Who can come with you

Interpreter

If you need an interpreter for your consultation, please contact us as soon as possible using the number on your appointment letter after receiving your appointment details. This will give us time to arrange an interpreter in your required language, including British Sign Language.

You can bring your own interpreter to the consultation, but they must be at least 18 years of age.

Appointee

DWP can authorise a person or organisation to help an individual who cannot adequately manage his or her own affairs. Such a person or organisation is called an appointee (opens in new window).

If you have an authorised appointee, he or she must attend your consultation with you. Your appointee will be asked to confirm his or her name and address on arrival at the consultation centre. If you or your appointee cannot make the appointment time, please contact the Customer Service Centre as soon as possible to rearrange it. The telephone number can be found on your appointment letter. We cannot go ahead with your consultation if your appointee does not attend the consultation with you. If your authorised appointee is an organisation, you must be accompanied by an individual from the organisation to provide support at the consultation.

Companion

We want you to feel as comfortable as possible during the consultation, so we encourage you to bring a companion such as a relative, carer, friend or support worker.

The consultation will remain focused on you but the companion can contribute to the discussion when you or the Health Professional feel it is appropriate. This is particularly useful if you have a mental, cognitive or intellectual impairment that affects your ability to give an accurate account of your health condition or disability; in such cases the companion could provide a valuable account of your circumstances.

We can reimburse the cost of travel expenses that your companion has incurred traveling with you from your home to the consultation centre, and back home again with you. If you are claiming this, please make sure that you include details of your companion’s travel expenses on your own travel expense claim form, and that you submit both sets of travel receipts when posting your claim form back to us. 

If you are travelling by car, please note that you may claim for mileage costs. These will be paid at the rate of 25 pence per mile, as required by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Children

If you have children, it is best if you arrange for somebody else to look after them while you attend your consultation.  If you are unable to arrange for them to be looked after elsewhere please bring someone to look after your children while you are in the consultation room.