The 20 metre rule is a pointless test
James' MS came on very quickly. All of a sudden he couldn’t walk and talk and his brain wasn’t working properly at all. He had a tremendous amount of pain and his left hand and arm and back were tingling.
I was in hospital for over 3 weeks. Luckily because I had such a severe attack, I was diagnosed within 24 hours and on treatment soon after. After I got out of hospital I was walking on crutches for a year and a half. At the age of 23, that was a bit of a stinger.
My MS is a lot less active these days, but I'm not completely symptom free. I still have neuropathic pain in left hand and back, and fatigue is never far away.
Walking 20 metres is a pointless test
I was on DLA, but 6 months ago I was re-assessed for PIP. They asked me to walk to a specific mark and assessed my ability based on that. I can walk okay, but MS is a complex condition. So walking 20m is a pointless test, it doesn’t show anything in particular.
I was downgraded after my assessment as I'm 'getting better'. It was a stressful process and means I'll have to cut back on daily costs of living.
MS is such an unpredictable condition, assessments should look at all the symptoms people get.
I feel lucky my condition is okay at the moment. But MS can change at any time.
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Having MS is enough. We need a welfare system that works.
Ask your MP to call for a review of PIP
This blog was first shared as part of our #ScrapPIP20M campaign in 2018. We updated the petition link April 2023.
