Medical Practitioners (Hansard, 9 February 2001)

§ Mr. Ben Chapman
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the methods of recourse benefit claimants have if they wish to challenge(a) factual material and (b) medical matters in a visiting practitioner's report. [149765]

§ Mr. Bayley
Any claimant who is unhappy with any aspect of a decision made on a claim for benefit can ask for the decision to be reconsidered. If they are still dissatisfied with the decision, for whatever reason, they can appeal. Their appeal would be dealt with by an independent appeal tribunal. At both stages, the claimant can submit further evidence in support of their claim or appeal, if they wish to do so.

§ Mr. Ben Chapman
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the criteria used by decision makers at the Benefits Agency when their examining medical practitioner's report is at odds with reports submitted by a claimant's GP. [149768]

§ Mr. Bayley
The general principles which decision makers should follow when considering evidence are set out in the decision makers guide.
All evidence needs to be weighed carefully in the light of the circumstances of the case, in general medical evidence should be treated as any other evidence. If the evidence is contradictory the decision maker should try to resolve the discrepancy, decide the point on balance of probability, or follow case law guidance.

§ Mr. Ben Chapman
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on how he establishes good practice among medical practitioners who assess benefit claims. [149767]

§ Mr. Bayley
Training and monitoring of doctors who assess benefit claims is carried out by Sema Medical Services.
All doctors who assess benefit claims receive training in disability assessment medicine. This includes benefit specific training, training in professional standards and customer care, and up to five days a year of update training on relevant clinical topics. The training programme and its content are agreed by the chief medical adviser to the Department of Social Security. All training reflects the consensus of informed medical opinion.
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Doctors who have undergone training have a number of assessments supervised by experienced full time medical services doctors, and have to reach a satisfactory standard before being approved by the chief medical adviser, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to carry out unsupervised assessments. No doctor may carry out unsupervised assessments without formal approval.
All doctors have the quality standards of their reports audited by experienced medical services doctors, according to protocols and quality standards which have been agreed by the Department. Each individual doctor is informed of the outcome of audit, and advice is given, if appropriate, on ways of improving quality standards. Advice can be informal, or may include retraining if this is needed. The audit process and outcomes are validated by the chief medical adviser.

§ Mr. Ben Chapman
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the training given to medical practitioners(a) before and (b) after they are employed to assess benefit claims. [149766]

§ Mr. Bayley
Doctors recruited by Sema Medical Services to assess benefit claims must have background clinical experience encompassing a wide range of disabling conditions.
Newly recruited doctors are trained by medical services in disability assessment medicine, including benefit specific training and training in professional standards and customer care. Doctors are tested on their assimilation of training by multiple choice examination, and, if the outcome is satisfactory, they carry out a number of assessments under the supervision of an experienced medical services doctor, and have to reach a satisfactory standard before being approved by the chief medical adviser to the Department of Social Security, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to carry out unsupervised assessments.
After initial training, all doctors receive up to five days a year of update training on specific aspects of customer care, on good practice, and on a wide range of clinical topics relevant to disability assessment medicine.
In addition, any doctor whose performance falls below an acceptable standard will receive feedback and remedial training as appropriate.