Does anyone know what happens when you fail the medical assessment. Do you have to go onto jobseekers? On ESA you get so much support for jobs etc on Jobseekers you get nothing.
any help would be beneficial.
Thanks
esa is a joke if you are emplyed and off sick was on esa for 3wks when statuory sick pay ended went for medical assesment on a weds they stopped my money on the monday 9weeks left on my sick note and no money available as i am an employed person off sick assesment was only 5weeks after my chemo and rads had finished
Between you me and the gatepost!! 90% of people are failing ESA medicals.
If you are still within the 4 week time limit, fill in a GL24(appeal form).
Once the appeal is registered you will carry on being paid (at the assessment level)until the date of your appeal (which I would encourage you to seek help with).
Julie
I’m just in process of filling in ESA medical form, the questions have no significance really with BC. I can do most of the things but mentally I just don’t think I could go back to work yet. My pay runs out next month and if I don’t pass the medical I won’t get anything. Can’t sign on for Job seekers as I have a job. I’m still undergoing radiotherapy and then have to start on Herceptin in Sept. I guess if I fail the medical will have to go back to work and then go off sick again with stress or extreme fatigue. I have read on some benefits sites that when recovering from chemo/radiotherapy you qualify for the benfit automatically, obviously not the case. Will keep you posted on what happens.
Alison
Hi everyone,
I am fed up having to keep phoning and asking if i am going to get any sickness benefit, i keep being asked when i am returing to work and have to explain yet again that i am not returning to work because i was a “carer” and the 95 year old i was looking after had died and then i was diagnosed with BC and waiting for chemo to start.Its 8 weeks since diagnosis and still no further forward with dss.Lost my patience with man last week when i rang ,told him i didn’t ask to ge ill and who would employ me at the moment knowing i would be having chemotherapy ans would require time off also with the millions currently unemployed i wouldn’t stand a chance!
Sorry about the rant but haven’t we got enough to cope with without all this red tape and not quite fitting into their little boxes.
Lady at job centre said she understood where i was coming from but the government had reduced their(dss)staff even though their workload had increased.
I feel better now!!
love to you all,you keep me going
boatgirl xx
Alison
Could you in your application for ESA state that you are having problems with your mental health, is there not a section that covers mental health problems? You say yourself that you can’t cope mentally with certain situations at present, sure you would be able to get GP to back you up here. Having been treated/being treated for BC is trumatic and can throw you into depression, I know this from personal experience.
All the best with your application, Alice
After I was diagnosed in 2006 I couldn’t get a penny,as I had a 3 month gap in NI due to having to relocate from London to Scotland to look after my dad until he went into care. I had been working in London for 18 years.
A very helpful (not) person I had to deal with from a DWP call centre In Edinburgh actually told me that “breast cancer is no excuse for trying to access the benefits system”. Had I been on the other side of the desk from him as opposed to on the phone I swear I would have thumped him. When I first had surgery I was turned down for DLA on the evidence of my GP who said I wasn’t disabled enough - according to him you had to have lost the use of all your limbs to get it. Funny how there are loads of people attending the surgery who appear to be fit and active,but who are getting it then I thought.
Nobody told me my application for IB had been rejected either. I had to chase it up as it had been passed around 5 offices from Preston to Glasgow, including my 2 local offices. I found out from someone in Glasgow 2 weeks after the decision had been made, they had omitted to send me a letter about it. Absolutely shocking, nothing is joined up and yet they wonder why people lose it over the phone. It seems cancer is not taken seriously by the government or the people they employ to handle benefits.
This is all really shocking and dreadful. I wonder if this is something that Breast Cancer Care would be willing to take up on behalf of us. The thing is with cancer that it’s not just the physical symptoms it’s all the emotional ones plus the sheer number of hospital appointments. I’d like to see an employer that would have been happy to employ me when I had hospital visits 4 out of 5 days last week and 2 days out of 5 the week before and so on. That’s before I even start my next lot of chemo!
I was self employed before I got the cancer and used to run projects, write reports on a freelance basis. I can tell you that no-one would be willing to contract me for that sort of work as the deadlines are so tight that even a few days sick would throw everything. My reputation would be down the pan in no time if I didn’t deliver.
After a mess up with national insurance that I’ve finally got resolved I’ve just received back payment for ESA for the last 5 months. I’m just about to submit my limited capability for work questionnaire. I wonder if they’ll ask me for a medical assessment as I’m about to start chemo again…
Good luck everyone with their battles over this.
Elinda x
Some nasty stories are around I see - and I do hope that all contributors are not as stressed as the ESA would make you!
My certificate says Breast Cancer - broad - but I agree that there is no acceptance of anything that is not on the formwork - the questions they ask are limited to what they are willing to accept and medical diagnosis doesnt come anywhere near.
I am struggling with SE of Tamoxifen and my doctor is trying to help me and understands what I am going through and gives me certificates - he says “you are ready to go back to work when you are ready and not before” but if I do not pass the assessment and go onto JSA there is no help at all just 4 half minutes to sign every fortnight - it was changed from 71/2 mins back in Nov.
