hi everybody , im so confused capita have asked me to go to a medical 40 miles away , especially when they know im aggraphobic . i have seen somewhere on the web that capita normally do home visits but i was sent a letter to attend this place , i cancelled once because i had a really bad panic attack , they told me i HAVE to attend the second one they booked for wednesday ? can i say anything to them ? im terrible with one to one situations the thought im going to embarrass myself makes me feel panicky , am i likely to fail by going ? and what will happen if i fail it ? really sorry for all the questions

Hi, I am new here and hope to find somebody who can help me. I had an EU driving licence which expired last month. when I applied for the UK driving licence I had to declare a medical condition which I had six year ago but that it is no longer something I suffer from, infact I have been off medication for a couple of years and I am not under the supervision of any doctors. the NHS consultant I saw for driving licence wrote a letter summarising the history of the problem and attesting that I met all the criteria for fitness to drive, and discharged me with no further appointments or care required. After 5 weeks since I applied for the UK license the DVLA had received the medical questionnaire and the letter from the consultant (which starts by saying "I see no reason why she should not drive a vehicle), and have said that my case has been referred to a DVLA doctor who has to check that my condition meets the criteria above. and that this is not going to happen before January next year, which seems like a very long time to not have a license. I have tried to get more information but they are just rude, robotic call centre people who wind you up, and repeat that they have to deal with cases from all the UK. I wanted to try the complaint procedure or possibly to look at getting professional legal advice. I can't understand why when an NHS specialist consultant has written to the DVLA to say I can drive, it should have to go to their doctor who can't respond until January. I can drive under the law section 88 road traffic act 1988 but I do not feel confident without the driving licence. plus I cannot go to visit family abroad with my baby as is illegal there going around without driving licence with you. has anyone had any similar experiences? any advice would be much appreciated. thanks

I am a detained paitent in a hospital and I am eeding to get access to my medical notes. The hospital wrote to me and said the DPA request I sent was valid and that it would tae them 40 days to respomd. But the hospital wrote to me again and said they wouldnt be able to meet the deadline . They gave no excuse at all. I would like a copy of one of my reports Please can you help me?

Just had phone call from DWP telling me my ESA is ending today(8 weeks after my medical)??? I had my medical on the 1st July 2016,which as usual I have received "0"points! They have told me I have to make a claim today (so that I get a continuation of benefit??) Can somebody please tell me if they can do this with no warning? And will this cause problems with my housing benefit/council tax(which happened to me before, whilst waiting for my appeal and took months to sort out(but lost out on a lot of benefit) so now i'm terrified that its going to happen again!!!! Any advice would be welcome Thanks

Hello I hope you can help - I have someone who is a decent human being but has been put is a difficult situation. Someone else was helping him before but I’ve been called on-board as the other person hasn't got the time. He has been on ESA for a long time, He suffers from severe social anxiety, depression, body image issues and also post-traumatic stress due to many issues; most of which are childhood-related, whereas the traumatic stress (I believe) was relatively recent (5 years ago) due a severe facial injury that required intense facial- reconstruction; (were talking hours of surgery and many surgeons) He has been on a continual downward spiral since as he has no support network and his heavy drinking with which he has used to cope with his social anxiety! This has now culminated with him having a psychotic episode a few weeks ago that resulted him being imprisoned for 6 weeks on remand. He received a suspended sentence plus counseling for drink. No one was hurt, though I’m assuming the experience hasn’t been pleasant for anyone that was involved. I cannot stress enough that the person Is decent human being that hasn’t had the help he’s needed for years. His ESA was such that even wrote him off (never needed a tribunal etc) but since coming out of prison he has found that his ESA has been stopped. Im assuming it was because he went to prison the last amount paid into his account was june 6th! and nothing after this. He doesn’t have the skills to get it reactivated on his own! I have done some homework, and found that he is classed (still) as a remand prisoner as just being locked up from June 6 to approx 5-6 later! I believe from my own research (limited) that..... 1 There is a 12 week period within which the EAS can be re-activated / or linked) is this correct? 2 and that this means that there is not major/ substantial extra information needed to be sent to the dwp? And that it is merely a case filling in a new form and re-activating the claim? 3 However he hasn’t been in proper contact with a DR due to him slipping off the radar in terms of doctors notes (he hasn’t needed them for over three years, so you can imagine that someone who suffers from such conditions has simply let things continue!) will he need one now? 4 Or is it simply a case of filling in the correct forms etc? He has no money since coming out of prison- his rent was paid by housing benefit but the short-fall which was made up by himself with the ESA which obviously means the current situation is-not sustainable 5 he will not need to see Atos, surely if it is simply the case of linking the claim? In conclusion I’m unsure which type of ESA he was on but I’m sure it falls within the category of not needed to attend any support group. He hasn’t needed to supply an updated Dr’s note to Atos or the dwp. I have not phoned the ESA yet on his behalf as I’m not sure if I’m up to the task. But the idea is I would like to get the ESA up and running the way it was before, but obviously to try and get him some type of support group as well. Can anyone help? As the 12 week cut off period is looming? Thanks

