My MP

I've been thinking about writing this post for months now. I've held off because I am afraid. Afraid of the reaction get, afraid of being sued, afraid of being accused of rocking the boat, making things worse for disabled people, of being on their side.

I don't think care any more.

I've already been deliberately trying to cut myself off from the campaigning stuff, though it breaks my heart to do it and I feel so incredibly guilty about it. I just can't put up with the level of abuse, accusations, guilt trips, emotional blackmail, and sheer viciousness that gets directed at me simply because I don't agree.

I'm not saying anyone else is wrong. I'm not saying that anyone else has to change their mind. I'm not saying that I have discovered the one true and only way; I'm simply saying that I don't agree with some of the priorities that has been set by the people leading the charge.

To me, this is a big issue. I've been bullied for nonconformity all my life. I've never felt like I belonged anywhere. So maybe I'm a little oversensitive about this, but I've done my best to be reasonable about it, I've tried as hard as I can to see other people's point of view even if I don't agree with them.

Today, on twitter, Sue Marsh tweeted that my MP, Michael Meacher, was going to visit her in hospital. I commented that I was angry he had time to go visiting campaigners from someone else's constituency, in a London hospital, but didn't have time to see one of his own constituents who desperately, urgently needed help.

That constituent was me. I've been dancing around this for a couple of days on twitter, worried about the backlash and about being sued for libel or equally ridiculous overreactions. As it seems that the backlash has started already - I'm avoiding looking at my Twitter feed as I dictate this, because I'm scared of what might be there – I suppose might as well go the whole hog, tell the truth and shame the devil.

One of the reasons I was reluctant to write this is that I'm not sure what I want from it. It is now far too late for my MP to give me the help I so desperately needed. I don't want an apology because I don't believe it would mean anything. And I can't imagine myself going there for help in future because I can't afford to take the risk that I will receive the same reception.

Given that I'm getting the abuse I tried to avoid anyway, I may as well publish and be damned.

This is the original email I sent (at the time, I was not able to use a phone - my speech was too bad).

