The person concerned was refused carer's allowance on the ground that the care recipient is not so disabled as to require full time care and attention as prescribed in regulations. She was notified of this decision and the reason for it. Additional medical evidence was received and forwarded to the Department's Medical Assessor (MA) for consideration. However, this information did not alter the opinion of the MA and the deciding officer's decision remained unchanged following this review.
She subsequently appealed this decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO). An appeals officer (AO), having fully considered all the evidence, disallowed the appeal of the person concerned and she was notified accordingly. The SWAO subsequently recalled her file on foot of further information received by them however, upon review, the AO decided that this information did not warrant a reversal of the original decision. The decision of an AO is final and may only be reviewed in light of new evidence or fresh facts being presented that were not to hand at the time of appeal.