hi and thanks my husband had a medical 2 years ago and was declared fit for work we then took t to a tribunal which overturned there decision he now as to attend another in a weeks time we have been to see his GP and he said they have not sent im any form to be filled in regarding his medical condition i find this rather strange all though his condition as not improved as he as severe copd and been on none stop antibiotic and steroids over the last 6 months any advice would be much appreciate thank you in advance

A couple of years ago the police broke into my friends house on a few occasions and discovered small amounts of herb which was for personal use, each time I got cautioned. Then letters started arriving telling me to go for medical tests Since then I have already had a drugs test then an eye test then another doctor's test then a psychiatric test and now it's come back to them wanting me to go for another drug test as I got letter from dvla yesterday morning. This is causing me a lot of stress. Are they able to do this? Thanks

Hi guys, I'm currently in a sticky situation with the DVLA's medical branch. Approximately three months ago I stupidly decided to falsely inform my doctor that I was suffering from blackouts in order to get a sickline from work (the real reason being stress, but being so young I thought he wouldn't have listened to me). Well anyway, the Doctor knows my family and knew that I was a bus driver (little did I know..). He immediately informed the DVLA without notifying me he was doing so and referred me to a Neurologist with suspected epilepsy. I went back to him within a week to say I was indeed lying and apologised for any problems caused as I didnt want to fill spaces in the Neurology clinic that people genuinely needed. A day later I received a letter from DVLA revoking all of my licences (car, bus, lorry and motorbike). I asked my Doctor what to do and he told me to keep my Neurology appointment as did the DVLA doctors as they required contemporaneous confirmatory evidence. I explained everything to the Neurologist when I attended and he sent me for a brain MRI and ECG. He sent the results as well as a supporting letter of his opinion that I did not suffer any blackouts and that they were indeed fictitious through to the DVLA. Throughout this process the DVLA contact centre said they were just waiting on the MRI coming through. Well, they received all of the documents and they were reviewed yesterday and no further action was taken. I cannot understand how the DVLA can still revoke it after all my tests came back clear and the medical opinion of a consultant was that I was fine? Do I legally have a leg to stand on? Does anyone have any advice for what I should do?

If you wanted to erase your medical history - or certain parts - is there any way to do it without moving from the UK altogether ?

So i'm not sure on some of this but here goes... My mum went to hospital with a chest infection, her underlying condition was parkinsons disease. The week before she was in hospital, she was herself (so the disease was nowhere near final stages). She got to hospital and they assumed that she was "fine" before. They decided to do a CT scan. Hospital staff tried to get her to drink the horrid tasting dye but she refused purely for the bad taste. They gave me a choice, get her to drink it all or its tubes down throat to send it direct to her stomach. She wouldn't drink anymore because as she told me, it tastes so bad. So they tried forcing tubes down. That didnt work and they did the CT scan anyway... all clear. Within 3 days she went downhill according to them and dr's spoke to me saying she has pneumonia and has days left to live. They said they will make her as comfortable as possible but cant do anything else aside from a morphine driver to numb pain. I was told by a nurse "if she is still with us on the Monday, i'm working and can support you". Mum survived. She then started getting better. She was talking to me again saying she wanted to go home but they kept drugging her up. She would cry not because of pain, but because she wanted to go home but they assumed she was in pain and upped the morphine dose. Mum had done quite well. Progress was good. So how could it be "pneumonia" ? 1 nurse said she is doing so well they will start trying her on fluids again. I asked another nurse if this was true and she said "no it's not" and then she asked me "who are you anyway?". 2 days later and she was being given fluids. I asked mum if she wanted a drink. She said yes so I got a bottle of water out and she was sucking on the top of the bottle. Then told me when to stop. The staff all then said she is doing so well and it seems she had been transferred from an "end of life status". They told us they would move her to a local hospice when she had recovered enough since she used to go there regular for activity days and knew everyone. The next day when she clearly wasn't well enough they transferred her to the hospice regardless (probably to free up a bed). Within hours she declined and 2 days later she passed away. I'm thinking what the hell.... A few points apart from the obvious. I asked to see medical records at funeral directors. They said they would sort it but only managed to sort out the records from the hospice. The hospice notes were along the lines of "We were told she is on end of life care and wouldn't have long left to live". So why did they tell us they would only move her when she had recovered enough as she was recovering well? Why move her when she wasnt ready and tell them shes on end of life care? Then it comes to the death certificate.... Cause of death: parkinsons Nothing about pneumonia or other complications. It's utter tripe really. She was not at the end of life stage from parkinsons. She was actually at the stage before the final stage. Plus its medically known that people do not die from parkinsons, they die with it due to other complications. I personally think they assumed "Oh well, she has parkinsons, seems like pneumonia too. Nothing we can do" then deprived her of fluids and pumped her full of crap. When I saw her body in the hospice she was yellow. So its like her liver had failed... maybe because of the meds they wrongly gave her? I want full medical records but how do I get them? I know the NHS cover a lot up so is there even any point? Thanks

