Hi Mervelee – just wanted you to know that I think you sent us the below message in error. Sorry not to have let you know earlier, but this email address isn’t checked all the time.

Anyway, it looks as if it might contain confidential info – so just to reassure you that we haven’t properly read it and we’ll delete the message.

Hope you’re keeping well.

All the best,

Karen

@SE16_Happiness

From: Mervelee Myers <ratty.nembhard1956@gmail.com>
Sent: 25 September 2021 11:08
To: SE16 Happiness Group <happiness_course@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: More weekend wellbeing…

There is a GP Dr JOANNA PENNACK GMC 7283629 at Nexus Health Group Bermondsey & Lansdown Medical Mission 6 Decima Street London SE1 4DX Telephone 02074038209 who must be #reported to the Medical Council along with Linda Dobson of www.gov.uk/studentfinance at customer_complaints@slc.co.uk and Twitter/SLCcomms at Twitter for the #discrimination of Mervelee Ratty Nembhard under the Equality Act Protected Characteristics

Our Ref: 166096/LD

Dear Mrs Myers

Customer Reference Number: 19543081915

Thank you for your email dated 20 September 2021, which I am responding to

in line with our complaints process.

I am sorry to read the details of your complaint, and I can only imagine

the worry and distress you must feel when asked for additional medical

evidence to support your Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) application

for the 2021/22 academic year, without being given a clear explanation as

to why.

We are not responsible for setting student finance policy or eligibility

criteria. We were set up by the Department for Education (DfE) to

administer the Student Loan Scheme within the Regulations set by

Government. The responsibility for setting Regulations rests with

Parliament and relevant Ministers and we do not have any discretion in

their application.

I have completed a full investigation on your account to establish what has

gone wrong. This is so we can learn from your feedback and improve the

service we offer all our customers.

DSA support is intended to ensure that all students can enter higher

education on a level playing field. Students with a disability or long-term

medical condition can apply for funding and be assessed to determine what

additional support would help them to study to the best of their ability.

When a student applies for DSA funding they must first provide medical

evidence confirming their disability or long-term health condition. The

evidence must confirm that this is long term and how it affects their

day-to-day life. Once we have reviewed and accepted this, we will issue

correspondence to a student confirming that they can arrange to have a

Study Needs Assessment carried out. The Needs Assessment Centre will carry

this out and then send the Needs Assessment Report to us with

recommendations for support to help the student with their disability

related needs. We will then review this and issue correspondence

confirming the support, we have agreed. Please be aware we can only agree

to provide the most cost-effective solution to meet a student’s disability

related needs and we require all recommendations to come from a Needs

Assessor.

If we have not accepted medical evidence for a particular condition, we are

unable to consider any recommendations from a Needs Assessor related to

this.

Following the review of the medical evidence submitted to support your DSA

application, we have accepted them for Anxiety and Depression, which was

also confirmed on the Disability Evidence form completed by your doctor. I

must however make you aware that Anxiety and Depression were the only

medical conditions declared on the form.

Unfortunately, we have not accepted the medical evidence for Diabetes,

Arthritis and Chronic Pain. The only evidence we have received for Diabetes

is a doctors summary, which has entries from 2015 for diabetes but they say

this is under “good control”. To be accepted for a disability, we need to

know the condition has an adverse daily effect on your ability to carry out

normal day to day activities.

I have checked all the evidence we have received and there is no mention of

Arthritis or Chronic Pain.

I understand that you requested that your doctor completes a Disability

Evidence form after we rejected all your evidence initially. We are

uncertain why your doctor only confirmed Anxiety and Depression on the form

and not your other medical conditions. As such, we contacted you by email

and letter on 15 and 18 September 2021. We confirmed that we have accepted

medical evidence for two conditions and rejected for three. We requested

further medical evidence for Diabetes, Arthritis and Chronic Pain and as we

have accepted your evidence for Anxiety and Depression, we asked you to

arrange to attend a Needs Assessment Centre.

I have located the calls you made to us on 20 September 2021 and listened

to the recordings. The first person that you spoke with transferred your

call to a DSA advisor. It was obvious that you were very upset that we had

rejected your medical evidence. The advisor clearly explained that we

would only accept evidence which confirms that the conditions have an

adverse daily effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day

activities. As you were unhappy with the process, the advisor sent you an

email and attached a leaflet on how to raise a formal complaint. I

understand however, in a further call that you made to us later that day,

that you were unable to open the attachment. The advisor that you spoke to

confirmed that you could raise a formal complaint by sending us an email.

Whilst I appreciate your frustration regarding our request for additional

medical evidence, once you have provided the information as detailed in our

email dated 15 September 2021, by digital upload, please contact me by

email at customer_complaints@slc.co.uk and I will arrange to process this

as a priority.

I am sorry that I cannot offer you the resolution you are seeking but I

trust that I have explained things clearly. Should you have any further

questions regarding your complaint, please contact me.