Jaime Smith
to:
23/10/12

Hi,
I tried to go to the constituency office today - unfortunately it's hopelessly inaccessible, which I was surprised and dismayed by. After enduring jolting my powerchair over the cobbles, I sat outside the large step trying to attract someone's attention, and failing totally. There's not even a doorbell to ring.
The reason I wanted to speak to someone is that I have a DLA appeal that's got to the Tribunal stage. It's already been postponed once on 24/09/12 and the new date is 6/11/12, with evidence to be submitted a minimum of a week before.
I have told the truth - I followed the instructions and notified DWP about a change (deterioration) in my condition as I am obliged to do. They asked my old GP practice for a report - which was full of inaccurate statements by a Doctor who had not seen me. As I changed practices due to moving house, my old practice won't let me have the information that proves the form was filled out by a Doctor who wasn't seeing or treating me.
They decided I did not have any increased care needs. The needs acknowledged on my decision letter went from about eight to a single one, and my award remained the same - lowest rate care, and high rate mobility.
There was no date on the decision letter I received. I played phone tag with DWP for weeks and was told three different dates for the decision, and that I could not appeal, could not appeal yet, and that I needed their permission to appeal.
I sent in an appeal anyway, and was subjected to a 'medical' by someone from ATOS at my home. The report is ludicrous - it doesn't even get my diagnoses correct, and gets less accurate from there. Almost none of the guidelines printed on the form for use when filling it in have been followed.
When the reconsideration decision came back the same, I continued with my appeal. I tried to get advice from CAB but they refuse to make reasonable adjustments to allow me to access their services, while being fully aware this is against the law. I called Oldham Council and asked if they had a welfare rights officer - it took weeks to get an appointment, he offered no advice other than, 'there's not enough medical evidence' and 'try CAB' and I haven't managed to contact him since I saw him in about July.
I did my best to prepare my appeal myself. I asked my physiotherapist for a letter or report for the tribunal and she flat-out refused, and got angry when I asked for a reason. I asked my GP and he repeatedly promised that he would help, but it had to waiting until I had a date for the Tribunal, even though I told him I'd get less than two weeks notice.
In the end, at the very last moment, my GP wrote a letter that stated I was his patient and had an incomplete list of my diagnoses. This is entirely useless for a DLA tribunal and I'd explained what was needed four times at least. The evidence I submitted, including a social care assessment which gave an accurate picture of my care needs, never arrived. I only found out about this on Friday afternoon, with the Tribunal hearing at 11am Monday 24/09/12.
The Tribunal was postponed, with a formal warning that they would exercise their discretion to look at the whole award, not just the care component I had appealed. I was warned in the strongest terms that without further specific medical evidence from a Doctor who saw me regularly about my mobility problems, I was likely to lose my whole DLA award, backdated 12 months.
I cannot get a letter from my GP - he has reneged on his promise and will not budge. PALS were useless and treated me as a nuisance, siding entirely with my GP. My GP offered to ask a 'community matron' to assess me - but waiting lists are huge and because he lied to me and promised a letter he now will not write I don't have time to wait for that, and as he won't put it in writing for me I can neither ask for the tribunal to be postponed again, nor trust his word after last time.
I cannot get my medical records. NHS Oldham says I must submit a seperate request for each person I have seen. They clearly have no intention of meeting the 40-day time limit prescribed by law, let alone providing information in time for the tribunal hearing. PALS informs me it will cost £20 per request just to look at my data on screen and more if I want copies - this is also contrary to what the Information Commissioner's Office website states the law to be.
I've probably seen over a dozen different people in the past 18 months and don't know which set of records I need. I cannot afford to ask for them all, irrespective of the time limit I'm under.
I've adhered to the rules and told the truth all along. Because other people didn't, at various points, I'm now facing having to withdraw my appeal - losing several thousand pounds of desperately needed funds in backdated payments - and in essence, admitting I lied, when I did not.
The evidence to prove I didn't lie exists, but my GP and physio are putting their own financial and legal interests before the welfare of their patient, and there's nothing I can do about it.
The Tribunal told me to get advice, which is not available, and medical evidence on my mobility, which is being kept from me, but despite advising me to get these things, will not help, or require the relevant bodies to provide it - they have the power to do this in regard to medical evidence but have chosen not to.
The entire system, start to finish, DWP and Tribunals Service alike, has been designed to make the claimant give up and just accept a wrong decision. Obstructive staff on the phone, contradictory advice, documents that 'disappear', huge stacks of paper to intimidate, undue formality, the Tribunal chair's aggressiveness and her attitude that my speech impairment, which worsens with stress, indicated an intellectual impairment, and her complete willingness to accept the ATOS report in its entirity, including where it contradicted itself... I cannot count the problems I've experienced with this process.
This isn't justice, it's a concerted attempt to force their desired outcome. I've tried everything else and I'm running out of time. The DWP has thousands of staff, lawyers, doctors, and a decided history of using ATOS to rig the game, like they did for Colin Traynor, and Karen Sherlock, and everyone else on Calum's List. They've got information and power and authority spilling out of their ears.
I've got myself, typing with dislocated fingers and trying to read legal documents through tears of pain, and the encouragement and experiences of a few friends - all as impaired as me or more so - who've been subjected to this before, and are using up precious energy they need for their own fights. Even my Doctor won't help me, because it means going up against the DWP, and he's too scared. I'm not, but I can't gamble what DLA I get on such biased odds. I really hope you can help in time, somehow.
Much as I need the money for essential pieces of equipment that Community Occupational Therapy won't provide, it's not about that any more. I want justice. I want the DWP, and ATOS, and the Tribunals Service, to stop treating me as untrustworthy and implying I am attempting fraud. I want them to acknowledge my life is stupidly difficult and that they have spent an entire year heaping insult high on top of injury.
Many thanks (and apologies for lack of brevity)

this is the reply that I got:

