Whilst I appreciate that I am not totally disabled, in that I can manage to get the bus stop and back without needing to stop most of the time, as long as I remember to use my inhalers before setting off that is, I looked into an application for DLA a few months ago.
The short version of my story is that I had pneumonia about 15 years back, it left me with reduced lung capacity and I was unable to do a lot of physical work, or go running, as I felt I was blacking out. Then, two years ago, I gave up smoking after 30+ years. Oh boy, did it all go wrong then!
I was hit with chest infection after chest infection, antibiotics and steroids every couple of weeks. I had had a salbutamol inhaler for a while but now I have 3 different ones in all, plus a powder inhaler, plus tablets... Diagnosed as COPD and now developing bronchitis.
Anyway, I spoke to my doctor and explained that I found it difficult getting there as I am unemployed and receive no benefits. My wife works, she gets working tax credits, but we are really stretched and it's not always possible to spare the bus fare. I used to walk there and back, about 2 miles each way by quickest route, but dare not set off to try that now as I know I'd never get there and back, based on one similar attempt a few months ago. I didn't get back home that time, I was carted off to hospital by ambulance when I got to the Doctor's as I was totally out of breath, the inhalers were doing nothing.
So, I put in the DLA forms, rejected, appealed, rejected, I'm now waiting to go to a tribunal hearing. All I set out to do was gain some recognition that my health has deteriorated and I cannot do a lot of the things I used to, like walk to the surgery. as such I was hoping to qualify for a bus pass.
I now know that I didn't have to go through the DWP and DLA application for this. All I had to do was download a couple of forms from the council website, pretty straightforward. One is a form your doctor has to sign and stamp, to say that he/she confirms your disability. That is sent to the council, they send a letter out to say you need to take that, with proof of ID and DOB, to the nearest travel centre.
My letter arrived on Saturday, I went to the travel centre the same day, I'm told I'll have the pass mid-week. Brilliant! To get to my doctor's means catching one bus into town, then another bus to the surgery, and same coming back. I'm not too worried about the time taken, I used to walk in about 25 minutes, by bus it's a little bit more, allowing for the bit of walking I still have to do. The big bonus is not paying, which will save £4 a trip. Same cost if I have to go to the hospital for an appointment there.
Then I find out I could have claimed the bus fare back for hospital appointments as I have a HC2 certificate for prescriptions and other medical costs. That was issued on low joint income grounds and I only found out about that by complaining about prescription costs through my MP. I
have 7 items a month and was buying a pre-pay certificate, nearly £30 for 3 months.
It seems there isn't really a central place to get all this sort of information. Had I known how simple it was to get the travel pass, I would have had it weeks ago. The HC2 certificate was after 4 years of paying the costs, which we could not always afford and I admit I was skipping getting a prescription at times because of that.
What I'm really looking forward is attending the tribunal next month, and the question about how I got there. I will take great delight in producing my shiny new mobility travel pass! As for the case itself. I have read in many places that most cases are rejected and don't even get settled at appeal, so a tribunal is often the stage where someone actually listens.
My argument will be that nobody has contacted my Doctor to verify my condition, and that I am not able to pay the cost of getting a private letter from him to support my case. The facts are already in the paperwork, including my appeal and then the tribunal being updated with a further letter I sent in.
I found the discussion here tonight, well, early hours actually as I'm having issues sleeping of late. Can't breath properly and wake up in a panic, then can't get back off again - so I spend a bit of time on the Internet or something. That's why it's 4.15am as I write this...
I have found it difficult getting access to the CAB locally. Not in getting there, which is a single bus ride, but actually seeing someone. Last time I went I was sat in the waiting room for over two hours and had to leave in the end due to people smoking just outside the doorway, and the smoke getting in to the waiting area. I didn't make a fuss, but did cough for a while afterwards.
I find that the Internet helps me a lot. A couple of nights ago I was looking to take a trip to my brother-in-laws place in North Yorkshire, see what buses I needed to catch and all that. I found out that my new pass will be valid on trains through to Leeds, as long as I catch the slow ones. From there I can use the Coastliner service to Whitby and my brother-in-law would pick me up at the stop when I got there. A day trip to Scarborough is not impossible using a similar link with train to bus. The only bit I've yet to work out is a short hop of about 3-4 stops from the rail station to the bus station in Leeds.
Sorry, gone on a bit - I was originally just going to say that applying for a pass is easy and I misunderstood that I had to have DLA in order to get one, which was wrong. Travel South Yorkshire have a leaflet all about it - but this is my first post here so I can't post a link to it, sorry. Google 'south yorkshire disability travel' the follow the link for the English National Concession Pass.
Check the local council website for the application forms, or give them a call and they'll send them out. From getting the form to having the pass will have taken under 3 weeks for me.
The other bit of good news, for me at least, is that I can go back to doing a bit of voluntary work. I had to give that up when I realised I couldn't afford the travel costs, which was over £40 a month. I can stand all the ribbing I've had from my wife and family about having the pass, knowing that it's going to re-open a lot of possibilities for me.