Yes, OK, I know that it should be the worm that has turned, but in the two months since I last wrote on this blog things have changed a little and it's not me that changed.
So there was I, at the end of my tether, DLA had been denied, ESA on Assessment Rate while I appealed and the thud of paper hitting my doorstep threatened to break my floorboards. Wait five weeks and the date for the appeal into my ESA arrived. Nice and close, BRIGHTON!
In case you don't already know, Hastings is 52 miles away from Brighton and like most people asked to visit a town or city so far away I do not know the layout of it. So, thanks to my dad, I bought a train ticket and got some cash for the taxis and some food.
The day arrived, fortunately as I was about to walk to the station (600m to the platform) so I was going to be in agony before the day started, and my darling daughter turned up to drop her mother off, so I begged a lift and cut out 400m of the walk!
I got to Brighton, fell off the train (at the wrong end) and hobbled to the exit. Unfortunately, Brighton station is designed so that you have to walk across 20 m to get to the ticket barrier and then back 20 m to get to the taxis, which I sort of bypassed and went and got a coffee. Great little coffee bar in the old waiting room with the imaginitive name of "The Waiting Room", nice staff and nice coffee. So then I downed some instant hit Tramadol (those that I get sent into the country from Spain) and shuffled off to get a taxi for the mile to the tribunal centre.
So, there is our hero, arriving at the tribunal centre with his customary early arrival - 30 minutes in this case, and the security man says "Really early sir! You're due to be here in 2 and a half hours!"
"No," Says I, "my appointment is for 2 pm. If they don't like it, they can get me a chair to sit in because I am not sitting on that sofa, as there's no way I'll ever get out of it!"
He dials a number on his telephone and I am soon greeted and taken to the Tribunal Service office and shown into a waiting room. Barely had I sat when a clerk with his shirt hanging out from the back of his trousers called me in to the hearing room.
Quick little chat with a GP and a judge about how things were and how they are (I told the GP that Arthritis is a degenerative illness and yes, over the last 18 months it had got worse). How do you manage to do things, like shopping? We have it delivered, I can drive to the supermarket, but can barely walk round it.
"How do you grip the steering wheel?" asked the judge. The next day I nearly died at the answer I gave! "I don't grip the steering wheel, you don't grip a steering wheel, if you do and hit a pothole you're going into the kerb or a car, anyone that says you grip the steering wheel should go back and learn to drive!" It was the next day I realised the judge had blushed!
"Go sit down again and we'll make our decision." Eh, what? I haven't had a chance to put my side of the argument over, I haven't had a chance to point out the 22 errors in the Atos report! If you have a complaint about Atos, you'll have to take it up with them!
So, I go back to the waiting room, take my bag off my shoulder sit down and the clerk comes back! I was escorted back to the hearing room and there on the table was a piece of paper with "Appeal is allowed"! Mr Turtle is hereby awarded 15 points! 6 more than the original decision.
Now all I have to do is wait for the money to go into my bank for the backdated money that they owe me, including TWO Christmas bonuses - a whole twenty pounds! Ten pounds for each Christmas, a measly fiver for me and a fiver for my wife! This amount was instigated way, way back many decades ago when £10 filled a shopping trolley, now it will pay the delivery fee for the shopping and the electricity to heat the house on Christmas day! Still, the government know the use of a ten pound note, it's used to light a cigarette, well, you can't light a cigar with a £10 it's way too small!
Still, my 18 month fight against the system has been won and now I have to fill in the 40 page form for Personal Independence Payment. I did 5 pages last night, I might go for 5 tomorrow that'll be a fortnight to fill in the whole form! Don't these people realise we're disabled and we didn't choose to be!
Showing posts with label AtoS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AtoS. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Getting Ground Down By The System
Quick recap for those of you who may not know me:
I am 50 years old, I have been suffering with a dislocating knee cap and arthritis in my right knee until 2009 when they replaced the knee joint. This has now put the weight off the left leg which is now suffering from an arthritic condition. The arthritis now affects my arms so I can hardly scratch my own head, I am stuck in my basement and ground floor maisonette with only my car to get me about outside.
