Atos Medicals - Questions, Answers and Support
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Well, ATOS may generally be a bunch of utter cunts, but the woman I saw today was great. She'd obviously bothered to actually read my ESA50, and when she saw how stressed out I was she asked a few questions about a couple of the answers I'd given and about stuff that'd changed since I filled it out and that was it. The whole thing took maybe five minutes and she even called me a cab afterwards to save me the added stress of walking through the city centre and getting the tube just as everyone was leaving work 
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
I hope this means you can stay on the level of benefits you are on, it would be nice to have a good result and a glimmer of hope for everyone.Well, ATOS may generally be a bunch of utter cunts, but the woman I saw today was great. She'd obviously bothered to actually read my ESA50, and when she saw how stressed out I was she asked a few questions about a couple of the answers I'd given and about stuff that'd changed since I filled it out and that was it. The whole thing took maybe five minutes and she even called me a cab afterwards to save me the added stress of walking through the city centre and getting the tube just as everyone was leaving work
Word.I hope this means you can stay on the level of benefits you are on, it would be nice to have a good result and a glimmer of hope for everyone.
Well, ATOS may generally be a bunch of utter cunts, but the woman I saw today was great. She'd obviously bothered to actually read my ESA50, and when she saw how stressed out I was she asked a few questions about a couple of the answers I'd given and about stuff that'd changed since I filled it out and that was it. The whole thing took maybe five minutes and she even called me a cab afterwards to save me the added stress of walking through the city centre and getting the tube just as everyone was leaving work
that's her kicked out of a job then!
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
For everyone on disability - an excellent post from Sue Marsh's blog 'Diary of a Benefit Scrounger':
http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/its-all-in-your-head.html#comment-form
http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/its-all-in-your-head.html#comment-form
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Absolutely love the comment where the poster says " 'Dismissive Personality Disorder' is a mental health condition were the majority of sufferers are healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists as well as government professionals and their partner companies' employees such as current ministers of Health and ATOS employees" and then gets even more caustic.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Some excellent comments on that blog.Absolutely love the comment where the poster says " 'Dismissive Personality Disorder' is a mental health condition were the majority of sufferers are healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists as well as government professionals and their partner companies' employees such as current ministers of Health and ATOS employees" and then gets even more caustic.
Having been told my chronic pain is in my head, as are the countless kidney infections, I can only relate to what she and the many comment-leavers posted.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Some excellent comments on that blog.
Having been told my chronic pain is in my head, as are the countless kidney infections, I can only relate to what she and the many comment-leavers posted.
Had one GP who said that. She got a bit irate at my reply of "your belief that my symptoms are all in my head is frankly all in your head, love". She was a fucking awful GP, too. She imposed an arbitrary limit on my analgesia of 100 co-proxamol every 28 days, and then wondered why, after 8 months as my GP, my pain, bowel problems and joint problems were all much worse.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
I'm reasonably certain I've got 'drug seeker' somewhere in my notes. Trouble is there's so many volumes of them now it'd be a real pain in the arse to get copies of them.
What an awful GP though - I had one that refused to give me co-proxamol, saying it was no different to paracetamol. The pharmacist was pretty amazed when I told him who'd said that. In the end my parents got the ones my grandfather no longer needed (he'd gone into a home) and that lasted me until I got a new GP.
ButterPie
New Member
Do not get me started on bloody ATOS. I wrote a thing on it here - http://camelshump.co.uk/2011/11/23/tick-enough-boxes-you-can-work/ but basically they are rubbish on two levels - they are a tick box exercise, so somebody ill but not using the right phrases would get refused, but then if you know the phrases you would be able to fake it.
Why oh why don't they use reports from people's own doctors? When I went to mine it was one of the first outings I had had since discharging myself (I absconded from leave and refused to go back) from a mental hospital. Why on earth did I have to go?
Why oh why don't they use reports from people's own doctors? When I went to mine it was one of the first outings I had had since discharging myself (I absconded from leave and refused to go back) from a mental hospital. Why on earth did I have to go?
ButterPie
New Member
Oh, and on the "drug seeker" thing - I have had that on two different hospital admissions for different things. When I was pregnant I had problems with my hips that left me unable to walk or even turn over in bed without agaonising pain, so I spent the last month of the pregnancy full of coedine (it just about took the edge off, but was all they could do) - I went in for a section, then the day later asked for my coedine - I still had the hip problem (even though it was meant to be pregnancy only, sigh) plus I had just had a baby dragged out of my belly, but they refused on the grounds that I shouldn't have coedine for more than three days. ARGH.
