Social Security Experience Panels: Personal Independence Payment health assessments

Rearranging a health assessment

As stated above, the current and previous research with Experience Panel members has suggested that they place a high value on flexibility. In order to consider how Social Security Scotland might provide such flexibility in the future, we explored the topic of rearranging health assessments.

Respondents were asked if they had ever missed or cancelled a health assessment at short notice. For the purposes of this survey, we defined 'short notice' as cancelling up to 48 hours before the appointment was due to take place, and that 'missing' a health assessment referred to not turning up to a previously booked appointment without giving advanced notice of intent to not be there.

Just under one in five respondents (17 per cent) had missed or cancelled a health assessment at short notice.

Table 11: Have you ever missed or cancelled a health assessment at short notice? (n=128)

Of those who had missed or cancelled their appointment, just over seven in ten (71 per cent) had cancelled their appointment and just under three in ten (29 per cent) had missed it.

Table 12: Respondents who missed or cancelled an appointment (n=21)

We asked respondents why they had missed or cancelled their appointment. Responses across both groups were broadly similar, with common reasons being:

• the respondent was unwell, in hospital or caring for an unwell family member or friend;
• the respondent could not arrange suitable transport to their health assessment;
• the respondent's disability had flared up and they were having a bad day; or
• they lost the appointment letter, or the letter arrived giving insufficient notice to allow arrangements to be made to attend.