I would love to go to work and feel I have rejoined the human race again rather than hiding out. Confidence and self esteem issues are mental health issues especially wearing a prosthesis in the summer!
One person told me I would get all the support I needed and then another said I may not continue with ESA and be put back to JSA.
There is nothing to take account of us because its not visual - an arm or leg etc., but it still feels the same. All we need is a little support - not asking much.
elinda45 I am the same - was a teacher - can no longer do that but I have skills that could be valuable elsewhere. Good luck with the chemo and all I can say to all is to fight - it keeps you occupied if nothing else.
Good luck to all with all the battles.
I rang the Macmillan Benefits helpline after I vaguely remembered seeing a sign up about it somewhere. I asked them if we need to go in for a medical assessment if we are undergoing chemotherapy. I was told that if the chemo was intravenous that we do NOT have to. She told me that they were having problems with benefits advisors still asking people to go in. She said to ring the Macmillan helpline if there was any problem with this.
The helpline can advise on other aspects of benefits so might be useful: 0808 801 0304
Some areas also have local centres that can support with financial queries but there wasn’t one in my county. Worth a look on their website though.
Elinda x
I would recommend anyone in difficulty should contact Macmillan. I left a comment on their website about my situation as they were running a campaign regarding cancer patients not getting benefits. 10 days later an adviser called me and asked for some details so they could do some calculations. As it turned out, because my husband has just started his business 6 weeks before I was diagnosed, we were entitled to Working Tax Credits as a new start up.
We got turned down on the first application, so Macmillan told us to try again and told us what to put on the forms. Second time around we were awarded £96 a week, an absolute godsend as it covered council tax and food bills. However, because of all the wrangling I had with the DWP and the fact they didn’t advise us about applying for this, we missed out on 8 months worth - nearly £4k - which would have helped our financial situation greatly.
I have to say though, my GP made us feel like frauds as he seemed to think I wasn’t sick enough to be getting anything, on account of being pretty much OK until I went on Taxotere. It’s since come to my notice that the GP I was seeing was just sending letters from Consultants to be filed, marked “no action”, meaning he wasn’t bothering to read them. Found this out when I saw a menopause specialist who recommended some treatment and counselling, I had to contact the surgery as I didn’t know what the follow up was. The practice manager advised me to see another GP in future, unfortunately the only one who knows anything about BC is his wife and she is just as arrogant!
Wish I had read this post earlier.
Had to go to Job Centre to see adviser about my ESA - ended up in tears at the desk and felt like walking out there and then. When I got the original letter I did call and ask why it was necessary for me to go to a “returning to work” interview when I was midway through rads and already had a permanent job. The person on the other end of the phone had no idea what was involved in rads and that I was travelling to a hospital every day. So 2 weeks after rads finish, I end up in tears sitting at a desk in an open plan office with lots of other visitors being asked questions about my “condition”. The adviser then said I could have completed the questions over the telephone…1)how am I supposed to know that?! 2)why didn’t the 1st adviser mention that to me at the time of changing my 1st appointment?
Have medical assessment to come - having read these posts doesn’t fill me with hope.
Every step of this journey I am feeling like I am not only battling my cancer.
I can also wholeheartedly recommend seeing a benefits adviser. Our local Macmillan centre has an adiviser provided by citizens advice bureau. I went to see her a couple of months ago as I was self employed when diagnosed with breast cancer and my husband was not working. She gave me a 2hr appointment and carried out a beneifts check and helped me to fill in all the forms. Am currently getting ESA and DLA which really help to ease the financial worries.
Best of luck, V
I think the problem is that the advisers only know as much as us as they keep changing the dialogue and the requirements.
I was not told anything about moving into different groups and they suspended my claim because a letter sent to me apparently was returned to the office saying I no longer lived there - although I was on the telephone the day I received another letter from them. I wasnt paid any money for 3 weeks and it took them 10 days to receive my certs. They ended up ringing my doctor to confirm. (the letter they sent had the wrong name on it!) They sent me to collect a cash payment and while there I found I wasnt the only one. I think that the ESA have been inundated with claims, cant cope and dont have all the understanding or know how of what to do with people that do not fall into the questions boxes they tick. This is not an individual service.
The only suggestion I have is to telephone daily if no payment, claim not sorted, funds not received etc., This does seem to move them into action. The other thing is to fight your corner and get it put into writing - telephone calls do not work all the time - put it into writing where they have act. The staff have always been extremely helpful within their limits.
This is in itself very stressful and on top of that trying to get work is soul destroying but keep trying.
Good luck with all that you do.
So glad to see this topic.
I had a mx 2 years ago after which i eventually returned to work after completing chemo and rads. In May this year my employers fired me. Can’t go to a tribunal as i have no witnesses.
Decided in May to have Ld recon and levelling up op planned for october. I have to back to the hospital weekly for check ups and expansions of new boob.
