I am 27 years old. I suffer from various chronic health conditions that have caused irreversible damage to my body. I have been in  receipt of Disability Living Allowance for many years, and like a lot of you, recently switched over to Personal Independence Payments. 

I, and many people I know have had to fight tooth and nail to be granted the benefits that they genuinely need; been refused and ignored, discriminated against and had their assessment reports completely botched. The 'medical professionals' who carry out assessments on behalf of the DWP are not qualified to diagnose anyone. The majority of them are only as medically trained as care assistants, yet they are able to override legitimate medical reports and evidence from people's consultants and GPs.

I am calling for a change to the way that PIPS and DLA assessments are carried out. I believe that somebody's eligibility for disability benefit should be based on medical reports, and written evidence from any health professional that they are under referral from, as well as their GP. I believe that if someone's doctor states that their health conditions affect them in certain ways, that should be the basis of their claim. 

Everyone has good days and bad days with chronic illness,  whether it's mental or physical. The bad days often outweigh the good days and a true picture of their daily life can only be shown by solid medical evidence; not a single opinion made by somebody with no medical qualifications. That's why I don't think that medical questionnaires, and a quick visit from a random 'professional' is an efficient way of determining the way that someone's health conditions affect their everyday life.

Thank you if you have read this far, I really hope we can make our voices heard!