IBS And The DWP/WRAG.

[kirkcaldy]

I have suffered from IBS for some years now and only my family and medical staff are aware as I find it quite embarrassing to tell anyone.

However I am claiming Employment Support Allowance and on the 28th of June 2011 I had my ATOS medical and was placed on a Work Related Activity Group which I am appealing ( Not Related ).

Anyway I attended my appointment on the 8th of September 2011 at Job Center Plus Kirkcaldy for my Work Focused Interview and when I asked to use a toilet I was told there are no public or disabled toilets for me to use, and I was told by my Customer Adviser Mr Mike Woods to go to the local TESCO store and use their toilets which I did.

After I complained I was told I should go home and was given a new appointment as I was in some state and because of this I asked for a home interview as it was an undue Inconvenience to make a person with IBS to attend without a toilet being available I was told I could use the staff toilet but only in a emergency, which is really, really too kind of them I must say that goes way beyond the call of duty, to ask someone with the condition of IBS to be able to use the staff toilet in an emergency only.

I find it strange when it was the DWP who placed me in the Work Related Activity Group knowing my condition to demand me to attend and not having a toilet available for me or anyone in the same position,
well I will ask to use the toilet as many times as I feel I need it and as people who suffer from IBS will know you sometimes need to go basically after you have just gone be it just mucus, gas or Cramps.

I then found out that the local office do not hold all up to date medical information only truncated information about all my conditions and I was told that even if they did my adviser could see over 10 people plus a day and cannot read every persons notes in detail.

So I have been given another appointment for the 21st of September 2011 with a promise of a staff toilet ( Emergency Only ) and I will see what happens then, I have also contacted TESCO about the DWP directing me and who knows how many other people to their store to use their toilet and resources.

( All the information I have typed here is true and factual and I can be contacted to validate any of the information I have provided. )

Many Thanks,

R.

 

[kirkcaldy]

Hello Rainmaker,

Thank you for your kind words and I do know it is mainly a computer forum,
and I am a techno geek and now suffer from IBS so I thought other users may have the same problem as well as something in common.

And do honestly mean thank you for keeping me right.

R.

 

[kirkcaldy]

No I am on ESA however there is WRAG and the Support Group,
and I am on prescription tablets so I have too watch what non issued tablets I take,
And why should I muck up my tablets because the DWP decide that I can't use their toilet.

I am ill and there is no disagreement about this from the DWP so then seeing that going to the WFI is mandatory then they have due care and support to meet my needs not the other way around.

And I tell people this if I need the toilet and I am refused then I think we all know what will happen without going into details and then they will have a very bad public relations incident on their hands because for one thing I am not meek or dumb.

 

[kirkcaldy]

IBS

My wife suffers with IBS so has to manage her diet pretty carefully. I assume you're well on top of this already?

Sometimes I can then all it takes is a rogue ingredient and then- well I'm sure you know from your dear wife and her condition.

Thank You..

R..

 

[kirkcaldy]

IBS.

State that it's against the law to deny use of a toilet in Scotland and suggest they are discriminating against you. The threat of a legal action will make them **** themself.

Sorry.

LOL.

 

[kirkcaldy]

I too suffer from IBS. Only for the past year or so it has become noticiable.
Get a very bad pain in my side with it too. Cannot seem to eat the right things, so any suggestions would be good

I just get up and go to the toilet, if they require a doc note il quite happily provide 1

When it First developed IBS relatives thought I had Aids or Cancer and just didn't know how to bring the topic up until my Mother asked and it all came out so to say.

I tried the various amounts of food advice from forums
but could never find the right mixture of food or fluids.

It's a bit hit and miss to be quite honest you have to go through the long process of guessing what to avoid.

I know I will overcome this and work around it as I can't just vegetate,
I find the Second biggest problem is talking to strangers face to face about my condition.

Talking online is different even though it is personal I am faceless and don't feel people pointing or making snide comment and being under scrutiny.

All I can say is just try and experiment with food and fluid,
though saying that I never eat and only sip water for 48 hours prior to going to an appointment if I have the will power just to be safe.

Machine Name: eMac
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Boot ROM Version: 4.8.2f1

 

[kirkcaldy]

I work full time and have bad IBS diagnosed by a specialist, I have always worked, every job I have had I just let my manager that I may need more toilet breaks but will not take the mick and they have all been fine with it

That sounds like a really good employer that I would love to work for,
you are lucky in your employment status and with the understanding employer.

