Personal Independence Payment: Infectious Diseases

(asked on 14th December 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with Capita on making improvements to how that provider conducts personal independence payment assessments for people with an infectious disease; and what steps that provider is taking to improve such assessments.


Answered by
Sarah Newton Portrait
Sarah Newton
This question was answered on 21st December 2017

We meet regularly with PIP Assessment Providers to discuss all aspects of their delivery of PIP assessments, including ensuring it works effectively for people with long-term health conditions or disabilities.

PIP is a functional assessment, and addresses the impact of an individual’s medical conditions on their daily life, rather than the medical conditions themselves. There is no requirement for the Health Professional to diagnose a condition or to recommend treatment options.

The assessments are undertaken by qualified Health Professionals who are experts in disability analysis with knowledge of the likely functional effects of a wide range of health conditions. Health Professionals have access to a range of resources as well as experienced clinicians to support them in assessing claimants.

Independent Assessment Services regularly engage with representative groups for clinical conditions and have recently updated their range of condition insight reports and are working to expand this guidance to cover additional topics.

Reticulating Splines