The DWP decided last year to reassess me for ESA, and sent out their 21 page form the ESA50. Half way through is a question that I misunderstood and that got me into BIG trouble. First off, in concert with the French Data Processing company ATOS, they based a decision on a report with a minimum of 21 errors and my stupid error and said I am fit for work.
Then the DWP set a person, who to my knowledge has done nothing in their life other than work for the DWP and has no medical knowledge, to look at my Disability Living Allowance. Based on the report with a minimum of 21 errors and my stupid error they said I am not eligible for DLA.
I do a voluntary job on Tuesdays, on Wednesday I am in bed until about 11am trying to get moving as I am so stiff and painful. Many nights, I don't get to sleep because I am in pain until 2 am, but do they care about that? No.
So, as you would, I put in an appeal against the decision to class me as fit for work as far as ESA is concerned, when the decision about the DLA came through, I appealed against that.
Now, twelve months after the so called Work Capability Assessment, I have not yet had my appeal for ESA heard, but the Tribunal Service have drawn a line under my DLA appeal - Not Approved. Basically, Mr Turtle, you have had two 36 mile round trips two towns over on the South Coast and had to climb a massive flight of stairs at the hotel that the tribunal was held at, all for nothing!!!
So I had a quick chat with the DWP representative about what to do, his answer, Shut Up and Put Up, until the ESA Appeal is heard, they may give you points and you can appeal your DLA again!
Alright for him to say, he doesn't realise what I am facing. He doesn't realise what I am about to lose.
Unless I can find a way round it, I will lose my car, therefore, I will lose my mobility, therefore I will be trapped inside this house with no way to get out and about, therefore I will lose my voluntary job, therefore I will have nothing to keep my mind occupied, therefore I will lose my sanity! But I'm FIT FOR WORK!
There's the good news, I can get a job that allows me to move about when I stiffen up, will allow me twice the time of a "normal" person to walk down the corridor to the photocopier/break room etc. and allow me to be taking close to an overdose on Tramadol. Then, on the day after I get into work, they will allow me a day off to recover from the first day, so, possibly, I could work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So does anyone know anywhere that will pay me five days pay for a three day week? (Apart from being an MP)
I just wish there was some way of temporarily inflicting the pain I feel, the fuzzy head making me question everything I do, the feeling of "have I remembered to do all I had to do", on some one so that they can understand what I am going through. The frustration I feel when I reach for something in a cupboard that I can no longer reach, and it's only just above eye-level. The anger that I cannot keep up with my wife or grandchildren when we are out and about. The way I scream inside my own head at night, so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open, but the pain is so great that I cannot get off to sleep. The useless feeling I get when the weight of my laptop sends needles of pain through my knees and I have to put a tray on a cushion on my lap with the laptop on to ease it.
So here am I, wondering if I have the internal strength to carry on, wondering why everything is mounting up against me, wondering why my MP is such an uncaring sheep she follows the lies and mistruths that the Prime Minister and his cabinet keep spouting without question. Why do all these politicians listen to the lies that are spouted and don't question them I do not understand.
It's a simple thing to go on-line and check on the lies that the government are spouting, it's easy to spot when David Cameron is lying, it's when he's talking about caring, "Being in this together", or benefit claimants in general. I am still looking for the proof of "The test of a good society is you look after the elderly, the frail, the vulnerable, the poorest in our society. And that test is even more important in difficult times, when difficult decisions have to be taken, than it is in better times." as said by David Cameron on the Andrew Marr Show on 2nd May 2010. Three years later and we're getting to see that his society is a BAD one.
I am 50 years old, I have been suffering with a dislocating knee cap and arthritis in my right knee until 2009 when they replaced the knee joint. This has now put the weight off the left leg which is now suffering from an arthritic condition. The arthritis now affects my arms so I can hardly scratch my own head, I am stuck in my basement and ground floor maisonette with only my car to get me about outside.
The DWP decided last year to reassess me for ESA, and sent out their 21 page form the ESA50. Half way through is a question that I misunderstood and that got me into BIG trouble. First off, in concert with the French Data Processing company ATOS, they based a decision on a report with a minimum of 21 errors and my stupid error and said I am fit for work.
