Steve Donnison
Freelance welfare benefits trainer and writer, Benefits and Work, Wiltshire
Member since 09th Feb 2004
|
IB forms: wrong in law?
Mon 09-Feb-04 11:25 AM |
I’m currently spending my days writing a guide to incapacity for work on physical health grounds (I really don’t like to think what I must have got up to in a previous incarnation). I've probably been working on my own too long and as a result I’m slightly bemused by two of the tick boxes on the IB50 questionnaire. The boxes, on page 10, should be ticked if:
‘I cannot pick up a two pence coin with either one of my hands’ and ‘I cannot pick up a 2 pence coin with one hand but I can with the other.’
The descriptors they relate to are (presumably):
7c ‘Cannot pick up a coin which is 2.5cm or less in diameter with either hand’ (15 points) or 7g ‘Cannot pick up a coin which is 2.5cm or less in diameter with one hand but can with the other.’ (6 points)
Imagine a claimant who has moderate arthritis in one or both hands. They can, just, manage to pick up a two pence coin –which is 2.5cm in diameter - but are utterly unable to manage the fine motor skills required to pick up a one pence or five pence coin - both of which are less than 2.5cm in diameter - with the affected hand(s).
Being an ordinary, honest claimant, they select the tick box ‘I have no problem using my hands’. At their PCA, because the claimant has ticked ‘No problem’ the Medical Services doctor ticks the box stating that they agree with the customer’s choice of descriptor and elects not to explore manual dexterity any further. The decision maker looks at the evidence and awards the claimant 0 points for manual dexterity and as a result they are found capable of work.
Shouldn’t the tick box on the IB50 read: ‘I cannot pick up a five pence coin with . . .’ and hasn’t the claimant been duped by being asked the wrong question? Wouldn't the 2 pence coin test only apply if the law stated ‘Cannot pick up a coin which is 2.5cm or more in diameter . . .
I’m sure I’m missing something, somebody please put me out of my misery and tell me what.
|