In the survey of 700 people who have claimed PIP 82% stated their assessor did not understand epilepsy, and that the PIP claim form and assessment questions do not accurately capture the difficulties of living with a fluctuating and invisible condition.
78% of people said they did not believe their medical evidence was taken into account.
“I was told that I have no cognitive or memory problems when the medication I am on cause memory issues and delayed processing and I have had severe seizures for years.”
Two-thirds (68%) of respondents said their PIP assessor did not record their answers accurately #MakeWelfareFair
58% thought the PIP application form did not allow them to fully explain their condition and that the intricacies of epilepsy were not taken into account #MakeWelfareFair
We are calling on the @DWP to provide assessors with proper training, to simplify the application process and to reform the system so it captures the reality of living with a fluctuating, often hugely debilitating, condition.
We would be happy to work with the @DWP and assessment providers to ensure that their ‘condition insight reports’ accurately reflect the full impact of epilepsy.
Thank you Vicky for sharing your experience of #PIP with us in this thread 👇
"I was born with nocturnal epilepsy and have tried many medications but none have been able to fully control it and my epilepsy is too widespread to have surgery. I had a VNS fitted in March.
Sometimes I now have tonic seizures or short clonic seizures instead of tonic-clonic and partial seizures though I do still have some tonic clonic and partial seizures. I also have problems using my right arm following a suspected stroke when I was a baby.
All of this impacts my life a lot - it affects my memory and I struggle with basic things such as cutting up bits of food. I know some of this is linked to my stroke but know my epilepsy is also a factor. When I have a seizure it's my right arm which shakes the most and thumps
🔴Applying for PIP is an ordeal for many people with epilepsy. Our survey clearly exposes the flaws in the assessment process, which have not improved in eight years.
🔴There is a woeful lack of training and assessors are quick to dismiss the severity of the condition. They are not looking at medical evidence or considering how unpredictable epilepsy can be.
🔴Not only that, the snap judgements made during interview are harmful and concerning. How can anyone hope for a fair assessment when they are penalised for walking across a room, or their seizures aren’t deemed ‘serious’ enough?