PIP

General health and lifestyle
1

Hi, i recently went for my pip assessment by ATOS. After reading many horror stories i was very worried it was going to be a tragic experience. Luckily i got seen straight away by i nice lady who listened to my problems and wrote down everything i told her. I had to stop the physical part of it straight away as the pain was unbearable. I am applying for pip mostly for the daily struggles i face with arthritis in my elbows,back and legs and asthma and diabetes. Just wondering if anyone has been awarded pip for arthritis. thanks x

2

Yes molly I just have last week for both care and mobility

3

Hello Molly!

I can only answer for my Mum, of whom I am a carer for but have to apply for PIP for her and been through the whole process!

My Mum has Rheumatoid Arthritis quite badly, amongst other ailments but has recently been awarded the enhanced payment for both living and mobility.

I have read and also experienced people who have had arthritis and been awarded PIP, so I have every faith that you will be awarded something at the least!

Please try not to worry - you can read horror story after horror story, but in actuality, it doesn't help. Just take every day as it comes - sooner or later you'll get the answer you need

Best Wishes lovely x

4

Hi molly 

yeah Ive got widespread arthritis and I got PIP enhancehed on both I have got a couple  of other things wrong with me physically though.

my assessor was a nice lady and sympathetic so hopefully you will get the same award.

good luck

5

Hi Molly welcome to the site, I have RA amongst other health issues but had a really bad accident and now cannot walk and was awarded both, I'm sure its a legitimate reason for being awarded it, not a good disease to live with so hope you get sorted.

6

Yes a bloody awful disease...going in for my first hip replacement in 10 days

7

Sorry to hear, i know how hard it is to live with. Hopefully i have the same result as you. Just a waiting game now X

8

Thanks for the reply, feeling hopeful now that i will get some sort of award X 

9

hope you dont mind me asking, standard or enhanced? X

10

Not at all got standard for care and enhanced mobility

11

Good luck Deborah on your replacement - please let us know how it goes x

12

Thank you Tori I'm dreading it...mainly because I'm an orthopaedic nurse and I know what's going to happen 😏 xx

13

Hello Molly,

it sounds as if you were assessed by someone who realised what you face on a daily basis due to your condition.  I have Arthritis, both RA and Osteo, also spondylitis and unstable angina and was very fortunate that my assessor was a doctor who understood.  She even said that she had no idea why I had been called to a face to face as my form was very explanatory regarding how my health problems affected my everyday living.

I sent for a copy of the report about a week after the assessment and was pleased at the content.  Eventually I heard that I had been awarded enhanced care and mobility.

I hope you hear soon and that it's a good outcome x

14

How long did you wait to hear back from them?

15

I'm sure you will feel so much better for having it done, just a bit harder for you as you have been on the front line but at least you know what to exspect and how hard to push yourself, you will also be a better orthopedic nurse (not saying you weren't excellent before of course) when your recovered because when someone says this is what I'm feeling you will be the one to know that's a normal symptom.

That's of course if there is anything normal after HR

I bet you will feel the difference if youv had bad pain as nurses spend the majority of there working life on your feet.

What would we do without you.

16

Hi molly I waited four weeks and one day from accessment

17

You have more chance of being awarded PIP at the enhanced levels if you suffer from any form of need or difficulty due to any type of Arthritis than for any other condition, including severe mental health problems, Parkinson’s, MS, Dementia and even Motor Neuro Disease.

The reason is that it is far easier to qualify under the descriptors. The descriptors are geared away from the needs and difficulties that arise from the more serious and life changing conditions.

18

Thanks for the reply, hopefully this is the outcome I get.

19

Les 

you want to try living with the pain of arthritis in all your joints and then say that it is not serious and life changing

20

I don’t like comparing one condition with another. But from first-hand experience my wife suffers from arthritis of some variety in her neck, fingers, hands, wrists, shoulders, hips, knees and feet. I know how she suffers.

But what I was trying to point out is that the difficulties/needs created by Arthritis are more likely than not to be more readily recognised by the PIP descriptors than they are for any other needs/difficulties caused any other condition including some very serious life changing and life threatening illnesses. It is well known that the PIP descriptors do little for those with mental health problems. For amputees of one leg are less likely to get the enhanced rate of Mobility than if they had Arthritis. For those that suffer from Motor Neuro Disease who are fed artificially via tube and require a breathing machine fastened to their face nightly as they cannot expand their chest themselves face a mountainous effort to get any level of PIP award. Even those who have been certified by their GP that they have less than 6 months to live only get the award for 6 months – they are then re-assessed for living longer than expected.

Being as that we are both over 65, my wife’s needs caused by Arthritis resulted in her receiving the highest rate of award for Attendance Allowance (day and night time care needs). Whilst she does suffer, she surely won’t die from the disease. Yet when I attempted to claim Attendance Allowance for the care needs and difficulties faced due to acquired brain injury (frontal lobe damage), early onset dementia, PTSD, Chronic Pancreatitis, Peripheral Arterial Disease, upper and lower spinal damage, an Aneurism in the wall of my stomach, Splenic Vein thrombosis plus a whole load of more rubbish I was told that my needs are insignificant. Remarkable that it is my wife that looks after me in all and many ways yet I am the one that is recognised by the DWP  as caring for her!