Quote ="JerryChicken"Or so an ATOS appointed medical doctor claimed ...
[urlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/12/amy-jones-cerebral-palsy-_n_3912949.html?1379004251[/url
24 year old Amy Jones has been placed on six month re-assessments in case her condition improves, but the most revealing thing about the article is the bit near the bottom when ATOS, for a change, actually made a statement about the subject and, probably sick and tired of taking flak on behalf of the government, actually point out that they are simply following very specific instructions from the DWP - [i"...but the advice we are asked to give DWP concentrates on how individuals are affected by their illness at present and whether any other factors may lead to change or improvement in a person’s ability to function even if there is no improvement in their prognosis. All decisions on the outcome of claims, for example whether they are placed in the WRAG or the Support Group, are made by DWP.”[/i
So it isn't specifically ATOS that are deliberately re-classifying disabilities in order to take claimants off some benefits, but the DWP, for it is Ian Duncan Smith's own department that is responsible for writing the rulebook and effectively forcing the results by means of carefully crafted questions and examinations, its only now that their contractors feel the need to start deflecting some of the blame back to the paymasters.
So ATOS have done the decent thing and commented directly on this case - maybe IDS could have a word to the press too ?
[url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/12/nick-clegg-bedroom-tax-challenge_n_3912419.html?utm_hp_ref=ukBecause Nick Clegg didn't do too well today when speaking to a real person[/url'"
As its always been to be fair. Atos only assess the "customer" (as we are called) and leave it to a DWP advisor who is not medically trained to decide the fate of the claimant.
I must be in the minority when it comes to Atos because I am of the opinion that they themselves are just puppets of the government, they are assessing in the exact way the government says they should.
Labour brought in Atos in 2009, trialling the new assesments in different areas of the UK. I have seen the trial forms. They were very fair, asking about pain, movement, length of time it takes to do tasks with boxes on every question to eleborate more on your condition. Move on one year when this government came in and they totally revised the ESA50 form, making it just a tick box with yes/no with no box to explain about pain, movement, length of time. One example of the original form was can you climb a flight of stairs (around 12) and explain how doing this would affect you. The new form; can you climb 2 steps yes/no (no room to explain) In other words, Labour brought in Atos to help with the work load and take the pressure off the DWP in assessing, the Coalition changed the form and set it up to fail almost all applicants.
The only gripe I have with Atos is that they don't employ just Doctors. A cancer patient can be assessed by a Physiotherapist.