Hi everyone, Is there anyone else having trouble trying to get their license back and you just keep waiting and waiting and getting fobbed off with excuses when you phone the medical dept at DVLA. A quick summary of my case is on the 2nd Dec 2014 i had a freak accident in my HGV, in that I was going one way and another HGV coming towards me when both wing mirrors touched, usually not a problem, but this time the other guy's just smashed and mine came around and hit the side window and smashed the window, then the mirror detached itself and flew in through the cab hitting me at the side of the neck and then flicking up and hitting the side of my head. Luckily I seen it about to happen and was braking at the time of impact and my co-driver leaned over and pulled the handbrake on. I now believe I could have suffered a lot worse injuries. Ambulance came and carted me off to hospital with neck brace and back brace. At this stage I thought I had broke my neck. At hospital they did the works, scans etc and after 10 mins the doctor came to me and took off the braces etc and said nothing broken. He then returned a couple of mins later and said I had a bleed to the brain and we are keeping you in for observation. 2days later I 'm allowed home having no meds or anything just my pulse and blood pressure checked. I had a very sore head for about 6 weeks and was told by my GP not to drive as the hospital had said that they had informed DVLA and I had inform DVLA myself. So did paperwork and waited and was just about ready to go back to driving duties when DVLA on the 28th FEB 2015 revoked my license for 6 months, reason was that I had suffered a Serious Traumatic Brain Injury,(there is only one box on the DVLA web site for head injuries). So that brought it up to the 28th August 2015, thinking that should be able to at least get my car license back then, due to having to get myself medical evidence to get my HGV back. Well after many call calls and letters etc finally got the evidence in OCT 2015 and sent everything off to DVLA. Many phone calls later and on occasions nearly shouting down the phone etc, and being fobbed off with excuses, last week somebody told something near the truth in that my case was sent the the DVLA doctors on the 28th Nov 2015, but they are currently running about 17-18 weeks behind. That just about summed up DVLA. My personal view is that yes I got a whack on the head, but the only people that made it something serious when really it was minor was DVLA and they are still being pains. :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:

Hi All, Everyone I tell my story to is telling me to seek legal advice and look to make a claim for what has happened to me. In November last year I damaged my knee and immediately went to the local community hospital who referred me to A and E at the bigger hospital. The doctor greeted me and went over my X-RAY which showed no signs of bone breakages or clear damage. He then did a few other tests asking myself to move in different places and after the normal ligament tests he then said to me 'he hopes its not meniscus damage and then proceeded to get another member off staff, my guess for a second opinion. He was introduced as a 'specialist' and was very rude and abrupt. He then put me in significant pain, by far the worst feeling I have ever experienced. He then raised his voice numerous times at me commanding me to RELAX my leg which was PHYSICALLY and mentally impossible, he never even said he was about to put me in pain. I had to push him off away due to the pain he caused myself. He then walked off and muttered a 'diagnosis' of bruised and that it will heal within a week or so. Baring in mind I could NOT straighten my leg, it had locked. I then rang my GP on Monday as a emergency appointment who did some tests (similar to the original doctor) and then came to the conclusion that I have done some serious damage to my knee, he then referred me to a specialist (a real one) on emergency admission who performed tests that again put me in 0 pain. He came to the conclusion that I HAVE meniscus damage and a 'urgent' MRI was required. Within 2 weeks I have had a operation to repair the damage which was initially missed.... My issues are :- 1. The amount of pain I was put in (no other doctor did the same) and I have never felt ANYTHING like it (broken bones and obviously done severe damage to my knee) 2. The diagnosis - If the original doctor stuck with his thought of meniscus damage I would of potentially had a MRI that evening. 3. The anxiety and stress caused from the doctor, I have had nightmares about him (sounds stupid but its true) Do you think I should take this further? I keep being urged to do so, even by a medical professional. But feel I will just get it thrown back in my face. Thank's for any advice.

