What was your experience going for medical assessment in the DSFA?

GER12

Can you tell me your experience of going for medical review if you were claiming Illness Benefit, Invalidity Pension or Disability Allowance? I do not work for the Department but are interested in hearing good and bad stories.

1. Did the doctors explain to you of the purpose of the examination when you attended?

2. Did the doctor ask for your consent before examining you?

3. Did you feel that you were treated with courtesy and respect?

4. If you were asked to remove clothing as part of the exam was blankets or sheets made available to within the examination room?

5. Did the medical assessor answer all questions that you asked of him/her?

6. Where you allowed to have a friend or relative with you during the exam?

7. Did the medical assessor tell you what their recommendation was on whether he/she considered you fit for work after the exam had finished?

8. Do you have any complaints about the standard of service that you received from the medical assessor and nurse?

cancelled

GER12 wrote: »

Can you tell me your experience of going for medical review if you were claiming Illness Benefit, Invalidity Pension or Disability Allowance? I do not work for the Department but are interested in hearing good and bad stories.

1. Did the doctors explain to you of the purpose of the examination when you attended?

NO

2. Did the doctor ask for your consent before examining you?

NO

3. Did you feel that you were treated with courtesy and respect?

NO

4. If you were asked to remove clothing as part of the exam was blankets or sheets made available to within the examination room?

NOT APPLICABLE

5. Did the medical assessor answer all questions that you asked of him/her?

NO

6. Where you allowed to have a friend or relative with you during the exam?

NO

7. Did the medical assessor tell you what their recommendation was on whether he/she considered you fit for work after the exam had finished?

NO

8. Do you have any complaints about the standard of service that you received from the medical assessor and nurse?

OH YES

the system is a shambles

The_Conductor

Moved to State Benefits forum.

Regards,

SMcCarrick

Medievalist

I had an assesment for Injury Benefit last year, and I found the DSFA doctor very friendly and professional. There was a nurse in the room too, just doing paper work in the corner. The doctor talked me through the exam, answered all my questions, and in no way made me feel uneasy. Very similar to a trip to your GP. I was in and out in 20 mins, no waiting or anything. I had a genuine injury, but since it was a back injury I was afraid he'd be testing to see if I was faking or not. But he was very nice about it. I think that department as a whole is very organised and efficient, as they haven't the work load of those associated with dole payments.

bridan90

1. Did the doctors explain to you of the purpose of the examination when you attended?

yes

2. Did the doctor ask for your consent before examining you?

No

3. Did you feel that you were treated with courtesy and respect?

Not really he never at any point made eye contact with me or try to explain things or put me at my ease he was very abrupt almost to the point of rudeness.

4. If you were asked to remove clothing as part of the exam was blankets or sheets made available to within the examination room?

NOT APPLICABLE

5. Did the medical assessor answer all questions that you asked of him/her?

He spent very little time talking to me. He rushed through the examination and gave me very little time to reply to the questions he asked me.

6. Where you allowed to have a friend or relative with you during the exam?

No

7. Did the medical assessor tell you what their recommendation was on whether he/she considered you fit for work after the exam had finished?

No

8. Do you have any complaints about the standard of service that you received from the medical assessor and nurse?

Definitely. The nurse was pleasant enough but the doctor made absolutely no attempt whatsover to put me at my ease. It was a very unpleasant experience and I left that place shaking like a leaf, in tears and feeling very humiliated. It's been 2 weeks since the examination and I have had no word from the dept. I have spent those two weeks reliving the experience and every time I do my stomach churns. I don't know if my experience is an isolated one but I never want to be subjected to that kind of experience ever again.

Xylem

bridan90 wrote: »

Definitely. The nurse was pleasant enough but the doctor made absolutely no attempt whatsover to put me at my ease. It was a very unpleasant experience and I left that place shaking like a leaf, in tears and feeling very humiliated. It's been 2 weeks since the examination and I have had no word from the dept. I have spent those two weeks reliving the experience and every time I do my stomach churns. I don't know if my experience is an isolated one but I never want to be subjected to that kind of experience ever again.

Nope, you are not alone in your experience. I pretty much felt the same after leaving the exam room. This was down mainly to the abruptness/rudeness of the doctor, and the feeling I was not being listened to. OP hope you have a better experience.

The_Conductor

If at any stage you are unhappy- you really should have made this immediately known. You have to keep in mind that the doctor is there at the behest of the Department, he/she is *not* there to assist you- they are there to assess you, nothing more, nothing less. A lot of them do treat people like numbers- and joke amongst each other at their assembley line approach- it really is the case that they are given a stack of cases that they need to give yes/no answers to- nothing more, nothing less.

Pleasantries do take up time- but it costs nothing to be polite and courteous to customers. You are a customer for the doctor- though, not a patient.......

If you have anything specific that you are unhappy with- you really need to contact the Department and make your feelings known. If there is something that happened to you- you can be certain its happened to thousands of others- and if you say nothing- it will only happen to countless more people.

iguy

GER12 wrote: »

Can you tell me your experience of going for medical review if you were claiming Illness Benefit, Invalidity Pension or Disability Allowance? I do not work for the Department but are interested in hearing good and bad stories.