BUCKLEY, Shirley
to: Jaime Smith
24/10/12

Dear Mr Smith
I appreciate you would have found it extremely difficult to access Church Lane, unfortunately it is a grade 2 listed street and the road and footpath, which I agree are not user friendly for prams and wheelchairs, cannot be altered due to the rules and regulations that dominate listed buildings.
I am also sorry that you were unable to gain access to the office, but if you had rang first and made an appointment (as we don’t see people without an appointment, we do not have the staff or facilities to do so) we would have made sure someone would have met you at the door and assisted you as long as this was in the morning whilst the office was open.
The problems you have seem very serious, particularly if the occupational health services and your GP are reluctant to assist you. Whilst Michael can write to the Tribunal in support of your appeal it will be worthless unless you have some further medical evidence to submit to back up your claim and unfortunately it is true that you could face losing all your DLA and mobility component if you don’t provide enough evidence of your continuing need.
We cannot offer welfare benefit advice, we are not trained to do so, we can only try and point people in the right direction, support appeals and applications by letter and in some cases liaise with the DWP about complaints and queries.
Have you been in touch with Oldham’s Welfare Rights Service, they are very helpful, but admittedly they will be very busy due to the fact that everyone on benefit is facing assessment of some kind or other.
Do you want me to refer you to the Welfare Rights Service to see if they can assist you and perhaps speak to Michael about supporting your appeal? I think it will be difficult to get another extension on the date, so I think we need to consider the options quickly in order to meet the 6 November deadline?
Can you get back to me and let me know please
Shirley
On behalf of Michael Meacher MP
Shirley Buckley
Secretary/Caseworker

Oldham Constituency Office
Michael Meacher MP
11 Church Lane
Oldham OL1 3AN

Tel 0161 626 5779

A couple of points: even in a grade II listed street, a doorbell and a temp ramp are possible. Or why not choose an office somewhere accessible? God knows there's no shortage of empty business properties in Oldham, the place is dying on its feet.

Nowhere on the web page are surgeries/open access times listed. There is no indication of how to find out, nowhere does it tell you to phone for an appointment, so how am I supposed to know? Additionally, at that point my speech was so bad I was unable to use the telephone, because everyone I phoned thought I was a prank caller, and hung up on me. The last time I had emailed my MP for something, it had taken over a week to be acknowledged, and I didn't have that kind of time left. So I made the exhausting trip to the office looking for help.

I'm not sure whether mention of occupational health services came from; I'm self-employed at the moment, I haven't worked for an employer since 2008 at which time I was not physically disabled. I honestly think this indicates that the letter I wrote has only been skimmed, not read properly – this opinion is reinforced by the rest of the reply.

She says they can "support appeals and applications by letter" and "liaise with the DWP". This is actually what I was hoping they would do for me. However, in the same paragraph, she says that a letter from my MP will be of no use. So which one is it?

The last two paragraphs, about referring me to Oldham Welfare Rights Service, really does go to show that she didn't read my email. I said in that I'd had one appointment with someone at Welfare Rights, he had told me that I would have to procure more medical evidence, and I hadn't been able to get back in touch with him since, despite repeated efforts, so I'd been to the first Tribunal on my own. I'd had to wait, I think, a couple of months for the first appointment anyway, and as my second tribunal was in a week and I had no hope of getting it postponed further, another referral to the Welfare Rights people who'd let me down once already wasn't going to be of any help.

I got this as a follow-on shortly after:

BUCKLEY, Shirley
to
24/10/2012

Please accept my apologies if I mistook you for a man when in fact you are a woman – sorry!! I should have remembered that the name Jaime is not gender specific but when I noticed the name Fay in your email address I realized I had probably made a mistake. Can you also give me an indication when you came to the office please. If it was in the morning, when the office is open (between 9 and 1 every morning except Thursdays), I will need to speak to someone on the desk as you should have been able to attract their attention very easily as our reception is on the ground floor

We don’t have a bell on the outside because people ring it continually and for security reasons we are not allowed to open the door without prior arrangement.

