolted on.

Now if you take my success rate; which at Tribunal is 161/1 to date, as an indicator of how ill most of my clients are, one starts to smell something that probably most of us suspect and I for one have confirmed… albeit it on an insignifcant sample.

I wonder whether we might expand that sample…

edit; make that 22 assessments at the end of the month refused.

[ Edited: 15 Feb 2019 at 03:43 pm by Dan_Manville ]
Mr Finch
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Benefits adviser - Isle of Wight CAB

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I’ll start keeping a log. Which date are you looking at - the assessment or the decision?

Edit: are you also tracking when favourable decisions are made in the month? Otherwise you might just be observing that more decisions are taken in the last 10 days.

[ Edited: 18 Feb 2019 at 10:27 am by Mr Finch ]
Dan_Manville
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The assessment. I strongly suspect, much like ESA, that they are working to “expectations” and this might be good evidence of that.

Thanks

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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Are you hinting at staff making sure they have a mixture of approvals and rejections in their output for the month, with a tendency to catch up on refusals towards the end of the month if it looks like they have been a bit generous early on?  If so, the month presumably is a fixed cycle based on internal DWP monitoring/stats gathering - it won’t necessarily relate any time period since the individual claimant’s assessment.  You would expect outcomes to be more or less constant based on length of time since assessment, but refusals to fall disproportionately towards the end of the DWP’s internal monitoring month.

Or have I misunderstood the issue?

Dan_Manville
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HB Anorak - 18 February 2019 02:22 PM

Or have I misunderstood the issue?

No; you haven’t.

Colin Hannon
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I have not really analysed the times ofthe month regarding PIP claims being rejected but what me and my colleague have noticed its certain HCP who are disallowing claims , also they tend to use the same language with them all .

my favourite one being they only take moderate pain relief ?

200 mg of tramadol per day &  600 mg per day are not exactly junior asprins both are controlled drugs and extremely powerful with significqnt side effects , maybe the HCP are taking them themselves ??

Vonny
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Welfare rights adviser - Social Inclusion Unit, Swansea

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I am always intrigued as to why HPs don’t appear to ask why claimants are taking anti-psychotic meds for a reported diagnosis of depression?

Geri-G
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Welfare reform team - North Ayrshire Council

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I get HCP’s on reports stating that MH patients are on “moderate” anti-depressants. I have a MH nurse friend so I check drug dosage with him. 45mg of Mirtazipine is the maximum dose that could comfortably be prescribed before given before a ward admission.

I have also on client’s who get Depo injections that apparently have “no input from mental health services”.

I would deny if ever asked, but I tend to steer client’s away from certain assessment centres because I just KNOW it will be refused by certain HCP’s, and I know that I have a high success rate on appeal. Great for my appeal stats, but traumatic for the client’s who have severe MH problems, and I am going to have to practically drag the poor claimants there.

And I have complained on their behalf.

Dan_Manville
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Vonny - 22 February 2019 09:04 AM

I am always intrigued as to why HPs don’t appear to ask why claimants are taking anti-psychotic meds for a reported diagnosis of depression?

I’m looking at exactly the opposite atm; HCP assumes client has got better because they’re not taking antipsychotics; the prescribed Haloperidol and Risperidone (at the same time!!!) are seemingly for something completely different!

That report, however, was conducted at the beginning of the month which skews my stats but I’m seeing another one tomorrow that was bang at the end so the trend continues.

Vonny
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Dan Manville - 25 February 2019 11:40 AM
Vonny - 22 February 2019 09:04 AM

I am always intrigued as to why HPs don’t appear to ask why claimants are taking anti-psychotic meds for a reported diagnosis of depression?

I’m looking at exactly the opposite atm; HCP assumes client has got better because they’re not taking antipsychotics; the prescribed Haloperidol and Risperidone (at the same time!!!) are seemingly for something completely different!

That report, however, was conducted at the beginning of the month which skews my stats but I’m seeing another one tomorrow that was bang at the end so the trend continues.

Maybe they can’t use google