1. Did the doctors explain to you of the purpose of the examination when you attended?
Yes.
2. Did the doctor ask for your consent before examining you?
Yes, I had to sign a consent form.
3. Did you feel that you were treated with courtesy and respect?
Yes.
4. If you were asked to remove clothing as part of the exam was blankets or sheets made available to within the examination room?
I was asked to remove all my clothing and I was givin a blue gown but nothing else.
5. Did the medical assessor answer all questions that you asked of him/her?
Yes except one,he examined me with no gloves on and I asked him why he did not and he just looked at me.
6. Where you allowed to have a friend or relative with you during the exam?
No.
7. Did the medical assessor tell you what their recommendation was on whether he/she considered you fit for work after the exam had finished?
Yes he said I was not fit to work,but if I wanted to I could do office work or something in that line.
8. Do you have any complaints about the standard of service that you received from the medical assessor and nurse? No none at all.

There ya go.

bridan90

I was informed today by telephone that my illness benefit has been disallowed. I had applied to the FOI for the documents pertaining to my previous reviews and this included the most recent one. From comparing them it seems that I have more things wrong with me now than I did at my last review! I had applied back then for an exemption to do a FAS CE scheme and was refused on the grounds that I was unfit for work.

This time round the doctor's review states that I am capable of the very work I was denied previously even though I have been diagnosed by a consultant with yet another illness and there has been no significant change in my other conditions. This does not make any sense to me. I intend to appeal this decision and I would advise anyone in a similar situation to do the same. In particular apply for your previous medical reports as it seems they are riddled with inconsistencies!

The doctor's writing is also pretty illegible most of it just scribbles and it seems to me that the deciding officers don't even bother to read the reports and merely look for the tick in the eligibility box.

Nic'name

1. Did the doctors explain to you of the purpose of the examination when you attended?
Yes, she said, "this is just a general chat about your background in work, education and medical history. There will also be an exam if necessary."

2. Did the doctor ask for your consent before examining you?
Yes, she told me exactly what she was going to do.

3. Did you feel that you were treated with courtesy and respect?
Yes, she was nice but very blank canvas which I presume she has to be.

4. If you were asked to remove clothing as part of the exam was blankets or sheets made available to within the examination room?
n/a

5. Did the medical assessor answer all questions that you asked of him/her?
I didn't ask any

6. Where you allowed to have a friend or relative with you during the exam?
Yes, I had to explain first the reason why. They seemed a bit shocked, like no one else ever done it.

7. Did the medical assessor tell you what their recommendation was on whether he/she considered you fit for work after the exam had finished?
No, she just said, "that's ok thanks bye."

8. Do you have any complaints about the standard of service that you received from the medical assessor and nurse?
I'll let ye know when I get the results


It was fine, my recommendation is tell the truth but to go over what you are going to say the night before as I forgot to add a few points that may help. If you can bring any specialist reports or reports from counsellors, physiotherapists etc etc. Any type of professional you are seeing in relation to your condition.

Olduvai

The records that are released under FOI which includes medical records have to be legible. If the doctors handwriting is incomprehensible you do have the right to ask the Department who will ask the doctor to transcribe the records into legible format word for word. Deciding officers are administrative. They are not medically trained. In administering any illness related scheme DO's refer to medical assessor who make the decisions on whether you meet the medical criteria for eligibility.

If people have complaints about behaviour or how they were treated it is advisable to make a complaint to the Department. As another poster has said it is unlikely that the behaviour is isolated or once of incidents. This behaviour is usually recidivist.

Claimants also have recourse to make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman who can independently investigate each complaint. The Ombudsman also has separate powers of investigation under the Disability Act 2005.

Part of taking a comprehensive clinical history is liaising with treating physicians including medical certifiers, conducting a clinical assessment part of which may include a physical examination. It is the responsibility of the examining medical assessor and NOT the person attending for exam to ensure that they have sufficient information on your case. That is part of making clinical decisions. The Department does ask medical certifiers to submit reports and pays each medical certifier a set fee for these completed reports.

avriljones

I appealed my illness benefit and was sent for a second medical. At the second medical last week I asked the doc what his recommendation was and he said he thought I was unfit for work. I actually seen him write unfit on the form. He said the final say was with Dublin and that I would hear from them within a week. Its been a week now so I called them and they said a decision had not been made. I feel as if I have been in limbo for the last six or seven months this has been going on for its making me even more ill than i was before. Can they make me go to appeal even if the DFSA doc says I am unfit for work?

Taty666

Going on my first Med ass tomorrow. wish me luck. Will post how was it, later on.

showit

The DFSA are looking to get as many people off their books as possible - illness benefit is down to 18 months now - people who are on it prior to 2009 can stay longer - but the department is very keen on getting these people off asap,

you would have to wonder about the medical examiners - why on earth would they take a job in the DFSA - when a GP can earn some serious money with a practice

Taty666

1. Did the doctors explain to you of the purpose of the examination when you attended?
No, but I knew.

2. Did the doctor ask for your consent before examining you?
Yes.

3. Did you feel that you were treated with courtesy and respect?
Yes.

4. If you were asked to remove clothing as part of the exam was blankets or sheets made available to within the examination room?
Didn`t remove.

5. Did the medical assessor answer all questions that you asked of him/her?
All I asked, when to expect the results, and Doctor said in about 2 weeks, but you shouldn`t worry about it.
We`ll see!

6. Where you allowed to have a friend or relative with you during the exam?
I didn`t ask, was on my own.

7. Did the medical assessor tell you what their recommendation was on whether he/she considered you fit for work after the exam had finished?
Nope.

8. Do you have any complaints about the standard of service that you received from the medical assessor and nurse?
Not at all.