 

[kirkcaldy]

head over to your local citizens advice bureau or law centre, if they're legal aid funded they can help with an appeal and sign you up under a caseworker.

the ESA medical process is a joke now, its basically a list of 'descriptors' which attempt to find out if you can do certain tasks such as 'sitting at a desk' and 'using a keyboard and mouse'...if you cant do the descriptor in question then you score points for that particular test.

except they dont actually test you, they ask you a series of questions, along with the esa50 questionaire you fill in and then extrapolate answers for these descriptors with the multiple answer type questions you answer.

the descriptors can be found on page 69 of the following pdf

http://ssac.independent.gov.uk/pdf/esa-amendment-regulations-2011.pdf

if you score 15 points with descriptors from parts 1 and 2 then you can go into the wrags group, work related activity group basically means they think you can do some type of work.

the descriptors on page 76 are for the support group, if you fit the further criteria for this group you dont have to look for any work whatsoever as you are deemed to ill to work, only something like 4% of all claimants get into this however.

as i say, go to your local citizens advice or law centre, they will be able to assist you with an appeal but the majority of the work any advice agency does is down to the medical evidence they receive back. they can write to your doctors/specialists and use that evidence to argue that the dwp's assessment doesnt cover factors known by your doctors who have been seeing you for x years. letters saying 'mr. x suffers from y illness and takes z medication' arent usually worth the paper they are written on. what we do is create a document listing the descriptors relevant to the appellant and ask the doctor to comment on their understand of their patient's ability to perform these tasks given their illnesses. then ask for a reconsideration with the written evidence so you're not waiting 9 months for a first tier tribunal date.

also if you get any disability living allowance think about requesting a copy of the decision maker's report which might have evidence in you can use for your ESA appeal.

good look with the appeal

Thank you for your help it is really appreciated and I hope it helps others too.

You know I wouldn't appeal the WRAG group if I really felt well enough to get back into work and that's the truth I do have other problems that I really don't want to go into here.

However leaving that out, my gripe is my treatment at the DWP office, which in this day and age is disgraceful how the hell am I mean't to put all my energy into trying to concentrate about what I need to help me back into work when I am thinking that I am going to **** myself because I can't use the toilet or that I am being or problem for daring to ask.

However I will use the contact advice you have given should I need it,
as I have learn't to stick up for myself and not be put down or talked over when I have something to say without being bolshy.

 

[kirkcaldy]

the codeine isn't for the pain I take spasmonal for that, codeine is the only thing that when combined with the loperamide stopped me going to the loo 6-10 times a day, the regular intake of codeine reduced it from 6-10 to 1-4 times a day, I know how codeine effects the system and was informed of this by a specialist in hospital after a full colonoscopy and trialing quite a list of different drugs and not simply by my GP

In my eyes living a life where I don't have to check whether there is a toilet on the way to wherever I am going and always be worrying whether I can leave the house without sitting in the bathroom for upwards of an hour is worth it

Your experience is also mine I live in the same type of inconvenience
and if I could put that amount of planning in other aspects of my life I would be happy.

" In my eyes living a life where I don't have to check whether there is a toilet on the way to wherever I am going and always be worrying whether I can leave the house without sitting in the bathroom for upwards of an hour is worth it "

 

[kirkcaldy]

ATOS.

I wish people would stop confusing assessment of ability to work with diagnosing health issues when they rant about ATOS.

The system is far from perfect, but can we at least argue what they do, rather than what you think they do?

I have heard all the negative stories about ATOS and was well prepared for the bad treatment, however I was treated decently and had no complaints about my medical.

One or Two comments were incorrect which I will be raising at my appeal of WRAG.

However it is the attitude of the DWP Job Center Plus and not providing public or disabled toilets for their so-called customers to use.

It's not like they can't spend our taxes on a couple of toilets for their customers to use.

Robert....

 

[kirkcaldy]

As someone who works for the job centre as a Disability Employment Advisor, I will say that access to toilets is something that should be available for those people with health conditions upon request, although access to non-customer facing areas such as toilets is usually controlled via the security staff (at my office employed by G4S on behalf of Trillium). Such staff are not always as friendly or helpful when dealing with this sort of request as they should be...I have had to 'remind' a few guards of the facility for those customers who have health conditions on occasion

Now as for toilets not being provided for anyone who visits - I can see the argument in favour (a call of nature is a call of nature after all ) but the potential for costly and expensive vandalism and deliberate mess making is a factor in why they aren't available to all. The average visitor to the job centre would have no issue but the behaviour of some people who attend beggars belief.