Shirley

Shirley Buckley
Secretary/Caseworker

I was absolutely bloody frantic at this point; without my DLA we wouldn't be able to survive. It made me so ill, the stress of it; I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating, I couldn't concentrate, couldn't think and was getting psychotic symptoms and feeling suicidal for the first time in ages. This was my reply to her:

Jaime Smith
to: BUCKLEY, Shirley

24/10/2012

Dear Ms Buckley,

I was not aware I needed to make an appointment in advance - as I cannot use a telephone most of the time, it would have been very difficult to do so anyway.

Have you not considered moving offices to somewhere that offers access to all constituents?

I have been in touch with the Council's Welfare Rights Officer - as I said in my email I waited weeks for an appointment, got litle advice other than 'you need more medical evidence', and have been unable to get any reply to my attempts to contact them again, despite my tribunal date having come and gone.

If you think that someome there might be of help, I would be glad of a referral. I would also be glad of Mr Meacher's support.

Is there anything you can do to help me get the evidence I need? My practice are not complying with the law on Data Protection Actually subject access requests. The law allows them to charge up to £10, including copying costs, for computerised records. They have told me they require £20 to make a request to see my records on-screen at the practice, and more money will be required for any copies. The law is that requests should be fulfilled as soon as possible, and at any event within 40 days. My practice has indicated that they intend to take around that length of time to issue an appointment date to view my records at their premises. Before the Information Commissioner's Office will look into it, I need to have made the requests, paid up front, waited 40 days and exhausted the practice's complaints procedure, and I don't have time for that.

Is there any chance Mr Meacher would consider writing to the tribunal and asking them to procure the necessary evidence? According to the Tribunal Service benchbook they do have that power if they choose to exercise it.

Regards,
Mrs Jaime Smith.

Jaime Smith
to: "BUCKLEY, Shirley"

24/10/2012

Dear Ms Buckley,

Sorry, just seen your second email. To be honest, I'm kind of resigned to being addressed as 'Mr' and don't take much notice any more. It was about 1200 - 1230 when I was outside the office - I called out, and tried tapping on the windows, but couldn't see inside so don't know if anyone was there, and had difficulty reaching the windows so probably didn't make much noise.

Regards
Jaime Smith

I was really trying hard to be constructive, and to stay polite and as calm as possible. All that was going through my head by this point, was "help me, for God's sake help", so I think I did a fairly good job of pretending to be a rational human being at that point.

Then I got this in reply:

BUCKLEY, Shirley
to: Jaime Smith

24/10/2012

Dear Mrs Smith

We have considered moving premises but offices in the town centre are extremely expensive and many other offices we have looked at are also not very user friendly. If we had an office outside the town centre this would not be as easy to get to for most people. At least this office is adapted inside with a disabled toilet and wide doors etc. If anyone comes to see Michael with mobility problems he is able to see them downstairs. I accept a ramp would be very helpful but unfortunately the footpath is too narrow to accommodate a ramp, but we do assist people in and out of the building (even to the end of the street) if an appointment is made.

I have spoken to Susan the lady who sits on reception in the morning and she says she normally notices people outside as we have an open door and a reception area with an open glass window. She said she failed to hear anyone knocking however and says she is sorry but maybe she was away from her desk when you called.

We don’t a have a bell outside the building anymore but we do have a bell inside the building. This is because the bell outside was abused and people working alone in the office are not allowed to open the door even if someone rings it due to health and safety reasons. We are closed in the afternoons because it is not unusual for people to be working alone. The bell inside is just inside the door. I accept you may not have been able to reach it.

Michael does have an advice session at Chadderton Court, 451 Middleton Road, Chadderton (opposite Chadderton Town Hall) and this is a very accessible building, but like other similar buildings in Oldham it has a car park on a hill, which I am sure would be difficult for a wheelchair user to negotiate, but a taxi, lift or bus could drop you off outside or if you own a car you could park on the Asda car park as there is a crossing almost facing the building.

