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Hi
I got a phone call today from 01217798700 at 10-30am that I missed. As i'm currently having a battle with a credit card company I generally check numbers I don't recognise on the internet and was suprised to learn that its a company called Atos Medical that arrange interviews on behalf of the Government to check people on IB (http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,130/func,view/id,1096/catid,10/). As I've been on IB and have been signed off by my GP for the last 4 months then I guess I'm going to be called in to explain myself and was wondering if anyone else here had been to one of these interviews before and what they were like.
To be honest I'm going to go start looking for work as I don't really feel able to justify an issue I don't really understand myself ! It's made me really angry to think that my GP can sign me off and then I still have to explain to eveyone else what I've gone through and what I'm going through. I've already been to one interview ata local jobcentre and that was totally humiliating, they said the next one would be at least 3 months away and yet it's less than a month. I've only been claiming IB for about 3 months as well ! After paying quite a lot of tax over the last 20 odd years as I've never claimed any benfit at all before (well, since I was 17!) It's a shame because the CBT is ending next session and I have an appointment with a psychologist and I feel the psychologist may have been able to help me more. I don't know if I'd be able to have therapy and work ...
:shrug:
I had one of these medicals after being signed off for a longer period than you have been. The medical lasts about 50 mins. and asks lots of questions. However, after you have done that, you get a letter about 3 wks later saying whether you qualify to stay on the benefit or not, its a points system. However, even after staying on it, you still have another interview at the jobcentre straight after!! They don't usually phone you though, especially on a Sunday?? you usually receive a letter.
Hiya :D
I went for a dwp medical not so long ago as I was on IB. It's called a personal capability assesment (PCA). The good old government are doing their best to get folk off this benefit. If you truly feel ready to go back to work then do. But if not, please go to this medical and tell them how your probs affect you in every single way. Cos if, like I did, you kinda hold back on the extent of yr probs, you won't be deemed eligible for benefit. You have paid into the system like u said and you defo deserve this help. Only go back to work when you are ready xx
Go for it
Gimme a shout anytime
Cheerio
Hope xx
ps they rang me up to arrange the appt.
Thanks Hope and Lisa,
The thing I'm worrying about is actually describing to them the problem I have. At the moment I'm kind of torn between just accepting this as being the way I am and getting some help so that I can change and become 'better'.
There are other pressures as well that mean I have to find work.
Hi there
In what way are you worried about describing how u are? Do you mean you don't feel you can put it across accurately? Cos you can take someone with you to the medical which may help you. In fact it goes against you if you don't (in my experience :mad: ). Maybe you could make a list and kinda get used to organising 'things in yr head' ......... and take it with you if needed.
Bye for now
Hope xx
milly jones
14-07-08, 13:17
where we live in wales we have an advocacy service who will accompany u to interviews and ensure u are represented adequately.
praps the cab could advise
other that that write a script to explain how u find the anx affects ur everyday life, and if necessary give that to the person involved.
for me i find speaking v difficult to a stranger, esp if i feel threatened, and this has helped me loads get thru work absence assessments etc
but i do agree that the gp feels ur unfit to work then that should be enough
milly xxx
i know - i also think that a gp's opinion should be all you need - i have a referral to a psychoanalyst as well (first app at the end of tis month) so i'm not making this up. things are better than they were but i wouldn't say i was better and still have days when i'm really anxious and thoughts are racing etc. to be honest this all still feels kind of deamlike at times and i can't really believe it's happenning - not in a derealisation way but just how my circumstances have changed.
i got a letter today from medical services advising me that i have 2 days to respond by phone and arrange an interview. the woman at the dwp interview i went to last month said there would be at least a 3 month gap between that interview and any medical and it's been less than a month ! :shrug:
i have never been asked to do a interview but i dont get ib i get income support then on top of that i get sickness benefit and i get dla monthly too i phoned up about getting ib and i got knocked back.
but i had to fight to get my dla they knocked me back first time untill my support working took over.
Hi there
I got a telephone call from this agency place today re a medical. I refused to give out any personal information over the phone as let's be honest, in this day and age, the person on the end of the phone could be anyone!
I found the call to be unprofessional and when I said I wouldnt give her my date of birth and that she would have to put any requests in writing she said she would and promptly hung up, what a way to run a business!
I suffer from anxiety. I had CBT earlier in the yr which I didnt find useful and am now on the waiting list for assessment to see a psychologist.
After receiving the call re the medical I phoned the DWP and asked how a GP with absolutely no specialist knowledge of my condition be suitable to judge whether I am fit to work or not. I have already informed the DWP that I am awaiting assessment but the waiting time is 6-7 months.
The whole politics around claiming IB drives me mad. There doesnt seem to be any kind of logic to how they operate and they are more than happy to add to my constant battle with anxiety by requesting I see someone who doesnt specialise in my condition and consider them fit to judge whether I am capable of going to work or not. The system stinks!