Then the DWP set a person, who to my knowledge has done nothing in their life other than work for the DWP and has no medical knowledge, to look at my Disability Living Allowance. Based on the report with a minimum of 21 errors and my stupid error they said I am not eligible for DLA.
I do a voluntary job on Tuesdays, on Wednesday I am in bed until about 11am trying to get moving as I am so stiff and painful. Many nights, I don't get to sleep because I am in pain until 2 am, but do they care about that? No.
So, as you would, I put in an appeal against the decision to class me as fit for work as far as ESA is concerned, when the decision about the DLA came through, I appealed against that.
Now, twelve months after the so called Work Capability Assessment, I have not yet had my appeal for ESA heard, but the Tribunal Service have drawn a line under my DLA appeal - Not Approved. Basically, Mr Turtle, you have had two 36 mile round trips two towns over on the South Coast and had to climb a massive flight of stairs at the hotel that the tribunal was held at, all for nothing!!!
So I had a quick chat with the DWP representative about what to do, his answer, Shut Up and Put Up, until the ESA Appeal is heard, they may give you points and you can appeal your DLA again!
Alright for him to say, he doesn't realise what I am facing. He doesn't realise what I am about to lose.
Unless I can find a way round it, I will lose my car, therefore, I will lose my mobility, therefore I will be trapped inside this house with no way to get out and about, therefore I will lose my voluntary job, therefore I will have nothing to keep my mind occupied, therefore I will lose my sanity! But I'm FIT FOR WORK!
There's the good news, I can get a job that allows me to move about when I stiffen up, will allow me twice the time of a "normal" person to walk down the corridor to the photocopier/break room etc. and allow me to be taking close to an overdose on Tramadol. Then, on the day after I get into work, they will allow me a day off to recover from the first day, so, possibly, I could work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So does anyone know anywhere that will pay me five days pay for a three day week? (Apart from being an MP)
I just wish there was some way of temporarily inflicting the pain I feel, the fuzzy head making me question everything I do, the feeling of "have I remembered to do all I had to do", on some one so that they can understand what I am going through. The frustration I feel when I reach for something in a cupboard that I can no longer reach, and it's only just above eye-level. The anger that I cannot keep up with my wife or grandchildren when we are out and about. The way I scream inside my own head at night, so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open, but the pain is so great that I cannot get off to sleep. The useless feeling I get when the weight of my laptop sends needles of pain through my knees and I have to put a tray on a cushion on my lap with the laptop on to ease it.
So here am I, wondering if I have the internal strength to carry on, wondering why everything is mounting up against me, wondering why my MP is such an uncaring sheep she follows the lies and mistruths that the Prime Minister and his cabinet keep spouting without question. Why do all these politicians listen to the lies that are spouted and don't question them I do not understand.
It's a simple thing to go on-line and check on the lies that the government are spouting, it's easy to spot when David Cameron is lying, it's when he's talking about caring, "Being in this together", or benefit claimants in general. I am still looking for the proof of "The test of a good society is you look after the elderly, the frail, the vulnerable, the poorest in our society. And that test is even more important in difficult times, when difficult decisions have to be taken, than it is in better times." as said by David Cameron on the Andrew Marr Show on 2nd May 2010. Three years later and we're getting to see that his society is a BAD one.
Thursday, 17 January 2013
What's wrong at Westminster?
I spent a couple of mind numbing hours today watching the BBC Parliament feed covering the Backbench business debate brought by the Labour MP Michael Meacher.
Mind numbing? Yes, here were about twenty seven MPs from a variety of political parties, the majority standing up for those that cannot stand. A lot of sad tales, I can't bear to use the word story, about disabled people some expected to travel overnight and sleep on a railway station platform for a connecting train. People expected to go to meetings to prepare them for a return to a job that they had been invalided out of on health grounds!
All the stuff about the damage done by the incorrect reports that AtoS sent to the DWP and errors in judgement by the DWP Decision Makers, going on and on. It was getting depressing, hearing so many bad news tales. It was difficult listening through the accents of the various MPs, but I persevered.