Coming back to your problem – this is an issue that is regularly raised with us and unfortunately far too many people are having their DLA removed altogether after requesting an increase. The ATOS assessment is standard anyway and if you have been awarded a category of DLA then it may be prudent for you to cancel the appeal and wait until you have had time to collect better medical evidence before requesting an increase.

If you are appealing against a decision to refuse you any DLA then obviously there is going to be a problem if your GP has just copied your medical notes and is not willing to provide more substantial evidence.

What do you want to do? Michael can write to the Tribunal for you explaining your position but he will need further details including your national insurance number and the address of where your appeal will be held?

Shirley Buckley
Secretary/Caseworker

Oldham Constituency Office
Michael Meacher MP
11 Church Lane
Oldham OL1 3AN

Tel 0161 626 5779
Fax 0161 626 8572

This one misses the point quite spectacularly. Wide doors are normally installed for wheelchair users, which is a very little use in building up two steps with no ramp. My power chair, which is a lightweight foldable model, weighs about 60 kg, without me in it – it's extremely unlikely anyone could have "assisted" it into the building, and I'm not sure what they meant to do with me while they hauled it up the steps. Equally with two large steps at the front of the building, and no handrail, the disabled facilities inside the building become somewhat irrelevant.

Other offices are too expensive – firstly I believe they claim that money back on expenses. Secondly, I believe that as my MP is supposed to be my representative, there's no excuse to disenfranchise a disabled person in this way. Thirdly I'm not convinced that the office on Church Lane is any less expensive than elsewhere.

They've also taken out the bell outside, because it was being misused. Church Lane is a tiny cobbled dead end - almost everyone I know, some of whom have lived in Oldham for four or five decades, doesn't know where it is. It doesn't go anywhere, there's no through traffic of any kind – I spent almost quarter of an hour sat outside the office window, hoping for a passerby whom I could ask to nip in and attract attention for me – I didn't see a single person. Even if the bell had been being misused, I don't think it's appropriate to sacrifice any possibility of a person with impaired mobility gaining access to their MP for the sake of a staff member having to look out of the window every so often and see if anyone is waiting. I craned my neck to look into the hallway as best I could, and saw no bell. Also, if the bell inside is so close to the door is to be possibly within my reach, it's just as prone to misuse as one outside at wheelchair user level.

There's no mention of when the advice surgery at Chadderton Court is, and this information is not available online – I'm not sure how anybody's ever supposed to attend the surgery without ringing up first. That's also not the easiest place for me to get to, and if the surgery is while Dave is at work, it would mean two bus rides and most of an hour – always assuming that I can get on the first bus which arrives and it's not full of prams, which is unlikely.

Another indication that she hasn't actually properly read the emails I've sent – I clearly said to start with that I'd been awarded lower rate care and higher rate mobility as I'd had before despite an increase in my care needs. As far as I'm aware, an ATOS assessment is not standard for DLA application; I believe she may be getting confused with ESA. I believe most DLA claims go through without a ATOS assessment.

Again, not reading properly. I didn't say my GP had copied my medical notes; I said he'd written a very brief letter and refused to let me have a copy of my medical records. I've already explained what help I need; a request to the tribunal to obtain a medical report or my records from my GP and a letter supporting my appeal and possibly stating that they frequently see ATOS assessments which are obviously inaccurate. I also hope they might be willing to intercede with the DWP to get the inaccurate medical disregarded, but at this point I was wondering how many times I'd have to ask before I got any help at all, never mind something that was such a stretch.

This is my reply:

Jaime Smith
to: "BUCKLEY, Shirley"

24/10/2012

Dear Ms Buckley,

To be honest, I was hoping for some assistance in getting my GP to hand over my medical records as they refuse to provide the necessary evidence.

As it stands, they won't allow me to request my own records - I keep getting told someone will call me back tomorrow, which doesn't happen - and they have made it clear they have not intention of complying with the law on the charges or the timeframe.

