I have an appeal shortly for a client suffering from ME. I was wondering if it would be appropriate to ask the 'medically qualified' member their opinion on the condition ME. If not, what about the client asking this themselves?

Personally I would be very wary of asking a tribunal member an open question.

Far better for you to submit your own medical evidence and give the detail of how that affects the conditions of entitlement.

The medical evidence bit goes without saying but pointless if the medical member is of the opinion that ME does not exist surely?

I find that medical members have their own opinions on most illnesses and how they affect people.

I've found that attitudes are vastly different from member to member, even for illnesses such as arthritis.

I would not ask a medical member whether they think a particular illness exists. For a start i don't think you'd get an answer and, if the medical evidence you have clearly points to there being problems for your client then that evidence will need to be properly considered or the Tribunal leave themselves wide open to official error.

I do know what you mean in respect of ME - i think we've all encountered the sceptisism, however i also think attitudes within the medical profession are changing in respect of this particular illness.

As has already be said to you, be very wary of asking such an open question!

Good Luck!

Nicky

Cheers Nicky

This is probably teaching a grandmother to suck eggs and slightly off the point, but clients who profess to(and probably do) know more than the medically qualified member about their condition can cause complete distraction from the care/attention/supervision needs that you are trying to demonstrate on their behalf. If it's stated by the GP or specialist that the client has ME then that should be sufficient. I seem to recall from another forum that it's against GMC rules to dispute a fellow doctor's call. I think pursuing the the medically qualified member's opinion is a red herring.

It is never a good tactic to ask a question unless you know what the answer is going to be!

Cheers all.