A few years ago I was diagnosed with a medical condition. Unfortunately, due to many other serious family things I had on my mind at that time, I omitted to inform the DVLA. I fully realise that I should have advised them and intend to do so now. Since the original diagnosis it has never been suggested by the consultant that my ability to drive was adversely affected by the condition although I realise that it was my responsibility to enquire and disclose. In informing the DVLA does anyone know how they will react?

When you claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), you have to send in medical certificates to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support your claim. Medical certificates are also known as fit notes. Did you know that if you write your mobile phone number on the top right hand corner of the medical certificate, the DWP will text you to tell you when they get the certificate? They’ll also tell you if payment is due and the payday. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/news/employment-and-support-allowance-esa-medical-certificates/

DWP site has been revamped and the A to Z of medical conditions has a new link which is below: A-Z of medical conditions - DWP This is a very good informative site http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/s...al-conditions/ Once on this page use the A-Z to find your condition then look to right of page and click the link once there look to left of page and you will see a heading called CARE AND MOBILITY CONSIDERATIONS click that and it will give you an idea of what you can expect to get according to the variation of you condition. Is also a very good resource of information. Originally provided by pompeyfaith

hi all i wonder if anyone could advise me as to whether this is common practice, basically i was called in for a medical 2 and a half years into my 5 year award and attended today, i was asked a few questions and then the HCP said he could see the pain i was in and he wasnt going to proceed with a physical examination, is this normal and would it affect my claim, thanks in advance

I got behind with my TSB credit card payments because I have been off work due to illness. I sent TSB a valid sick certificate signed by my doctor. They have now sent me a large form which not only has to be filled out by a doctor but if I sign it will give them access to my medical records. I told them that they have a medical certificate and they are insisting I sign the form or face legal action. Can they do this?

I have just had a return to work interview where I was off sick for 9 days in total. I have been told by my manager that due to company procedure that due to me being off sick on more than 3 occasions in a 12 month period they will not be paying me the days I was off sick. Their company procedure states that: "The Company reserves the right to limit the number of absences in any 12 month rolling period to a total of 3 periods of absence. At this time the Company will review the application of the sickness scheme and reserves the right to withdraw the entitlement to OSP at any time" I had followed procedure and had contacted them keeping them updated of my illness and I went to the doctor on the 3rd day of me being off sick and I have a doctors note for the period I was off apart from the 1st 2 days. My question is, where do I stand, are they allowed to not pay me anything? What do I do now?

Hi had my medical today to get my licence bavk and i rarely drink now so the dr said i should be fine with the gamma levels on my test but on the questionaire i said i take coke one or twice a year and the last time was a quater of a gram 4 weeks ago so im wondering if i will pass my medical on the drinking side of things but will i get asked to go back for a urine test?i know i will pass the urtine test if i need to....but do people think i will need to do one on the basis iof being a cocaine user once or twice a year

I had 3 medical people unlawfully enter my home today ( they walked right in ) without being notified or informed in advance by any of them or my GP . From what I understand they believed I am at some risk ( without being able to tell me why ) other than my GP's concern over my well being. ( again another mystery ) I requested they leave - they did not and questioned me despite my inability to speak without a struggle / pain ( something my GP knew ) and then gave me ultimatum which boiled down to being forced to see a social worker ( which I assumes means I am now detained ) I still have no idea of how this suddenly happened , but I am not happy about it one bit. Can any one suggest what my rights are in regard to this , and what I should do ( I'm in scotland ) thanks, mikv

I am considering setting up an E-petition when its back after the elections calling upon the government to recognise Ergophobia or fear of working as a recognised medical condition. I am interested to know of any experiences from people who may have this condition or know someone who has and gauge peoples perception of how they view people who suffer from this condition. Unfortunately the mental health community does not recognize work aversion / fear of work as an illness or disease and therefore no medically recognized treatments exist. Can you imagine the hell sufferers of this condition go through each day in order to survive, not only do they have to cope with limited finances, hounded by the DWP and stigmatised as work shy and lazy, there is no help available to them should they mention their illness to the wrong person and could find themselves in severe financial difficulties. The quicker this illness is recognised, the faster these people will get treatment.