They are treating me and my husabnd as nuisances when we try to sort this out.

The ICO won't get involved until I've made a subject access request and over forty days have passed. As I am not being permitted to make the request this will never happen.

My GP spent months promising he would help when my tribunal date came up. Now he says he cannot write the report required. The practice could help another way by allowing me timely copies of my records, but will not do so. I was hoping a request from an MP would be taken more seriously.

I even tried looking for a private medical opinion - the relevant specialist service (there's one and only one in the UK, with a clinic in Sheffield that's for children and one in London for adults) will not see me, either on the NHS or privately, without a referral, which my GP has also refused me.

My GP is (for the moment; I'm leaving for another practice as soon as possible) Dr XXXXXXX, at XXXXX Medical Centre, [address redacted]. my full name is Jaime Fay Smith, my date of birth is [redacted] and my national insurance number is [redacted]. The relevant Tribunals Service office is HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Social Security and Child Support Appeals, Prudential Buildings, 36 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 5UZ. The reference number for my appeal is [redacted].

I would be very grateful if Mr Meacher could write to the Tribunal Service, explaining what has happened - although it appears I will be forced to withdraw my appeal, I would like it recorded that it isn't because I no longer dispute the decision, but because my word appears to be of no value and I do not have the time or money to obtain evidence they will accept overrides ATOS' opinion. I would also appreciate it if a letter could be written attempting to expedite my access to my medical records.

Thank you.

Regards
Jaime Smith.

In this email has made it as clear as I possibly could what I think it is that they can do to help me. I've given them the information they need (although this is redacted because after the abuse on twitter I am not giving my personal details away on the Internet, not that that's a good idea anyway). As someone who's so stressed they're unable to speak comprehensibly and contemplating suicide, I don't think I did too bad a job of being clear.

This is the reply she sent me:

BUCKLEY, Shirley
to: Jaime Smith

24/10/2012

Dear Mrs Smith



I think it is unlikely that the Tribunal will just consider medical records anyway. They will want medical evidence from a professional saying that your condition has deteriorated. You also need to be aware that without any further medical evidence the Tribunal does have the power to remove all your DLA entitlement. This has occurred quite a lot recently, so you do need to consider that before and if you attend.



We cannot make an application for medical records anyway because there is a charge and there is a time frame allowed for them to be gathered. We would never deal with individual doctors but for queries regarding medical record requests we have always raised these with the former Primary Care Trust (PCT) that has now become the Clinical Commissioning Board. There is little point complaining about your GP not releasing them because It think this is done centrally – not sure that your GP would even be able to pass records on?



You say in one of your emails that a GP has provided a report but you disagree with it – is this correct? If so then I am not sure how the MP will force the GP to change it without any independent medical advice?



Can I just therefore clarify that you want the MP to write to the Tribunal to withdraw the appeal? If so then I would be careful about stating that your GP has not been very helpful as they may suspect the GP does not agree with your diagnosis regarding how you health has deteriorated. It would perhaps be better to say that you have suffered problems in accessing medical reports and you would therefore prefer to withdraw and make another claim at a later stage. Would you agree?



The MP could also write to the Clinical Commissioning Board to ask them to provide you with forms to access your medical records and once armed with these you could raise the issue again with your GP or any new GP. Would you agree?




Shirley





Shirley Buckley
Secretary/Caseworker

Oldham Constituency Office
Michael Meacher MP
11 Church Lane
Oldham OL1 3AN

Tel 0161 626 5779
Fax 0161 626 8572

Once again, not paying attention to what I've written, and totally missing the point as a result.

They can't give welfare benefits advice, but now she's telling me that she knows my medical records won't be any use. This contradicts the advice is given on my sole meeting with Oldham's Welfare Rights Officer, as well as all the advice of been given online by generous friends who've been through this themselves. They either can give advice or can't – which one is it?