Yours sincerely

Hi Mervelee – just wanted you to know that I think you sent us the below message in error. Sorry not to have let you know earlier, but this email address isn’t checked all the time.

Anyway, it looks as if it might contain confidential info – so just to reassure you that we haven’t properly read it and we’ll delete the message.

Hope you’re keeping well.

All the best,

Karen

@SE16_Happiness

From: Mervelee Myers <ratty.nembhard1956@gmail.com>
Sent: 25 September 2021 11:08
To: SE16 Happiness Group <happiness_course@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: More weekend wellbeing…

There is a GP Dr JOANNA PENNACK GMC 7283629 at Nexus Health Group Bermondsey & Lansdown Medical Mission 6 Decima Street London SE1 4DX Telephone 02074038209 who must be #reported to the Medical Council along with Linda Dobson of www.gov.uk/studentfinance at customer_complaints@slc.co.uk and Twitter/SLCcomms at Twitter for the #discrimination of Mervelee Ratty Nembhard under the Equality Act Protected Characteristics

Our Ref: 166096/LD

Dear Mrs Myers

Customer Reference Number: 19543081915

Thank you for your email dated 20 September 2021, which I am responding to

in line with our complaints process.

I am sorry to read the details of your complaint, and I can only imagine

the worry and distress you must feel when asked for additional medical

evidence to support your Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) application

for the 2021/22 academic year, without being given a clear explanation as

to why.

We are not responsible for setting student finance policy or eligibility

criteria. We were set up by the Department for Education (DfE) to

administer the Student Loan Scheme within the Regulations set by

Government. The responsibility for setting Regulations rests with

Parliament and relevant Ministers and we do not have any discretion in

their application.

I have completed a full investigation on your account to establish what has

gone wrong. This is so we can learn from your feedback and improve the

service we offer all our customers.

DSA support is intended to ensure that all students can enter higher

education on a level playing field. Students with a disability or long-term

medical condition can apply for funding and be assessed to determine what

additional support would help them to study to the best of their ability.

When a student applies for DSA funding they must first provide medical

evidence confirming their disability or long-term health condition. The

evidence must confirm that this is long term and how it affects their

day-to-day life. Once we have reviewed and accepted this, we will issue

correspondence to a student confirming that they can arrange to have a

Study Needs Assessment carried out. The Needs Assessment Centre will carry

this out and then send the Needs Assessment Report to us with

recommendations for support to help the student with their disability

related needs. We will then review this and issue correspondence

confirming the support, we have agreed. Please be aware we can only agree

to provide the most cost-effective solution to meet a student’s disability

related needs and we require all recommendations to come from a Needs

Assessor.

If we have not accepted medical evidence for a particular condition, we are

unable to consider any recommendations from a Needs Assessor related to

this.

Following the review of the medical evidence submitted to support your DSA

application, we have accepted them for Anxiety and Depression, which was

also confirmed on the Disability Evidence form completed by your doctor. I

must however make you aware that Anxiety and Depression were the only

medical conditions declared on the form.

Unfortunately, we have not accepted the medical evidence for Diabetes,

Arthritis and Chronic Pain. The only evidence we have received for Diabetes

is a doctors summary, which has entries from 2015 for diabetes but they say

this is under “good control”. To be accepted for a disability, we need to

know the condition has an adverse daily effect on your ability to carry out

normal day to day activities.

I have checked all the evidence we have received and there is no mention of

Arthritis or Chronic Pain.

I understand that you requested that your doctor completes a Disability

Evidence form after we rejected all your evidence initially. We are

uncertain why your doctor only confirmed Anxiety and Depression on the form

and not your other medical conditions. As such, we contacted you by email

and letter on 15 and 18 September 2021. We confirmed that we have accepted

medical evidence for two conditions and rejected for three. We requested

further medical evidence for Diabetes, Arthritis and Chronic Pain and as we

have accepted your evidence for Anxiety and Depression, we asked you to

arrange to attend a Needs Assessment Centre.

I have located the calls you made to us on 20 September 2021 and listened

to the recordings. The first person that you spoke with transferred your

call to a DSA advisor. It was obvious that you were very upset that we had

rejected your medical evidence. The advisor clearly explained that we

would only accept evidence which confirms that the conditions have an

adverse daily effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day

activities. As you were unhappy with the process, the advisor sent you an

email and attached a leaflet on how to raise a formal complaint. I

understand however, in a further call that you made to us later that day,

that you were unable to open the attachment. The advisor that you spoke to

confirmed that you could raise a formal complaint by sending us an email.

Whilst I appreciate your frustration regarding our request for additional

medical evidence, once you have provided the information as detailed in our

email dated 15 September 2021, by digital upload, please contact me by

email at customer_complaints@slc.co.uk and I will arrange to process this

as a priority.

I am sorry that I cannot offer you the resolution you are seeking but I

trust that I have explained things clearly. Should you have any further

questions regarding your complaint, please contact me.

Yours sincerely