How does 'illness benefit' medical assesment work for someone with depression?

My daughter is suffering from depression, and is also a diabetic, she has worked all her life and is on this benefit the past 18 months.

She recieved a letter to attend an examination, as at the moment her condition is not very good i fear for her, as she is very anxious regarding the decision which will be made by the medical examiner. A friend told me this examination lasts max 5 minutes, as my daughter at this time is not very articulate I feel she will not fully explain how bad she is at this time, and as she looks physically fit, would be expected to return to work, when she is clearly very unwell.

Can anyone explain how this works?

Don't forget that the medical examiner is a doctor adn not a department official! This measn that your daughter should not be any more anxious than if she was attending her own doctor. A supporting letter frofm her own doctor could also be given to the medical examiner.

The dept. is obliged to call people in for medicals in order to satisy teh public accounts commitee, who want to ensure proper use of taxpayer's money. They are not trying to "find" people fit for work in order to save money so your daughter, given her illness, should have nothing to worry about.

How long does it normally take for the dept to make a decision?

She should also take along any medication she is on.

I agree with the above, take all her meds and letters to do with the illness. If she is seeing an outpatient psych, she needs to mention this too.

I know in the case of my mother, the verdict took between 2-3 weeks.

Depression isn't an illness that you can 'see'. Just tell her to be honest about her feelings and tell the people like she would her doctor.

30 years ago my Dad became depressed due to 2 accidents, none his fault.

The doc he was under said, in court, it was the worst case he had ever in his life seen.

Everywhere he went, my mam went with him. She was his memory, if you like.

He could never have handled anything without her.

Perhaps you would be allowed go to this meeting with your daughter.

This is a very serious illness and I wish your daughter all the best for the future.

You can have a realtive or friend attend with you. You need to clear it with the doctor first. Most of them are understanding of people with nervous disorders.

From experience you only ever hear from them if they are stopping your benefit.

There is no need for her to worry about it. I had an assesment after being off work for a year and had the same concerns. The assesment was fine, nice doc.
As an aside - you can , in my experience see in a persons face if they are depressed , expecially if your a doctor or a psy doc , because they see so many of us.
Also I go to aware meetings and you can immediatly see when some-one is quite bad and then another week they look much better.

MorrisDunn said:

From experience you only ever hear from them if they are stopping your benefit.

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Thats not true, you hear from them to assess you and ensure you are as needy as you/your doctor claim you to be. They don't want to be paying out if you are not sick, and they can knock you off.

However, depression is an illness so your daughter should have no problem.

I think that MorrisDunn meant that you only ever hear from them after a visit to the assessor if they are not happy with your claim and are suspending your benefits.

The best approach with the medical referee is to be open especially with her particular condition. Attempts to disguise or cover up facts - sometimes through nervousness or embarrassment - are usually very obvious to an experienced examining doctor.

I have seen depressed people who were significantly disabled by their condition but because it was not a physically obvious "injury" it was difficult to get understanding. Doctors are trained to know better.

Your daughter's G.P. will have received a form from Social Welfare asking for details about her case including whether or not the G.P. thinks that the patient is fit to attend for medical examination.

When the examination is over a few weeks your daughter is entitled to make an application under the Freedom of Information Acts (FoI) for details of all records relative to the examination. She will get to see what her G.P. said about her on the form sent to him/her and probably get a copy of the examining doctor's report through the FoI process. FoI applications cost nothing.

By the way if your daughter is accompanied to the examination the person with her MUST NOT try to answer the doctor's questions for her !! The real value of a companion at examination is for reassurance as not many people like going to such examinations !!!

In the event of an adverse result there is a right of appeal for the asking. It is a fairly simple procedure but don't worry about it unless it actually happens.

Best of luck to your daughter with all of this.

bond-007 said:

I think that MorrisDunn meant that you only ever hear from them after a visit to the assessor if they are not happy with your claim and are suspending your benefits.

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Correct, you will receive no further letters unless they are dissallowing payment after the doctors report is received an assesed.

DirectDevil said:

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By the way if your daughter is accompanied to the examination the person with her MUST NOT try to answer the doctor's questions for her !! The real value of a companion at examination is for reassurance as not many people like going to such examinations !!!

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I have come across a few department doctors that would not allow the person to be accompanied. Generally they will reschedule the appointment to a doctor that has no problem with a person being accompanied.

bond-007 said:

I have come across a few department doctors that would not allow the person to be accompanied. Generally they will reschedule the appointment to a doctor that has no problem with a person being accompanied.

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I am aware of a few cases where the doctor would not allow the patient to be accompanied in the examination room. I did not know that they went as far as suggesting another day with another doctor.

If this happens it would be as well for the claimant in this case to go ahead on her own. Her mother can wait outside in the reception area. This would probably be better than creating the anxious anticipation of another examination.