Medical Board Examinations

EDM number 1162 in 2009-10, proposed by Dai Davies on 23/03/2010.
Categorised under the topic of Health education and preventive medicine.

That this House notes serious concerns raised over how the Medical Board examines applicants for incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance; urges for changes to be made to mandate the Medical Board to take oral as well as written evidence from the claimant's general practitioner and relevant specialist; believes that experience leads to the conclusion that more time should be allocated for in-depth consideration of the claimant's evidence and that the examination should also include home visits when appropriate; further believes that decisions should be made on medical evidence and not motivated by the need to reduce the number of claimants or by age discrimination; further believes the claimant process should ensure that the stress, worry and anxiety experienced by the claimant is minimised and no financial burden is imposed as a result of the process; further believes it is important to aim to achieve the right decision first time and to reduce the need for excessive numbers of appeals, thus saving public money; and therefore calls on the Government to review the process of Medical Board examinations for incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance.

This motion has been signed by a total of 31 MPs.