In my 2 and a bit years in the job I've been threatened (both numerous times at work, and once outside of work), seen graffiti, deliberate vandalism to furniture and office equipment, windows get smashed (more than once), people get arrested after violent incidents, a drunk guy once being sick on my desk, people dealing drugs, people stealing from other customers and staff, fighting and arguing amongst each other, weapon and drugs being left behind (a knife concealed behind a notice board in a stairwell).

Giving everybody access to facilities that should obviously be private (such as toilets) gives greater opportunity for people to commit vandalism and generally bad behaviour towards other people. Whilst toilets should be available to all, the fact is I imagine a very small minority of the people we deal with would absolutely relish the opportunity of somewhere 'private' for them to make a mess that the DWP is responsible for picking up the tab for...

You make a valid point and I understand that all customers to the DWP can have malicious intent on their mind, however I am sure that DWP can put certain procedures in operation or even vandal proof toilets.

I could say just have toilets for people with disabilities and certain conditions,
however that would discriminate against able bodied people who need the toilet too.

 

[kirkcaldy]

Toilets And the DWP.

Out of interest (and you don't have to tell me if you don't wish to discuss it on an open forum) - what are you appealing over, the fact that you were put into the WRAG, or that you were *not* put into the WRAG and thus able to continue to receive ESA? And what sub-group of WRAG customers were you placed into - 3, 6 or 12 month?

No it's quite o.k, I am appealing being put on WRAG 12 month however that is in hand and I am confident that I will win my appeal at the First stage so that is why it wasn't the topic for me I was just providing as much information regarding the event.

It was just the awful experience at being told I couldn't use the toilet,
I was in some state and nearly had an accident had I not run to TESCO.

My WFI was defered as I was in no state to continue the interview and Mr Mike Woods the customer adviser was not rude about it and I believe was following some DWP policy, however when I got home I did phone him up on his personal number and explained my condition and asked for a WFI home visit that's when I was given the promise of the staff toilet.

 

[kirkcaldy]

ATOS.

I suffer from IBS and it isn't a lot of fun. Even with a tight diet it still flares up.

Anyway I went into rage face as soon as I saw the word ATOS. ****ing no good cowboys who think they can diagnose health issues with a few questions. The Government should hand their heads in shame and have more than a few MPs sacked for that **** up.

Mind you if the Government can give toilet access to IBS succeeded and sends them to Tescos for the love of all things how can they be expeed to do a fair benefit review?

I really don't care who does my medical all I ask is that they do it properly and are professional in their duty.

 

[kirkcaldy]

Work and IBS.

I know a couple of people who have bad IBS and can work, surely there aren't lots of people not working due to IBS?

I am sure that there are people with IBS who can work with no problem as there are different types and not everyone's condition is the same.

Depending on how bad they are some work could be done at home depending on what type of work they are qualified to do and the good will of an employer.

And can you see an employer hiring someone with IBS who could end up going to the toilet 10 times within 5 hours and for up to 20 minutes at a time at the drop of a hat.

Not many if any..

 

[kirkcaldy]

Do you not have the "Can't wait" toilet cards where they have to let you in to staff toilets etc?

http://www.new-you.tv/portal/web/new-you/got_to_go_card

http://www.theibsnetwork.org/cantwait.asp

http://www.bladderandbowelfoundation.org/resources/toilet-card.asp

Had to get them for a family I work with who have IBS

I actually had one believe it or not and tried to use it when I had to go shopping in Edinburgh one day with my sister I tried using it in HMV St James Centre and was told no because of insurance and health and safety, however they did direct me to a nearby disabled toilet I was able to use with my RADAR key.

You know One thing about having this condition it certainly gives you so tight buttock muscles I could crack walnuts.LOL

 

[kirkcaldy]

I work for G4S (no hate mail please ) which as you may know holds the contract for most if not all of the JCP buildings, and around the area I'm stationed, quite a few of the offices have public conveniences. Not all offices have though, and on numerous occasions I have had to escort customers to and from the staff loos.

I see it as a part of the job, if someone has a medical complaint, such as the op, then we have no issues with letting them use the facilities.

I have never had any problem with G4S so I have no negative comments towards your employer at present.

A toilet is a toilet when the need is great, however the amount of times I need to go to the toilet people would talk every time I went to the toilet with a G4S employee.LOL

 

[kirkcaldy]

IBS

IBS sufferers, what medication have you found that works? or is there no 'cure' tablet for it?

At the moment Buscopan and Meberverine help to a point however I am finding that my body is building a resistance and will have to have them reviewed.

And as far as I am aware there is no cure at the moment as the conditions differ with different sufferers.