ATOS Medical Assessment .

[tonkins]

Mate of mine had an assessment and never heard back from them. AFAIK I know he's still getting money, they sometimes seem a bit useless at letting people know anything

[chuckskull]

It took me 3 months to hear about my ESA last time. So you should hear soon.

Speaking of; After a 2 year process that only finished in March involving the DWP, ATOS, 4 doctors, 2 solicitors, 2 appeals, a tribunal, hundreds of man hours and more taxpayer money than I actually receive in disability to come to conclusion that my consultant(and god know how many other doctors) was correct all along and I am in fact ill. I got a letter the other day that they want to start all over again. The aim of which being to replace a benefit I've never received with one I already receive. Or else!

I tried pointing out the stupidity of all this and was curtly reminded that the prison sentences for benefit fraud have been increased to 10 years. Yes threats of a prison sentence longer than you get for raping or killing somebody for the terrible crime of saying "I think you're making a mistake". So they're back to dealing with my solicitor.

These people are a joke. They want what's best for disabled people[sic] unless you criticise them then it's threats and insults.

[Den1]

My partners claim has been active since being took off disability allowance in May 2013.she has epilepsy and takes seizures which we don't have any sign of them coming on.she was pregnant with our daughter and has fell down the stairs whilst being pregnant several times.she has also had one in the Bath which her dad had to kick the door down otherwise she might not have been lucky.now 4 year later she still has them all the time she put her claim in in May and got sent for medical in July I attended with her.not sure how it went but still awaiting decision been on phone almost every week we lost our housing benefit and council tax income support and basically we have had to claim job seekers allowance to get some money until we hear back.we have both worked all our lives .we have had someone high up from. Dwp apparently she is furious it should only took 10 weeks and has took 20 and if we do get awarded only get 12 weeks backdated absolutely fuming emailed them today I will be going to papers and citizens advice

[g8ina]

Just a quick update on my situation too.

My appeal is ongoing and I have recently had a 2nd ATOS medical, and have a tribunal hearing when they can arrange it. Fingers crossed eh

[chaotic_russ]

don't expect to win at the tribunal as I lost mine

[chris bage]

I had an assessment at the beginning of July and still not had a verdict. How long does it normally take them to inform people of their decision?

have had a letter from dwp telling me that I`m being transferred from incapacity benefit to esa

[chaotic_russ]

have had a letter from dwp telling me that I`m being transferred from incapacity benefit to esa

good luck , saying that because it took over 2 and a half years to get my esa sorted

[BobF64]

I tried pointing out the stupidity of all this and was curtly reminded that the prison sentences for benefit fraud have been increased to 10 years. Yes threats of a prison sentence longer than you get for raping or killing somebody for the terrible crime of saying "I think you're making a mistake". So they're back to dealing with my solicitor.

Which is why it should work both ways, if they incorrectly give or remove benefits youre entitled to, they should get punished too.

[chuckskull]

Which is why it should work both ways, if they incorrectly give or remove benefits youre entitled to, they should get punished too.

But then they'd have to admit that in fact mistakes and bureaucratic incompetence cost the taxpayer more money than fraud and then how would they make their corporate buddies money by making people who already regularly see a government doctors also see a different doctor who isn't qualified in the field of their illness and often isn't a doctor at all. Is employed by a private foreign corporation contracted at taxpayer expense siphoning money intended for the sick and poor into share holder profits. For the sake of assuring that the 10's or 100's of government medical professionals weren't all somehow involved in risking their careers to help someone con 6k per annum out of the taxpayer or all lacked the magical ability of ATOS employee's to spot malingerers.

Can't you see this is just a common sense solution that's what's best for the taxpayer and the disabled?

On my own case; now ATOS denies ever sending me a letter or speaking to me on the phone, while in the same breath telling me that if they did send me a letter that I should do everything requested within even if they don't know what that was, have no record of it, cannot help me with it, it makes no sense and they were told point blank by a tribunal less than a year ago to leave me alone and if I don't I will lose my benefits.

They don't know what's going on or what they want from me, but they're absolutely sure that if they don't get it, it's my fault.

To add insult to injury for not me, but the taxpayer. I will of course be fighting this, again, with taxpayer funded legal representation(who've now billed you for over 1000 hours btw), taxpayer funded medical expenses, taxpayer funded assessments, taxpayer funded travel to all of these things, multiple levels of taxpayer funded decision making/appeals and of course the entirety of the opposition being taxpayer funded too. I feel quite confident saying that the government has spent more money disputing the opinions of it's own employees; employee's who have more letters after their name than in it than they've paid me in disability ever. If it comes to less than 6 figures I'd be stunned by their efficiency.

[sye22]

I wonder if someone can help me?
I have a tumour in my spinal chord, and also suffered a massive heart attack last August, (2013). There is a blood clot in my heart, which I am on extensive blood thinners for.
My ATOS medical assessment took place yesterday, and after reading my doctor's report, the woman was quite "offish" with me in a somewhat passive - aggressive manner. She stated that she could no longer continue with the assessment due to my condition;photocopied my GP's medical report, and sent me on my way.
Does this mean that is the end of it, and I will now finally be on the higher rate as well as no longer need medical sick notes?
Sorry for my lack of knowledge and just wondered if anyone here could help?

Thanks in advance.

