RAF Medical Appeal - HELP NEEDED!

Hi guys, I applied for the RAF, for Gen Tech E. Everything was going well and moving quickly, aced the physcometric testing, did really well in the interview, and then... the medical kinda went wrong! :s-smilie:

Basically, I have an old knee injury, I was attacked a few years back and had a bit of trouble with it. Ended up having key-hole surgery to remove a small slither of cartlidge. Everythings been pretty much fine. I also had a heart murmer as a child. Both of these things I made clear at my medical. All went well and the RAF doctorjust requested me to get a copy of the parts of my medical records from my GP relating to the heart murmer and the knee op. and basically his opinion as to whether I was fit or not.

This is were it went a bit wrong. My GP gave a copy of everything in my records relating to my leg. In itself not a problem but he included a note that I asked for a GP letter to gain extra leg room on a flight last year. Now basically, I know I have to be symptom free regarding the knee for 4 years prior to joining, and I've not seen a GP about it for 3 years, which I know is below the 4 years but alot of people have told me thats not an issue so long as my GP agrees I am fit for service. The problem is this flight letter.

What happened is that I went on holiday last year, and I flown with the same airline the previous year and I'm 6'2" and it was a very umcomfortable flight. This time the flight was 4 and a half hours and I thought I'd ask for extra leg room as I couldn'tstand being cramped into a tiny seat for that long. The airline told me I had to get a GP letter to gain the extra leg-room when checking in. So I went to my GP and requested a letter. He agreed, told me to come back in a couple of days and pay £25. I decided I wasn't going to pay that much for a headed peice of paper and left it. Anyway, let me just point out that I didn't go to the GP with a knee complaint, it was purely just to get a letter as that is what I had been advised to do. The heart murmer is also not a problem anymore.

Well its this request for a GP letter that has tripped me up. The RAF doctor is classing it as a symptom of my knee injury so now I have to appeal. Basically I need help knowing what I have to do, how to word the letter and what to include. I've already had a letter from the AFCO giving me the address to appeal to but not much else. I really need help with this letter, and do I need to ask my GP maybe to write a letter on my appeal too?

The other thing I want to know is that, should my appeal fail, would I be able to re-apply next year, that being 4 years on from my last complaint? Or are they going to count the flight letter as the last incident, meaning I'll have to wait another 3 years? I'm 24 already and I don't think I can hang about until I'm 27 to join!
Any hel, advice or guidence would be much appreciated! Thanks guys!

PAUL.

Reply 1

Theo1977

You want your doctor to agree that he was complicit in a fraud on the airline?

Reply 2

Spacecam

tl;dr

I find it suspicious that you have ONE post on this forum...

Your GP will not lie. He/she can't lie or they'll be struck off the register.

Reply 3

Naigan

http://tinyurl.com/2wszka6

Reply 4

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

To make a successful appeal application (note that means get an appeal started, not necessarily win it) you have to offer new advice that the medical board did not see first time around. I suggest you go back to the surgery and explain the consequences of this note on your file and ask them to confirm that a) the letter was precautionary and in any case was not picked up (they probably can't confirm this second part this late on) and b) they did not investigate your knee either before or after because you did not indicate that you had a problem.

Your GP has no influence on the medical deliberations of the RAF medics - they use very different boundaries and parameters to judge fitness.

Reply 5

rockandrollcamera

Spacecam

I find it suspicious that you have ONE post on this forum...

Your GP will not lie. He/she can't lie or they'll be struck off the register.

WTF!? Suspicious is it that I have one post? Hows that then? We all have to start somewhere, I've been a member of this forum since I began my application in May when I was watching a few threads. Never needed to post until now. Wow, didn't realise that was so suspicious? I'd say it's more suspicious that you are not, as far as can bee seen, in the RAF or armed forces, but you're going around commenting on threads that have nothing to do with you or your opinion! If you READ my original post you will see at no point have I or am I going to ask my GP to lie. I have asked for advice on what exactly I need from my GP at this stage i.e. a letter of recommendation or more copys of my records etc.

If I ever have any toothache though I'll know where to come...

Theo1977

You want your doctor to agree that he was complicit in a fraud on the airline?

Again, why are people so quick to comment on threads that they have'nt even read properly? Where am I asking my GP to agree to anything other than my good state of health and at what point did I fraud the Airline? I needed extra leg-room due to my height, I phoned the airline, they told me to get a letter from my GP, I saw my GP...
Where is the fraud? Pay attention in future Theo!...

Other than that, thank you Naigan for the useful link and many thanks to ThreeportDrift for the helpful information, I sort of know where I'm going now!

If anybody else has anymore useful advice, please let me know! Cheers!...

Reply 6

neildo

My advice is this. Find the best knee specialist that you can regardless of cost to yourself - the more reputable the better (I saw the chap who does the knees of the top teams in Scotland, including the national team). Ask for a full examination and for them to detail their findings and their thoughts on your suitability for service. Also get them to mention the airline issue, reinforcing that it was not a "symptom" or "problem".

RAF Medical Appeal - HELP NEEDED!

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