Then with about ten minutes to go, having been hidden for the first half of the debate, the Minister for Work and Pensions, Mark Hoban, gets up and says, in effect, "I don't believe what you say, there's no way people can have been so depressed that they killed themselves. Oh and there's nothing wrong with the Work Capability Assessments or AtoS."
He goes on to say that Decision Makers were able to take variability into account, so that if you are good today but bad tomorrow, you would be able to claim ESA. I have it, in writing from a Decision Maker that he was NOT allowed to take into account variations in my condition caused by climate!
What a flaming plonker the Minister sounded! Had he even been in the House for the first half when MPs were telling of people in my situation where AtoS got it totally wrong, passed on their report to the Decision Maker who, working on incorrect information gaily decides that the claimant doesn't need money and that they are fit for work.
Michael Meacher in his summary said he had never seen a debate where such cross party agreement occurred. If Mark Hoban came out into the real world and looked at a few diverse blogs, fora (forums, for those that like incorrect plurals) and information websites, he'd realise that every lie he has been fed by his master was another nail in the coffins of disabled people.
Mr Hoban, Ms McVey (at some conference today), Ms Amber Rudd (my MP), if you've got a chance, look at:
http://calumslist.org/
http://wearespartacus.org.uk/
http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com/
http://fullfact.org/
And then there's blogs like:
http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.co.uk/
http://thebrokenofbritain.blogspot.co.uk/
[Addition: I am running low on energy today and forgot the main point I wanted to make]
I believe that the method of debating in the House of Commons is flawed, two to three hours of questioning and then the Minister has five minutes to reply to all questions asked. It should be more like Prime Minister's Questions:
The MP for Someplace asks a question, with others asking to add in, and sits.
The Minister/Secretary of State/Prime Minister answers the question and we move on to the next question.
That to me is a debate, not ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, answer.
Mind numbing? Yes, here were about twenty seven MPs from a variety of political parties, the majority standing up for those that cannot stand. A lot of sad tales, I can't bear to use the word story, about disabled people some expected to travel overnight and sleep on a railway station platform for a connecting train. People expected to go to meetings to prepare them for a return to a job that they had been invalided out of on health grounds!
All the stuff about the damage done by the incorrect reports that AtoS sent to the DWP and errors in judgement by the DWP Decision Makers, going on and on. It was getting depressing, hearing so many bad news tales. It was difficult listening through the accents of the various MPs, but I persevered.
Then with about ten minutes to go, having been hidden for the first half of the debate, the Minister for Work and Pensions, Mark Hoban, gets up and says, in effect, "I don't believe what you say, there's no way people can have been so depressed that they killed themselves. Oh and there's nothing wrong with the Work Capability Assessments or AtoS."
He goes on to say that Decision Makers were able to take variability into account, so that if you are good today but bad tomorrow, you would be able to claim ESA. I have it, in writing from a Decision Maker that he was NOT allowed to take into account variations in my condition caused by climate!
What a flaming plonker the Minister sounded! Had he even been in the House for the first half when MPs were telling of people in my situation where AtoS got it totally wrong, passed on their report to the Decision Maker who, working on incorrect information gaily decides that the claimant doesn't need money and that they are fit for work.
Michael Meacher in his summary said he had never seen a debate where such cross party agreement occurred. If Mark Hoban came out into the real world and looked at a few diverse blogs, fora (forums, for those that like incorrect plurals) and information websites, he'd realise that every lie he has been fed by his master was another nail in the coffins of disabled people.
Mr Hoban, Ms McVey (at some conference today), Ms Amber Rudd (my MP), if you've got a chance, look at:
http://calumslist.org/
http://wearespartacus.org.uk/
http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com/
http://fullfact.org/
And then there's blogs like:
http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.co.uk/
http://thebrokenofbritain.blogspot.co.uk/
[Addition: I am running low on energy today and forgot the main point I wanted to make]
I believe that the method of debating in the House of Commons is flawed, two to three hours of questioning and then the Minister has five minutes to reply to all questions asked. It should be more like Prime Minister's Questions:
The MP for Someplace asks a question, with others asking to add in, and sits.
