There has been a thread running on the IB forum for some time concerning non attendance for medical exams but i think this case is rather different and would be grateful if anyone has any insights into it.

Client has serious MH probs which are kept maneageable by constant support at home and at work. He has to renew his DLA care and despite supporting letters from a consultant psychiatrist and CPN the DWP are asking him to see the EMP. This may well be dangerous for him as for reasons to do with his past any situation like this is likely to cause a relapse. i understand that he can get professional medical evidence that this is a fact. S.19 (3) of the SSA regs 1998 says that if he fails to submit to a medical as required by the S of S without good cause then the S of S will have to decide his claim against him. The commentary notes that whether something is good cause or not could be the subject of an appeal but I think it is fairly obvious that this would be harder to cope with than the EMP visit.We could of course go for a paper appeal (generally a lower success rate ) but what we really need is for the Dwp to change their minds about the EMP and use the extant medical evidence. I would like to write to them about this but it would be helpful if there was some precedent that we could refer to as well as the medical evidence of the likelyhood of a relapse.

thanks

Pete

ps We have recieved our copy of the Derbyshire AA/DLA pack and I can only echo the sentiments of others and say it is excellent.