[peterb]

I wonder if someone can help me?
I have a tumour in my spinal chord, and also suffered a massive heart attack last August, (2013). There is a blood clot in my heart, which I am on extensive blood thinners for.
My ATOS medical assessment took place yesterday, and after reading my doctor's report, the woman was quite "offish" with me in a somewhat passive - aggressive manner. She stated that she could no longer continue with the assessment due to my condition;photocopied my GP's medical report, and sent me on my way.
Does this mean that is the end of it, and I will now finally be on the higher rate as well as no longer need medical sick notes?
Sorry for my lack of knowledge and just wondered if anyone here could help?

Thanks in advance.

Very sorry to hear about your medical condition - and my guess is that this thread popped up out of a Google search.

I have no doubt that you will get opinions from some of the community here, but for definitive advice you should be discussing this either with a health care professional, the DWP, or a charity that is concerned with your particular conditions.

In the first instance, you might seek the advice of your GP, telling him/her about the conduct of the assessment.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It seems Atos is quitting its contract:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26766345

[scaryjim]

Scary stuff:

Last summer, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) identified "significant quality failures" in the written reports Atos produced after tests and put a plan for improvement in place.

But in February, the DWP said standards had declined unacceptably.

So, the quality was already bad, and then declined further? At least it appears the contract was negotiated in such a way that it's cessation hasn't cost anything...

[Agent]

It seems Atos is quitting its contract:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26766345

Saw a post on Reddit about this. Seems they have links to other things anyway, so it's just spin:

On the contrary, Atos is in an amazing position ...being in charge of the care.data extraction.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...S-records.html

http://uk.atos.net/en-uk/home/your-b...n-service.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/at...s-9153885.html

So what's the point of doing the "fit-to-work" programme and tests when you now have full access to the entire NHS GP database itself. It would be irrelevant right?

Hence why it has "quit" the programme now and the government giving it a positive spin.

(From reddit-linked article)

Last summer, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) identified "significant quality failures" in the written reports Atos produced after tests and put a plan for improvement in place.

But in February, the DWP said standards had declined unacceptably.
[The Minister of State for Disabled People] said the government was looking for a provider to replace Atos "with the view to increasing the number of assessments and reducing waiting times".

He said: "I am pleased to confirm that Atos will not receive a single penny of compensation from the taxpayer for the early termination of their contract.

"Quite the contrary, Atos has made a substantial financial settlement to the department."

Indeed.

It would be stupid to talk bad about a close partner such as Atos, I mean OH Assist (its new re-branded name). It would make the government look incompetent.

http://mikesivier.wordpress.com/2014...ness-as-usual/

Observers are waiting for the government to announce that Atos is providing a benefit to the health of the UK public and then they can begin the next stage of their plans.

As an extra note, some clues of what will happen and some quotes from the PM.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...te-sector.html

Drastic action is needed to halt the cycle of ill health amid an alarming “sick note culture”, it found.

The report from 2020Health, a think tank, found that the economy is losing tens of billions of pounds in productivity because of a high number of sick days.

The report recommended the role of council “diet police” be increased to offer advice to the private sector. The authors said the proposals in the report, released today, would help reduce the “sick note culture”.

[...]

[The Prime Minister] has warned that Britain's sicknote culture in the workplace was acting as a "conveyor belt to a life on benefits".

The Prime Minister said he would act on expert advice that recommended that family doctors should be stripped of the power to sign people off work long-term.

"‘Of course some of these people genuinely can’t work, and we must support them. That’s only fair," the Prime Minister said.

"But it’s also fair that those who can return to work should be supported to do so. We need to end the something for nothing culture.

"‘While 90 per cent of sickness cases are short-term – that stomach bug or flu that we all suffer from occasionally – nearly half of all days lost to sickness absence are because of cases that last four weeks or more."

Ministers believe that about one in five of those who are absent on long-term sick leave should either never have been signed off in the first place or could go back to work.

The expert report, commissioned for Downing Street, suggested more than three-quarters of GPs admitted they had signed people off sick for reasons other than their physical health.

[The PM] said he was alarmed by evidence of the scale of the problem from a report by Dame Carol Black, an expert on health at work, and David Frost, the former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.

[csgohan4]

Glad I didn't sign up to do these assessments. Some doctors are under investigation from the GMC for providing false reports. I suspect they get paid more when they reject someone or at least give someone unfavourable opinion. They are also paid per patient rather per hour, so about £50 pounds a patient and expected to see around 6+ a day, which is not enough time if they are complex. So some might be greedy and just rush the assessment to see the next one.

I was unsure whether to do these given the mixed media reports and I am glad I didn't, waste of space (Company) and it may tarnish your reputation.

[wasabi]

Off at a tangent.

My mate married a Welsh bird about 5 years ago. She was originally from a big housing estate in S Wales, and had never worked before he met her. She'd got pregnant at 18 and lived off benefits before as a single mother. Now mid 40s. They started dating just after the second of her kids left the roost. He'd expressed concerns about being the sole breadwinner and a condition of them getting married was that she had to start working. So she did for about 2 years while engaged and for a couple of months after marriage.

Then she got a mystery illness. always tired and headaches and chest pains. Endless medical tests and nothing can be found after dozens of trips to the doctor. She isn't culturally used to working and sickness is a socially acceptable way out.