# Medical Assessor Appointment



## TheShark (9 Mar 2013)

After a nine month wait I have finally got an appointment to be seen by the Medical Accessor as part of a review of my Invalidity Pension. 
The appointment letter , however , states that this appointment relates to an Illness Benefit claim. It's over two years since I claimed Illness Benefit , should I just go along on the day and explain this to the Medical Accessor ?

Also , I've just come though major surgery in the Mater three weeks ago for Prostate Cancer and will be commencing further treatment over the next few months , do I need an up-to-date report from my consultant or will the Medical Accessor work from the reports already submitted as part of my review?
I'm also not entirely happy at having to travel to the appointment as I have been housebound since my discharge from hospital and still have tubes and drains in place but I have waited so long for this assessment I don't want to postpone it further, what would my options be in this situation ?


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## pudds (9 Mar 2013)

TheShark said:


> After a nine month wait I have finally got an appointment to be seen by the Medical Accessor as part of a review of my Invalidity Pension.
> The appointment letter , however , *states that this appointment relates to an Illness Benefit claim.* It's over two years since I claimed Illness Benefit , should I just go along on the day and explain this to the Medical Accessor ?
> 
> Also , I've just come though major surgery in the Mater three weeks ago for Prostate Cancer and will be commencing further treatment over the next few months , do I need *an up-to-date report from my consultant or will the Medical Accessor* work from the reports already submitted as part of my review?
> I'm also not entirely happy at having to travel to the appointment as I have been housebound since my discharge from hospital and still have tubes and drains in place but I have waited so long for this assessment I don't want to postpone it further, what would my options be in this situation ?




I. would definitely contact them about the reference to Illness Benefit first and see how you fair with that.

2. If they say you still have to attend then I would muster all the reports that you can in support of your case.

3. Try to get help in getting to this interview because once you get this over and done with it will be one less stressful thing to worry about.


Good luck and hope the further treatment goes really well for you.


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## TheShark (10 Mar 2013)

Thanks for that Pudds , I'll call them in the morning , I'll also contact my consultants secretary and ask for an up-to-date report to take along with me on the day.


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## TheShark (21 Mar 2013)

Just an update on this. 

Had my appointment with the Medical Assessor this afternoon. I brought along updated reports from my GP and Consultant. 
The Medical Assessor was very nice , explained that I was being assessed for review of my Invalidity Pension and for entitlement to Illness Benefit. I told her that I was neither receiving Illness Benefit and had not applied for it either - she seemed bemused. 

On to the actual assessment....
Started off taking my history , took notes on my surgical procedure , current complications and medications , took my Blood Pressure then said that she wouldn't examine me since I'm in post op and still quite sore and tender. Surprisingly enough I was a full 40 mins in with the doctor , she wrote everything down and at the end told me that while she doesn't normally disclose her recommendations she would tell me that she finds me unfit for work for another 6 months and that's what will be in the report. We shook hands and I left. 
My question now is what happens next? Will the time that I was waiting for review (9 months) be taken into consideration in deciding if I continue on Invalidity Pension? As I exhausted my 2 years on Illness Benefit before moving to Invalidity Pension while in a wait list for surgery I assume that if Invalidity Pension is refused then I won't qualify for Illness Benefit again. Why did they assess me for Illness Benefit when I didn't apply for it and they could see from their system that I'm not in benefit for it. What are my options if I'm refused both? My GP , consultant and now the Medical Assessor all agree that I'm unfit for work for at least another 6 months.


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## TheShark (12 Apr 2013)

It's been over three weeks now since I had my assessment done and I've heard nothing yet.
What would the normal waiting time be for a decision after a medical assessment/review?


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## commonsense (12 Apr 2013)

Delete


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## aoc (12 Apr 2013)

When i was previously off sick - waiting for spinal surgery got called into assessment - i never heard another thing. keep your certs or whatever up to date until you are fit and ready for work. Best of luck!


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## Time (12 Apr 2013)

TheShark said:


> It's been over three weeks now since I had my assessment done and I've heard nothing yet.
> What would the normal waiting time be for a decision after a medical assessment/review?



Knowing Longford it could take up to 2 months for an answer.

I suggest you contact your local TD to put them under pressure.


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