188体育

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Judicial Summary

Personal Independence payment- daily living activity 5- Importance of identifying the 鈥榠mpaired function鈥� to apply properly the definition of 鈥榓id and appliance鈥�. A bottle and sterilised water, used to wash after going to the toilet was not an aid for the purposes of the PIP Regulations, because the claimant had no impaired function relating to the activity of cleaning herself, and because the process was a preventative therapy rather than something which made it easier or possible for her to clean herself. The claimant made a claim for personal independence payment (PIP). She had recurrent urinary tract infections as well as other conditions. The issue before the Upper Tribunal was whether the FTT had been correct to reject her claim that descriptor 5b applied (needs to use an aid or appliance to manage toilet needs or incontinence鈥�. It was not in dispute that she used a bottle with sterilised water, and wipes, to clean herself after using the toilet, in order to reduce the risk of urinary tract infection. Held, dismissing the appeal, that: 1. The first stage in identifying whether an object is an aid is to identify what 鈥榠mpaired function鈥� the claimant has relating to the activity which they use a purported 鈥榓id鈥� for. Under Regulation 2 of the Social Security (PIP) Regulations 2013, an aid or appliance 鈥榤eans any device which improves, provides or replaces C鈥檚 impaired physical or mental function鈥�. Impaired functions relevant to cleaning after using the toilet would include impaired ability to reach to wipe oneself, or impaired dexterity making it difficult to use toilet paper. Submissions by both the claimant and SSWP that the 鈥榠mpaired function鈥� could be an impaired immune system or the infections themselves were flawed. The 鈥榠mpaired function鈥� is not an impaired bodily function considered in the abstract, but the claimant鈥檚 impaired physical or mental function which affects her ability to carry out a particular activity: CW v SSWP [2016] UKUT 0197 followed. The claimant in this case had no difficulty with cleaning herself: there was no relevant 鈥榠mpaired function鈥� for the purposes of the definition of 鈥榓id or appliance鈥�. 2. The second stage is to identify whether that 鈥榠mpaired function鈥� is required in order to carry out the activity. That did not arise in this case, as there was no relevant 鈥榠mpaired function鈥�, CW v SSWP [2016] UKUT 0197 followed. Obiter, the Secretary of State鈥檚 submission that a bottle with sterilised water was one of the normal manners of cleaning oneself after using the toilet was rejected. 3. The third stage is to identify whether the purported aid improved, provides or replaces the 鈥榠mpaired function鈥�. Items such as long-handled devices for cleaning ones backside could improve an impaired dexterity in relation to activity 5 because they directly compensate for the reduced ability to carry out the activity. In this case, the purported aid was not being used to improve any difficulty with performing the act of cleaning: it was being used as a preventative therapy. 4. The FTT applied the correct test, and reached the inevitable conclusion that the bottle and water was not an aid.