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Is the cooking test still alive & kicking under PIPs
I have a client who has an industrial injury to his right wrist which he receives industrial injury benefit for. In short he cannot use his right hand and fingers to grip etc. On a PIP assessment he is awarded 2 points for…
c. Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave.
By awarding this descriptor, isn’t this an acceptance that the client cannot ‘prepare food’ ie.
“prepare”, in the context of food, means make food ready for cooking or eating, and therefore should be awarded 8 points.
Secondly it seems that the DWP award the 2 point descriptor in order to do away with the 8 pointer (some sort of decoy), but the PIP Regs talk about what the client cannot do oppose to what the client can do. Any thoughts.
Again looking at it…
c. Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave.2
f. Cannot prepare and cook food.8
Aren’t these saying the same thing ie you can either cook or you can’t!
I would see it as your client needed assistance to cook a meal eg to chop up the veg if he only has the use of one hand - which would be 4 points. I’m guessing that with help he can prepare a meal? He can do all the timings, check food cooked etc?
I see it as going from ‘can cook’ to ‘can only cook with prompting’ to ‘can only cook with supervision or assistance’ to ‘cannot cook whatever help there is’.
Also, would an inability to grip, chop, peel etc prevent him putting a pre-prepared meal into the microwave and turning it on? Under DLA, the ability to use a microwave was not considered. I suspect many clients who were considered “unable to cook” under DLA will fall foul of the “microwave” test.
A pre-prepaper microwave meal should not count as it is not preparing and cooking a simple meal from fresh ingredients which it needs to be for all the descriptors including the wording ‘simple meal’
I ask clients if they can manage a jacket potatoe, with cheese and beans, so involving more steps than just a ping - it’s the only actual simple meal that I reckon people cook in microwaves that I can think of
Although I agree that pre-prepared meals “should not count”, PIP DMs are taking a different view!
Danger of over-reading or over-thinking the activities perhaps?
The key for me is to always read each one in terms of reliably, repeatedly, reasonable standard/safely and reasonable time. In the case of your client I am inclined to lay out everything from shopping onwards. I know the activity works on being given the ingredients but it’s useful to go back to shopping for said items as it starkly highlights the practical issues. So, needing to put the basket down every time you want to put an item in it or use a trolley with one hand. Ingredients don’t in reality magic themselves out of thin air. Describing how the client copes with getting them out of a cupboard or fridge also paints a picture.
However, the nub of the matter is likely to be time taken and standard. Plenty of aids out there to help you chop one handed for example (albeit that scores points immediately) but that doesn’t mean it can be done to an appropriate standard or in a reasonable time. When you look at it that way it’s perfectly possible to have a client who can easily operate a microwave but not prepare the food in the first place. It does not automatically follow that if you can’t use an oven but can use a microwave that you cannot cook. Equally you could reverse that.
It’s about preparing a meal using fresh ingredients. So theoretically some one learning disabled, for example, could prepare a meal by chopping and cooking carrots and potatoes in a microwave but not a cooker due to the danger of forgetting, spilling etc so they would score on the microwave one. If someone cannot peel and chop fresh ingredients due to issues with dexterity they would score the higher points as cannot and prepare a simple meal at all with a microwave or a cooker.
Food for thought - 1-c. Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but is able to do so using a microwave. 2 Points
Here the DWP are accepting that the client can only merely heat up food (whether in a box or not) in a microwave and not on a traditional cooker and is also not able to prepare food for cooking nor prepare food for eating.
The PIP Regs are all about what the client cannot do oppose to what they can do.
Therefore any client who fits the above descriptor must automatically be awarded…
f. Cannot prepare and cook food. 8 points
as the DWP have conceded that the applicant cannot prepare food for cooking, use a conventional cooker and after this make food ready for eating etc.
If the client is awarded the 2 pointer then they must be awarded the 8 pointer (f) under..
7.—(1)(b)
where two or more descriptors are each satisfied on over 50% of the days of the required period, the descriptor which scores the higher or highest number of points;
Just to play devil’s advocate you can cook (as opposed to simply reheat) using a microwave. For example cook a meal of fish, rice, vegetables which you have prepared yourself. To be honest I think it can be more of a palaver doing it in a microwave and tricky not to overcook but nevertheless…
For a meal of fish, rice and vegetables one would fare better using a three-tier steamer
For a meal of fish, rice and vegetables one would fare better using a three-tier steamer
John, I recently bought 20 of these from Lakeland. Not used them yet mind. Done what I do with most other things I’ve bought from Lakeland: put them in the cupboard and forget about them. Anyway, not sure if this counts as a reasonable cooking aid. You can’t do pizzas in them sadly:).
I do agree John - though Tom why did you buy 20???
I got the medium bags Daphne. Sadly, they only come in 20’s.
For me the ‘test’ is still unrepresentative of the real world.
I agree that using a microwave to cook a ‘simple meal’ would be very difficult. Lot’s of in and out the microwave, stirring, adjusting, replacing asparagus with artichokes etc.
Then there’s browning the anaemic meat off with your chef’s blow torch for the sake of your eyes.
The microwave is at best an aid imo unless you have a bank of them.
There are other means of cooking - one of which is a table top oven (which does fit pizza’s Tom.)
I have yet to find a less labour intensive method of cooking Celeriac chips, par-boil, fry then finish off in the oven. It’s a lot of work…..
Then there’s browning the anaemic meat off with your chef’s blow torch for the sake of your eyes…
..I have yet to find a less labour intensive method of cooking Celeriac chips, par-boil, fry then finish off in the oven. It’s a lot of work…..
Sounds like you should apply for Master Chef John (I don’t think they do blow torches in Lakeland, though I’ll check my cupboard). Re the pizza I was thinking of post 7 here.