The Minister/Secretary of State/Prime Minister answers the question and we move on to the next question.
That to me is a debate, not ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, answer.
Saturday, 5 January 2013
The Death Sentence Arrives.
It arrived yesterday, with an ominous slap on the floor by the front door. A small brown envelope from Belfast! OK, unsuspecting, I opened it.
It took me thirty minutes to read and re-read it.
"Dear Mr Turtle" it starts, how dare they! Also, if I was dear to them they wouldn't have done this to me!
"I decided to look at your DLA again to make sure you are getting the right money" - No you didn't you looked at it again because I failed the ESA assessment and appealed!
Some how, without the knowledge of my GP they looked at "Current Treatment, Medication, Symptoms and Test Results" How you could have looked at the blood tests I've had in the last three months without consulting my GP?
"You can walk:
Slowly, yes, because I'm in pain.
In a reasonable manner? What, 2 minutes to walk 100 metres is reasonable? What is a reasonable manner?
Do they ask if, after walking that distance, I have to sit or lie down for at least an hour to recover? No.
Do they ask if, after walking that distance, I can get to sleep at night because of the pain? No
Question: where do the government get these silly figures from? The new High Rate Mobility distance (i.e. the worst people can't do it) will be 20m. Shorter than the length of the House of Commons from "the Bar" to the Despatch boxes. Shorter than the length of a cricket pitch. Shorter than the length of a "bendy" bus. It's the width of the steps in Trafalgar Square!
The next level is 50m - walk further than that and No Mobility Mate! 50m the distance from the side of Trafalgar Square to the centre of Nelson's Column. Less than the distance from the gate to the pitch at Lords! 20m less than the length of the walk down Downing Street to Number 10!
So, Iain Duncan Smith and his cronies have decided that if you can't walk down Downing Street to hand in your petition, you can't deliver it!
Next bit on the "Let's meet our quota", oops sorry, Decision;
"Preparing a cooked meal
You don't ned help to:
Ex-squeeze me, her over there exists, I'm married, it's a meal for TWO!
You expect me to sit and stir pans of food at eye-level? What does the Health and Safety Executive say about that? Oh, just tried it, can't lift my arm high enough to stir a pan sitting down!
Erm, Carrying safely while cooking, NO, I have difficulty getting a pan of pasta off the cooker to the sink to drain it! Lift the kettle? Only just, more than enough water to fill two mugs means I have to slide the kettle across the work-top and tilt the kettle to pour it. Did they ask this? NO. Can I lift a pint of milk, just, but talk to she-who-must-be-obeyed and she'll tell you I spill more than I pour when I use a small carton like a pint. A litre, just right for sliding and tipping.
Then comes the biggest shock - "I can't consider any of the following:
Weather Conditions? Have you never suffered from arthritis? Oh, no, I forgot you work for the DWP so you would have had to pass a medical to get in there as your masters are senior members of the Eugenics Society! Cold, wet weather makes it worse, medically proven fact.
They got it right in 2007, but changed their minds in 2012 as I have obviously got better, how, I'd love to know!
Oh, "Clinical examination shows: ... He has slightly reduced left knee bending... ability to lift straight left leg while lying down was reduced due to low back pain!" NO, reduced due to Knee Pain!
"In his statement of a typical day to the Approved Disability Analyst (who I've never seen, unless the Human Cull Participant was him) Mr Turtle states gets out of bed despite joint problems and back problems" Back problems? Where? When?
I tell you one thing, the person that wrote the "Reason for Decision" never went to a decent school, his grammar is attrocious! Someone in the line of decision was in cloud cuckoo land, in my opinion!
Strangely, when I telephoned the Darling Wonderful People, I asked what planet their staff were on and whether the Hopeless Can't Practice person from the Acceleration to Suicide group had reported on me or someone else? I naturally said "Add me to the 70% of people who appeal your decisions, thank you very much indeed"!
