The Personal Capacity Assessment and Standing without Support from Another Person.

This activity has seven descriptors and is described as "the ability to stand without support from another person or from anything more than a single walking stick, and to continue standing for a period of time".

The numbers in brackets below are the points awarded for each descriptor.

• Cannot stand unassisted; (15)
• Cannot stand for more than a minute before needing to sit down; (15)
• Cannot stand for more than ten minutes before needing to sit down; (15)
• Cannot stand for more than thirty minutes before needing to sit down; (7)
• Cannot stand for more than ten minutes before needing to move around; (7)
• Cannot stand for more than thirty minutes before needing to move around; (3)
• No problem standing (0)

Medical examiners are instructed to note how long the claimant stands to-

• do household chores such as cooking or washing;
• queue in supermarkets or wait for public transport;
• wait to collect a child from school;
• watch sporting activities

The guidance points out that this activity is about the ability to stand and perform some other task at the same time. The discomfort experienced prior to sitting down or moving around should be sufficently severe "so that it would be unreasonable to expect standing to continue".

Medical examiners are advised to record any observations of the claimant standing during the examination, even if this is of short duration.

The point is made that having to sit down represents a greater degree of disability than having to move around.

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