So That Just Happened

Or didn't.

Woke up stressed because I was supposed to be haveing my WCA today.

Yes, you heard that right. Supposed.

So what actually happened: turned up at quarter past nine for a 9:25am appointment. During the subsequent 35 minute wait (because they refuse to book accurate appointments), a guy with crutches has to beg to be seen and not sent away because of some confusion regarding his ability to safely exit the building. Two other people leave for a time because they realise they are going to be waiting for ages.

It's not a happy place. The guy with crutches says his appointment was the same time as mine, so I guess they are double booking people as well. They know how long the appointments take (on balance, of course there are always exceptions), yet they still adopt a completely unworkable structure: without thought for the fact people attending do have problems, particularly with mental health and the stress of appointments and waiting rooms.

So when I'm seen, the assessor introduces herself as a registered nurse (presumably not actually practising). Says it all that people who could be serving in a real capacity within the NHS proper would rather take Mrs May's silver coin to bother the sick.

She then mentions that I can't be seen because, due to having an eye condition called a Nystagmus (involuntary eye movement and difficulty focussing, had it all my life), I need to be seen by an actual doctor. By which she means an assessor who is registered as a doctor (again, Mrs May's shiny silver).

I could go on about how this is bullshit, as these are not properly diagnostic appointments and it' snot the job of Maximus or the WCA to actually diagnose conditions. Apparently it's a rules thing: the DWP guidelines (so I'm told) require this. Nystagmuses (nystagmi?) are on a list of conditions that require the individual be assessed by a doctor. She didn't say optician, which makses the whole thing suspect. What does 'doctor' mean? We have specialisation for a reason; if you go to a GP and report the symptoms of such a condition you'll be told to see an optician.

In the end it makes (and made) no difference. I had to leave pending a new appointment, and a big fat reset on the stress-O-meter. There is the possibility of a home appointment, although I'm not sure that would be workable; however I suspect that was mooted just to appease me. I doubt they have any intention of honouring that. Apparently my case was initially examined by a doctor, but then incorrectly assigned. So well done.

It's a shit show. They don't care for the consequences they inflict on people. This is not just a simple clerical error to those of us who have to endure this process. I spent two weeks stressing about it from the moment the letter arrived. I never stopped thinking about it and now I have to go through that again. They have no answer for this and no intention, I suspect, of mitigating their process accordingly - or offering anything else. Maybe they will offer a home appointment, but that doesn't make the waiting game any less sharp. I have no idea when they will contact me again or what they will offer. It's entirely possible I will have no choice but to reattend the stressful assessment centre. Even though I had to wait 35 minutes an earlier appointment is all the more preferable, now there is no guarantee my next time will be thus.

Welcome to the circus where the dancing elephants of tory ineptitude trample over your life for the amusement of the rich.