I've been lucky enough to get someone from DPAC to accompany me to the medical and that'll be the first thing that they ask.
I've held off posting about my assessment and the following decision because I was waiting for a "good" time to share it . By a "good" time I mean one where other contributors to the thread were not experiencing their own problems and anxieties with the WCA.
Picking such a time hasn't been easy due to the very nature of the struggle that we face in having to undergo such an intrusive and inherently unfair procedure.
My assessment took place in a consulting room at the local hospital and I was lucky enough to be accompanied by a representative from DPAC. I was having a rough day, in fact I'd had a rough weekend before the appointment. My health problems, ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis had probably been exacerbated by being so stressed by the whole process. Over the weekend I'd managed about six hours sleep in total. I was fucked and I looked it.
The HCP introduced himself and told us that he was a retired GP. We talked informally for about five minutes, I was very careful what I said and told him my medical history to date and handed a sizeable sheaf of supporting evidence that I'd also sent registered post to Maximus.
He noted that I didn't look very well and I, stupidly, said that I was "alright" and that it was amazing what you get used to.
He then said that we would start the assessment and turned the recording machine on. He recorded for six minutes in total and asked me variations of the questions he'd asked earlier, I then realised that he'd been coaching me. He progressed from asking questions to making statements. "It's quite obvious to me that you would experience great difficulty in walking 20 metres and you certainly wouldn't be able to do that repetitively." The assessment was then over, he told me that he would be recommending that I be placed in the Support Group, I was in the WRAG at the time, and then he wished me well and we left.
I left knowing that I'd been stitched up and that I hadn't had a chance to explain even half of my symptoms and spent the next week to ten days dreading a brown envelope with the decision letter. It finally arrived and I hid it from my wife and couldn't open it until the following day. Fuck me, the DM had placed me in the support group just as the doctor had said he would recommend. There are some good HCP's doing these assessments, though they appear to be in the minority, and I was lucky enough to get one.
These WCA's shouldn't have to come down to a lottery as to whether or not the HCP views your case with a certain amount of empathy and understanding, but it certainly helps. Once again thanks to everyone on this thread, and off it, who have supported me through all this. You know who you are, you fabulous people.
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