I am now waiting for a letter from these people and then I guess I'll have to attend this ruddy medical. I cannot stand the thought of it let alone attending. As soon as I received the phone call I went into panic and burst into tears, is this what claiming IB has come to?!
:mad:
It must be the time of year. I had this palava last year and going through it once again.
My state of play is that i cannot go for a medical and I've continually told them to speak to my doctor about it but still they don't. The problem is that the DWP and Medical Services don't communicate. I got some stroppy sod last year when I phoned medical services who wouldn't listen to my reasons why I could not travel 30 miles for a medical and instead just said if I didn't attend that's all they could tell the DWP.
This year I have had the same thing. I told both parties why I couldn't come and yesterday got a letter from the Jon Centre wanting to know why I didn't go for a medical that apparently I had arranged. It is infuriating and something we could really do without.
I know there are chancers but there are plenty who are not. I am on IB as a last resort after supporting my family for a year on my redundancy money- which I could have just banked at the time.
A bit of communication on their part wouldn't go amiss. On the other side of the coin I have spoken to some people at the Job Centre in the past year who have been exremely good and very understanding.
All the best
Nechtan
Hi there
I suffer from anxiety. I had CBT earlier in the yr which I didnt find useful and am now on the waiting list for assessment to see a psychologist.
I am now waiting for a letter from these people and then I guess I'll have to attend this ruddy medical. I cannot stand the thought of it let alone attending. As soon as I received the phone call I went into panic and burst into tears, is this what claiming IB has come to?!
:mad:
i wenht to the medical and it a bit of a farce - the 'doctor' just sat there and typed answers into a computer - i m,ust admit i'm feeling much better nowadays but have been really lucky that my gp sent me for an urgent psych appointment that got me onto CBT within a month and then they referrred me to a psychoanalyst and they offered me 40 hours of therapy starting next week. i've started aplying for jobs and also dealing with the knock backs as well. still a ways to go but geting there. hang in there and if you want to more about the medical pm me. don't worry - it's all a publicity stunt i think - if gp's were overruled i suspect they would be mightily pi$$ed off.
I've been on IB for 6 months, and got called in to a medical exam at Atos Medical yesterday. Spent 45 mins trying to explain how my problems affect my ability to work, and getting out & about, and coping around the house, etc.
I don't see why it should be necessary if my GP has signed me off, and I don't see how a doctor unfamiliar with my case can asses the full severity of my condition in a 45 min talk.
I was told a decision would be made in 3 weeks. Needless to say, that's not helping my anxiety.
I remember when i had my interview a few years ago. I was worried about being able to put across the problems i suffered, because, lets face it, it's not easy and very difficult for others to 'see' your symptoms.
I took someone with me - a support worker i had at the time. Without his help, i couldnt have made the interview anyway. I think it helped that he managed to back up my 'story' that i was too ill to work.
It will also help if you can get it straight in your head the actual reasons why your anxiety stops you from working. I found an easy one for myself - I couldn't cross the road! that to me was a very good 'excuse' why i couldnt go to work.
I dont know what extent your anxiety is or what symptoms you get, but turning non-physical symptoms into physical problems will help.
That's just my advice anyway. I hope it all goes well for you and, as mentioned by others, don't go to back to work unless you feel ready for it and make sure they know all your problems - the worse you can tell them the better, don't leave anything out. If you get enough points, you win!!
Gregor
got a letter today from the dss saying i no longer qualify for incapacity benefit as i failed the medical and in their eyes are peerfectly fit for work. yesterday my gp signed me off for another 6 weeks and next week i see a psychiatrist. been a bad week with family problems and a tough ( more than likely failed) job test. don't know what to do now apart from start again.
:shrug:
I've been on IB for 6 months, and got called in to a medical exam at Atos Medical yesterday. Spent 45 mins trying to explain how my problems affect my ability to work, and getting out & about, and coping around the house, etc.
I don't see why it should be necessary if my GP has signed me off, and I don't see how a doctor unfamiliar with my case can asses the full severity of my condition in a 45 min talk.
I was told a decision would be made in 3 weeks. Needless to say, that's not helping my anxiety.
Here, here! I was appalled that I was expected to attend a 'medical' when my GP has signed me off. I feel that my integrity is being questioned as is my GP's!!
Iread about aomeones experience of a so called DWP medical at www.dwpexamination.wordpress.com (http://www.dwpexamination.wordpress.com) and it was just like mine! I was pleased to find out I was not alone in feeling the way I do having paid into the system for years and being treated (suspected) like this. Go there and have a look, it will open your eyes
Maddog:mad:
As someone who works for the dwp I have to say, I know its really hard but - fight your corner! These kind of medicals are so humiliating. I agree with the posts here saying that a gp has already given a sick note so why should there be more red tape -- and its red tape that causes undue anxiety :doh:
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