I have worked all my life and paid into the system that is supposed to look after us when we need it. Yet i cannot get any money.
I applied for Esa after my recon op and initially i was paid. Last week i had to go for a mediacl assessment with a Gp who was fascinated by my new boob but took absolutely no notce when i explained about having Bc. He annoyed me by saying “your recon is a cosmetic procedure” So i asked him if i had chosen to have bc and a mx, i got no reply.
How long do you wait for the outcome of your medical? I have heard nothing and i have not been paid for 4 weeks.
I would love to return to paid work, i hate being on benefits. But whenever i apply for jobs it seems my ex employers give verbal references on me and i get no further then the application form. Anybody help me on that one/
Sorry to rant, i just think the system is disgusting given the amount of women dx with Bc every week.Yet a man of 28 with sleep apnoea has Dla and Esa paid to him for life in writing. Mad world.
Hi everyone, I too had similar problems with dss office. I rang and said why did i need a medical when i was having radiotherapy daily, surely this was evidence enough that i was ill. Apparently not . My GP. however rang them and was furious [receptionist told me]. He apparently asked who were they to question his decision that I was unfit for work. And ranted a bit about the seriousness of bc and side effects of chemo and radiotherapy.I then received further call from DSS lady was wonderful no need for me to attend.Everything running smoothly on that front now fingers crossed.
take care kittyx
I also had this terrible experience it’s like having to justify yourself for being sick, had 2 medicals so far for ESA.
I asked why I had to do this when I have a job to go back to and was told 'it’s the rules and regulations, i think we should put a petition into DWP to stop them harassing us and just let us get on with our treatment.
Doc I got for the medical was really good, kept apologising to me for having to make the long journey through. (Apologising wasn’t good enough though we shouldn’t have to go throught this at all)
At the 2nd medical I got a really nice nurse who just let rip at how bad the system is, says everytime she gets people in through the door that she thinks shouldn’t have to go through this emails the powers above to tell them the system is totally wrong, as the system only came into place last year she says it will have to run awhile until something is done, if the powers above actually had something like this wrong with them then they would actually see how wrong the system is.
The system was put in place to catch people out who are faking it, but I can assure them that none of us are faking what we have to go through everyday.
This whole country is wrong at the moment.
Sharon x
I have spent the last 8 days triying in vain to get through to Esa. I did get to talk to a snotty woman last Wednesday who promised someone would call me back by last Friday. Of course they didn’t ring me.
I have received no benefits for 6 weeks now. I have had my medical yet no letter telling me the outcome. I keep trying to ring but just get the annoying message to try again later. What the hell are you supposed to live on.
This country is rotten through and through. I am so angry.
Mounties and everyone ~ please do not give up. Put your complaint in writing as then they have to act.
Go to the local advice centre and get them to deal with it. I have recently had my claim suspended because they said that a letter came back to them saying ‘not known at this address’ well the person on the front of the envelope wasnt known but I am and then this was sorted out and it meant that I had no money for 3 weeks because they sent a letter to me addressed to someone else! I was given a cash payment to be collected from the jobcentre ~ so embarrassing but there were other ESA saying the same. They also said keep a copy of certs and take the cert to the jobcentre for them to log it before you send it - I haven’t done this but will try next time. They said unless you phone all they dont bother.
I have also had my medical 4 weeks ago and heard nothing but I am due to start the 14th week today so when do I know if I am in the work group or being sent back to JSA? The questions asked from the form do not relate to side effects or drugs including joint pain or nausea or even relevant to BC other than the mastectomy itself.
I do think that the ESA is inundated and cannot cope too well. I also think that they should go on the merit of it all and at 53, on Tamoxifen with side effects I need all the support I can get from them to go back to work. I have to keep getting the sick cert that always says BC ~ what else do they need to know ~ it doesn’t just go away. This is very frustrating and although I now have an appointment with an agency through ESA to help me back to work it still depends on whether I get a doctors certificate, the ESA put me into the work group and I am up to going back to work.
I was told at the jobcentre that they are concerned with the single parents and young people in general and ESA are not.I want to work. As a teacher I never took a day off and since being made redundant I have been ill. Let me go back to work to feel useful and to give something back to others.
The other thing that does work is that you need to telephone them everyday and make sure they log your call and after 4 days they get to do something ~ in my case they telephoned the doctor for confirmation of the certificate. The other thing here is that the Doc gets fed up with them too - the first cert they lost and I didnt photocopy that one so had to get another one. The doctors have enough to do surely. I still dont know which group I am in but hoping for the work group so I can get support.
Thanks for the moan but please fight for what is your basic after all.
Good luck all.
Well I got a shock this morning, I’ve been placed in the support group for ESA, not got to have medical or anything. Don’t ask me how I did it apart from on most of the questions I said “varies” as some days I can do things and other days I can’t, or perhaps the Peterborough office go by the rules, which state that people undergoing or recovering from chemo and radiotherapy should be in support group. So keep trying and appeal if you need to.
Alison