If it wasn't for Mrs T and my grand-daughters, calums list might have a new entry. I am that desperate, it's earth shattering, I don't know how I'm going to be able to get to my appeal if I have to go to Eastbourne when/if it comes up.
It took me thirty minutes to read and re-read it.
"Dear Mr Turtle" it starts, how dare they! Also, if I was dear to them they wouldn't have done this to me!
"I decided to look at your DLA again to make sure you are getting the right money" - No you didn't you looked at it again because I failed the ESA assessment and appealed!
Some how, without the knowledge of my GP they looked at "Current Treatment, Medication, Symptoms and Test Results" How you could have looked at the blood tests I've had in the last three months without consulting my GP?
"You can walk:
- About 130 metres
- Slowly
- In a reasonable manner"
Slowly, yes, because I'm in pain.
In a reasonable manner? What, 2 minutes to walk 100 metres is reasonable? What is a reasonable manner?
Do they ask if, after walking that distance, I have to sit or lie down for at least an hour to recover? No.
Do they ask if, after walking that distance, I can get to sleep at night because of the pain? No
Question: where do the government get these silly figures from? The new High Rate Mobility distance (i.e. the worst people can't do it) will be 20m. Shorter than the length of the House of Commons from "the Bar" to the Despatch boxes. Shorter than the length of a cricket pitch. Shorter than the length of a "bendy" bus. It's the width of the steps in Trafalgar Square!
The next level is 50m - walk further than that and No Mobility Mate! 50m the distance from the side of Trafalgar Square to the centre of Nelson's Column. Less than the distance from the gate to the pitch at Lords! 20m less than the length of the walk down Downing Street to Number 10!
So, Iain Duncan Smith and his cronies have decided that if you can't walk down Downing Street to hand in your petition, you can't deliver it!
Next bit on the "Let's meet our quota", oops sorry, Decision;
"Preparing a cooked meal
You don't ned help to:
- Use a cooker
- use kitchen tools
- carry and lift safely
Ex-squeeze me, her over there exists, I'm married, it's a meal for TWO!
You expect me to sit and stir pans of food at eye-level? What does the Health and Safety Executive say about that? Oh, just tried it, can't lift my arm high enough to stir a pan sitting down!
Erm, Carrying safely while cooking, NO, I have difficulty getting a pan of pasta off the cooker to the sink to drain it! Lift the kettle? Only just, more than enough water to fill two mugs means I have to slide the kettle across the work-top and tilt the kettle to pour it. Did they ask this? NO. Can I lift a pint of milk, just, but talk to she-who-must-be-obeyed and she'll tell you I spill more than I pour when I use a small carton like a pint. A litre, just right for sliding and tipping.
Then comes the biggest shock - "I can't consider any of the following:
- Walking on Slopes or uneven surfaces
- weather conditions"
Weather Conditions? Have you never suffered from arthritis? Oh, no, I forgot you work for the DWP so you would have had to pass a medical to get in there as your masters are senior members of the Eugenics Society! Cold, wet weather makes it worse, medically proven fact.
They got it right in 2007, but changed their minds in 2012 as I have obviously got better, how, I'd love to know!
Oh, "Clinical examination shows: ... He has slightly reduced left knee bending... ability to lift straight left leg while lying down was reduced due to low back pain!" NO, reduced due to Knee Pain!
"In his statement of a typical day to the Approved Disability Analyst (who I've never seen, unless the Human Cull Participant was him) Mr Turtle states gets out of bed despite joint problems and back problems" Back problems? Where? When?
I tell you one thing, the person that wrote the "Reason for Decision" never went to a decent school, his grammar is attrocious! Someone in the line of decision was in cloud cuckoo land, in my opinion!
Strangely, when I telephoned the Darling Wonderful People, I asked what planet their staff were on and whether the Hopeless Can't Practice person from the Acceleration to Suicide group had reported on me or someone else? I naturally said "Add me to the 70% of people who appeal your decisions, thank you very much indeed"!
If it wasn't for Mrs T and my grand-daughters, calums list might have a new entry. I am that desperate, it's earth shattering, I don't know how I'm going to be able to get to my appeal if I have to go to Eastbourne when/if it comes up.
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