GP practices are independent businesses, not owned or run by the commissioning NHS Trust. For the purposes of the Data Protection Act, they are the data controller for my records held with them. So they absolutely the right person to approach for access to my medical records – in my GP records will be references to the letters from all the consultants and other specialists I've seen, which will allow me to track down those records if necessary. I'm not sure whether the Clinical Commissioning Group would be able to make them comply with legislation; even that would have been too slow. What I do know is I'd been to PALS already, and they'd been no help at all, just reiterated my GPs position to me. That's not my idea of patient advocacy.

Unfortunately she seems to have very little idea about who holds medical records and what's supposed to happen when you request them, and hasn't bothered to find out before applying. A quick Google search would have provided the information.

I said that a GP employed by ATOS had provided a report on behalf of the DWP, and it was inaccurate in the extreme. I said that my own GP had provided me with a piece of paper containing my name, the fact that I was his patient, and an incomplete list of diagnoses, but had refused to provide a report. More evidence that she's really not paying much attention. I never asked my MP to try and change my GP report; I wanted help challenging it with DWP. I probably could have made that a bit clearer, but I really have no idea where she's getting some of these assumptions for it.

I wanted help; I tried suggesting different avenues, only to have them all shut down; I only wanted to withdraw the appeal if there was nothing else that could be done and there *was*, they just weren't willing to do it.

Writing to the CCB would have been little use; my GP was refusing to give over my records - I never got them - and it took them three months to give them to the new practice. CCB has no control over that. It'd help if she was correct in the facts she's basing this idea on.

By this time I was angry as well as afraid. It's not an attractive combination on me, I admit, especially when I feel cornered. I was still vaguely hoping they would help me, but I'd explained it all as clearly as I could - it's not a simple situation - several times by now, and it was really clear that the person answering my emails wasn't paying much attention and didn't know much about it. They didn't seem to care about the urgency, or the injustice of the situation; honestly they just seemed bored with me. I don't expect them to throw life and soul into it, but surely it's not too much to ask for someone to read the emails I wrote instead of skimming them.

Then I got this, from a new person:

Hannah Crossan-Smith
to: Jaime Smith

25/10/2012

Dear Ms Smith

I understand that my colleague Shirley Buckley wrote to you asking how you would like Michael to assist you. As she is now out of the office for the day, I would be grateful if you could copy me into any reply to her and I will pass your comments on to Michael.

Best wishes

Hannah Crossan - Smith

Caseworker

I finally lost it. I felt totally abandoned, and voiceless, and the injustice of the DWP using a pack of lies passed off as a report to call me a liar was driving me insane. Everything I suggested was forgotten as they went off on a tangent with ridiculous assumptions based on nothing, or refused because they 'don't do that' What the hell do they do, then? I'll never find out, because I can't even get in the fucking office. I was terrified to continue and lose my DLA, terrified to withdraw my appeal and be branded a liar and disbelieved forever. The time was ticking away - if I was going to withdraw, I really needed to do it before the Tribunal, which meant posting the letter by Friday lunchtime-ish at the latest.

This was also the week Micheal Meacher was in the news everywhere over Colin Traynor, the man with epilespy from his - and my - constituency, who died of a massive seizure while waiting to appeal his 'fit for work' decision. I was desperately hoping that if he was willing to stand up for Colin Traynor, he would help me too. Not to be brutal about it, but Colin had gone where the Government could no longer hurt him. I'm still here.

Jaime Fay Smith
to: Hannah Crossan-Smith

25/10/2012

Dear Ms Crossan-Smith,

To be honest, everything I've asked for help with is too much trouble/'we don't do that', from simply being able to access the office like any other constituent, to assisting me in exercising my legal right to copies of my medical records in the face of my GP practice's blatant disregard for the law.

No help accessing benefits advice - I did say yes to this, and then it immediately dropped out of consideration, so forget about it. I'm tired of being asked for information I've already given several times - it appears emailed are being quickly skimmed through at best. No help in explaining the situation to the Tribunals Service and finding out if they will acceptable any alternative source for the information I cannot get from my GP. Not help in accessing my records - just a daft claim that the CCG is the data controller displaying a complete absence of fact-checking.