Now I have all of the old paperwork out, I have found a forgotten clerical medical pension that I have that seems a bit dodgy to me. Brief history of the policy; Originally taken out with United friendly in the 80's, who were then bought out or merged at a later date with Royal London. This is /was a mutual with profits. In 2007 I was contacted by an independent financial advisor who said he would take a look at the pension as I was considering transferring the pension to an occupational scheme. The advisor advised me to transfer the existing funds (admittedly not much at the time) into a clerical medical personal pension plan as it would be 'a better option' and 'pay a better amount in the long term' Firstly, CM have never contacted me for a review from 2007 to 2015 (considering the volatility of pensions this seems dodgy) Secondly, as far as I can make out the transfer fee was £4k Two things stand out in the small print on the initial review documents; Assumed growth rates: "Compared with your current plan, the new Clerical Medical plan would reduce your fund by 17.8% Minimum transfer accepted You do not have a particularly large transfer value to invest for your retirement, and so you need a plan which will accept a low minimum stand alone single premium Unfortunately, this plan has one of the highest on the market Policy Fee You should choose a plan with a competitive policy fee Unfortunately this monthly policy fee for this plan is above average compared to other plans on the market. One off installation fee You should choose a plan that has a competitive stand alone administration fee, if at all Unfortunately, one of the highest fees applies to this plan. I went with his advice at the time, and forgot about the pension as I later joined the company scheme anyway, and just never paid anything else into the private one, but over the last couple of weeks I have been tracing things including this and after reading the small print it seems like I was really stiffed on this policy. Luckily I still have all of the paperwork for this one, including 'independent review paperwork' with the name of the advisor should I have any grounds to take this further. Why would someone strongly advise a policy that costs 4K, and loses 17.8% ? I wasn't aware that pension policies charge a monthly fee either (£40 per annum), or installation fee (£100). Thoughts anyone ? Just to add to that, if you read the other thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?444060-Tibbett-and-Britten-group-workplace-pensionpost I made about the Tibbett & Britten pension scheme, this is the scheme which I was considering transferring the funds to, and it was a final salary scheme, so I guess it was a foolish thing to do by not transferring into a company scheme at the time, but the way things turned out the final salary scheme was wound up in 2012, so in hindsight a stupid decision, and bad advice at the time has actually turned out to be a decision that has worked out I guess. At the point of sale though it was stupid advice, and a stupid move for me to believe that advice.

Hi Hopefully someone on here can help me. I am on ESA and have been trying to get my medical done at home. I do not have anyone to come with me and cannot for reasons of safety travel to it alone. I have written to ATOS several times and asked them to contact my doctor, including on the initial review form they sent. I have been sent three interview dates for their offices, none of which I could attend. I then wrote to the DWP and asked them to make it happen. They simply ignored my request. After the last appointment I missed I received a letter telling me it is my responsibility to obtain confirmation of needing a home visit from my doctor and if I miss another appointment then I will have to furnish proof why I couldn’t attend or my benefit may be stopped. I wrote to my Doctor asking for a letter supporting a home visit and he wrote back informing me it is the responsibility of the DWPt o fullfill their contractual obligations with him and write to him themselves for the information as otherwise there will be quite a large fee for the letter. If they write it is free. They have sent another appointment at the Medical centre. My question is this - will my benefit be stopped automatically when I can’t attend, what can I do to stop this happening and do I have the right of appeal? Is my Doctor right in his advice to me? I intend to write and cancel the appointment but would like to know what I can do to ensure they do not stop my benefit. Do I have any legal rights that are not being met? How do I proceed. I have made it clear I am more than happy to for them to examine me, but it must be done at home in order for me to be able to do this. I am completely at a loss and have no idea what I will do if they stop my money as I am too ill to claim JSA I could not look for a job and so will not fulfil their criteria.. Many thanks for your help and apologies if I ramble. Also apologies if this is covered elsewhere but I tried searching for the info and couldn't find it. Best wishes Gerry

I had to return my licence to the DVLA 7+ years ago for medical reasons. I would now like to reapply for my licence as I feel that I am no longer subject to the medical condition. I don't have the letter which confirmed the receipt of my licence by DVLA. I don't have record of my licence number. Also I don't recall that the suspension was a fixed period. Can anyone advise me what is the correct process for applying for a new licence?

Any ideas how a recording my daughter took of assessment could be used for appeal/reconsideration scored zero points. Am awaiting report to arrive.