General approach when carrying out award reviews

Confirmation from a professional

Confirmation from a professional, by this we mean one piece of supporting information from a professional that is used to broadly confirm the individual’s conditions, disability, or needs.

Case managers must only request confirmation from a professional as part of a review if both of the following apply:

• The change relates to a condition for which the individual has not previously provided confirmation from a professional or for which good cause was not established at a previous decision. This can be because the condition is new or because the individual’s confirmation from a professional related to a different condition they have
• The reported change in their condition is likely to lead to a change in their level of entitlement

In all other scenarios, the case manager must accept the previously provided confirmation from a professional, or the fact that good cause has been previously established for the absence of confirmation from a professional, as sufficient.

See Specific Review Scenarios: no reported change and reported change for more details.
See the chapter on gathering supporting information for more detail on our overall policy regarding confirmation from a professional and supporting information.