[chris' mum]

Has anyone else met with their GP's complete ignorance of how a spinal cord injury affects the bowel and bladder functions of their patient. My son who was diagnosed T6 to T8, whilst living and working in Canada, returned to the UK in January 2009, and has had to wait 6 months to claim DLA.
We thought that because he is confined to a wheelchair and has spent 10 days in the regional spinal injuries unit, getting his U.K. medication stabilized, that the claim would be staightforward. He clearly has no movement below the waist and cannot even stand unaided.
Imagine our horror when his claim was refused, as his GP, who prescribes his medication and incontinence aids, filled in the report saying that there is nothing wrong with him.
I am going with my son armed with a copy of the report sent by the DWP, to see this GP on Friday this week, will let you know how it goes

[ClaraTaylor]

Good luck with that - some GPs are absolutely useless (my GP told me yesterday that rather than considering a wheelchair to help with mobility I should stop using my walking stick... that I need to walk... because too many people become "dependent" on mobility aids and therefore they are evil and NO one should rely on them... but he did give me more morphine without a second thought).

Can someone go in with him to act as a witness?
It might be worth seeing another doctor.

[Karl187]

GP's aren't specialists in spinal injury, so don't be surprised if they make mistakes like this. Fortunately I have a good GP who will ask me whats going on before he will write anything about my condition. You should try and explain to your GP that you, and your son, are the experts in spinal injury, and he should always defer to you when in doubt. You might aswell want to get one of the doctors at the regional Spinal Unit to contact your GP and explain things clearly.

[Lucydog]

First of all lodge your appeal straight away. Just phone up the DWP and tell them you wish to appeal. That means when you win the money is backdated to the date of the first claim.
Secondly why are you dealing with the GP? Surely your son has several consultants who see him and have written reports. Do you not have copies of the letters they send to the GP after they have seen him? You need to send those. I wouldnt even bother with the GP frankly, go straight back to the Spinal Unit.
If your son is not a member of the SIA he should join now as they will be able to help him with benefits etc and get him the best advice.
Finally make sure you dont take no for an answer. When I first applied I was awarded care but not mobility... who knows why?!!! I took it to Tribunal and got mobility awarded to me and it was worth £2000 backdated.
cheers
L

[Tinbasher]

Lucydog is correct you must appeal but don't just appeal with the same old evidence as you are likley to get the same old descison!

Has his local spinal unit got a social work dept that can help him put together evidence? I am a bit astonished as being paraplegic he is de facto unable to walk and should at least have been awarded the Higher Rate Mobility Component.

The Care Componenet is a slightly different thing and is based not on his diagnosis but how his diagnosis affects him. Having said that in my experience (I sit on DLA tribunals as disabled member) it is almost certain he would be eligable for the Lowest Rate Care and possibly the Middle Rate Care but this isn't a dead cert and depends on the help he needs from others. A young very independent para can be too independent for middle rate !

What you need is expert advice from your local spinal unit, CAB or welfare rights to put together a submission for the appeal. The thing to remember is that the DWP HAS NO DUTY SEEK EVIDENCE you have to get evidence together to help his claim.

Please PM me if you want further advice.

Tin

[chris' mum]

WELL!! We went to see the GP on Friday to challenge his report to the DWP. At first he said that he'd filled the report in with all the information he had. We pointed out that his understanding of a t6-t8 injury was 'weakness in legs' ( his words) and that he's only actually included half of the drugs my son takes on the forms, plus other anomolies such as never stating once in the report that Chris is dependant on a wheelchair, he began to take us seriously.
He seemed very flustered by the fact that one of his patients was challenging him, and floundered around looking for excuses as to why he'd filled the form in this way.
Finally, he apologised for his incompetence, and said he'd phone the DWP today (Monday) and admit his mistake.
He's also supposed to be phoning Chris today with the outcome.
Will keep you posted

[Lucydog]

great. Let us know how it all goes.

[Tinbasher]

I diagnosis of PARAPLEGIA is one of those magic words. In DLA Paraplegics are considered unable to walk (even if incomplete) and WILL get the Higher Rate Mob.

This link will take you to the chapter in the handbook that the DWP Descision Makers use when deciding if someone is eligible.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch18.pdf

This link is a good guide to what they are looking for.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch61.pdf

What you need is clear confirmation that your son has a diagnosis of paraplegia the sort of thing you / he might have are any documentation from his spinal unit here or in Canada or if your GP actually says PARAPLEGIA!

A quirk of the system is that the DWP has no duty to seek evidence on your behalf so you need to collect it yourself.

PM me if I can help.

Tin

This post has been edited by Tinbasher: 21 September 2009 - 08:11 PM