As it appears my MP and his office are only interested in disabled constituents when they are dead and can thus generate publicity without the need for consideration or any work, it appears that I will have to continue struggling with this ludicrous system - which is Labour's legacy - on my own. I'm now at a complete loss as to what 'my' MP actually does for his handsome salary - as he's not use to me or anyone else I know of who has asked him for help.

Rest assured that I will be casting my vote elsewhere as soon as I have the opportunity to do so.

It wasn't too nice, no - but there again, I was being screwed over from all sides and had hoped for help and met with apathy and indifference, and, to be honest, a subtext of 'you're faking it, aren't you?' Wouldn't you be angry? Finding out that the people paid very very well to represent you couldn't even be bothered to read your emails? That they won't offer any help, even if you tell them exactly what you need? If you wouldn't be angry at that - you're a mug, and people will be using you as a doormat for the rest of your life.

Hannah Crossan-Smith
to: Jaime Smith

30/10/2012

Dear Ms Smith

I am sorry that you feel this way. As far as I am aware, Shirley said that Michael would be willing to write to both the Tribunals Service and the Clinical Commissioning Board on your behalf.

As Shirley explained, we are not qualified to give benefits advice and it would therefore be irresponsible to do so. This has nothing to do with Michael not wanting to help his constituents, he is currently dealing with many cases related to disability benefits and will try his best to help people who come to him. It is also irrelevant who you intend to vote for, Michael assists all constituents regardless of their voting intentions.

Michael has offered to assist you and this offer still stands. Let me know if you would like him to do so.

Best wishes



Hannah Crossan - Smith

Caseworker



Oldham Constituency Office
Michael Meacher MP
11 Church Lane
Oldham OL1 3AN

Tel 0161 626 5779
Fax 0161 626 8572

At this point, I admit it, I gave up.

I wanted to go to the office, go inside, show my MP the paperwork and all the errors/lies in it. I wanted to show him the completely unfair burden the Tribunal had put on me in terms of getting further evidence. And I wanted him to help me get a just outcome. I wanted him to take my story, along with all the others, back to his party and to Parliament, and do his job. To represent me and my interests, as he is supposed to be my voice in the system.

Instead, I had to try and steer through the complexities of disabilities and DLA someone who knew nothing about them, and cared less. Who couldn't even be bothered to read my emails, who always had a reason (if you can call 'we don't do that' a reason) why what would help was not possible and a totally ineffective idea to put in its place. Who 'doesn't give welfare benefit advice' but tells me a Tribunal won't accept excerpts from my medical records. Normally, I'd have hung onto my temper like grim death, and gone through all the pointless routes as a preliminary to getting help - but I didn't have time. And she didn't care. All the remarks about 'well, if your GP won't support you...' implying that it's because I'm lying, malingering, making it up.

She has no idea - healthy people never do - of what the NHS is like if you've anything chronic. The amount of abuse, disbelief, mistreatment, delayed treatment, refusal to treat, refusal to refer, refusal to prescribe - especially painkillers. The accusations that you're mentally ill, and there is no physical problem - being in severe pain for a decade and a half and being disbelieved all that time, wouldn't you be depressed, angry and just fucking hostile? But no, there can't be a problem - I MUST BE LYING. That's *always* the answer.

So, Micheal Meacher - enjoy your visit to Sue Marsh. You and your staff are neither use nor bloody ornament here. You don't represent me, you won't even speak to me. I'm just a nuisance til it's election time again.

I appreciate that you're speaking out about the Government's persecution of disabled people, I really do. But it would be nice if you extended that same concern to your own people - the ones who elected you to look after them and their interests? You may have heard the saying 'Charity begins at home'. Well, so do good intentions - and you'd be a lot more convincing if you weren't inaccessible - in a lot of ways - to your disabled constituents.

PS - Comments will be modded before appearing, abusive ones will be used to laugh at your poor writing skills.