Then when I went into mental hospital, I have a small stock of tranquillisers at home for use when I feel a relapse happening or have a massive panic about something. I was having maybe two doses (usually on the same day) a month, but obviously in the run up to hospital I had been having more. They refused to give me any in hospital and instead tried to get me onto the much more sedating and long term antipsychotics. I was driving myself mad just arguing over that - I only needed to take the tranqs to get over that relapse, I knew the pattern of my relapses, it was likely to be only a few days before I was ready to cope without them, I had never had problems coming off them, etc. So they gave me a pill that made me fall asleep in a corridor and not be able to move, and I was stil panicing. Arses.
Then when I went into mental hospital, I have a small stock of tranquillisers at home for use when I feel a relapse happening or have a massive panic about something. I was having maybe two doses (usually on the same day) a month, but obviously in the run up to hospital I had been having more. They refused to give me any in hospital and instead tried to get me onto the much more sedating and long term antipsychotics. I was driving myself mad just arguing over that - I only needed to take the tranqs to get over that relapse, I knew the pattern of my relapses, it was likely to be only a few days before I was ready to cope without them, I had never had problems coming off them, etc. So they gave me a pill that made me fall asleep in a corridor and not be able to move, and I was stil panicing. Arses.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
"Faking it" was certainly a lot harder when you were actually examined by a doctor for an Incapacity Benefit claim. This whole charade about "medical professionals" (i.e. the road-sweepings of nursing, physiotherapy and other vaguely medical roles) is not only an insult to a person with long-term sickness(es) and/or disabilities, but to the 99% of people in those disciplines who don't prostitute their professional status in order to lend a little (spurious) authenticity to ATOS's supposed "assessments".
Because your own doctor is not taken (by the DWP) as being impartial, whereas someone who works for a contractor employed by the DWP...they're supposed to be impartial. Of course, in reality they're about as impartial as the Pope is about contraception.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Odd, that. I've been taking (prescribed) codeine for about 6,500 days in a row, which means I've exceeded their (entirely arbitrary, by the way!
) limit by 2,200-ish times!
panpete
Blokes name, birds body.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
It was crappy, but I'm a firm believer in "what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger", so as far as I'm concerned, her being a shite GP just made me less tolerant of GPs giving me the run-around.
panpete
Blokes name, birds body.
Sorry you had such a bad GP, do you have a more humane one now? I hope so.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
The whole surgery treats me better, because they know I won't take shit, a few of them made the mistake of assuming that just because I look like Shrek and sound like a south London thicko, that I am thick. They don't make that mistake any more, and they're aware that I'll happily clog up their complaints system if they act outside of their own regulations.
I have no notice of my reassessment yet, but in a strange way I'm looking forward to it.
There may well be battles before, re home visit for me, but when it comes to the day, oh boy am I prepared!
I have an NHS commode in the garage, but don't need it - well not yet anyway. It will have to sit somewhere downstairs, I might just use it though, politely ask the assessor if they would be good enough as to take the relevant bowl upstairs and tip it down the loo.
"I have been very careful but twice had to let go half way upstairs or I would have fallen. Fine - ready for my assessment now"
There may well be battles before, re home visit for me, but when it comes to the day, oh boy am I prepared!
I have an NHS commode in the garage, but don't need it - well not yet anyway. It will have to sit somewhere downstairs, I might just use it though, politely ask the assessor if they would be good enough as to take the relevant bowl upstairs and tip it down the loo.
"I have been very careful but twice had to let go half way upstairs or I would have fallen. Fine - ready for my assessment now"
panpete
Blokes name, birds body.
Hope it goes in your favour.I have no notice of my reassessment yet, but in a strange way I'm looking forward to it.
There may well be battles before, re home visit for me, but when it comes to the day, oh boy am I prepared!
I have an NHS commode in the garage, but don't need it - well not yet anyway. It will have to sit somewhere downstairs, I might just use it though, politely ask the assessor if they would be good enough as to take the relevant bowl upstairs and tip it down the loo.
"I have been very careful but twice had to let go half way upstairs or I would have fallen. Fine - ready for my assessment now"
Atos do home visits for those who cannot get out, so I hope they can arrange this for you.
Understood. FWIW your good wishes are appreciated.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
I think you're one of the most articulate, well-informed posters I've ever interacted with. More fool them for judging you.The whole surgery treats me better, because they know I won't take shit, a few of them made the mistake of assuming that just because I look like Shrek and sound like a south London thicko, that I am thick. They don't make that mistake any more, and they're aware that I'll happily clog up their complaints system if they act outside of their own regulations.
Ooh, nice touch!<snip>I have an NHS commode in the garage, but don't need it - well not yet anyway. It will have to sit somewhere downstairs, I might just use it though, politely ask the assessor if they would be good enough as to take the relevant bowl upstairs and tip it down the loo.
"I have been very careful but twice had to let go half way upstairs or I would have fallen. Fine - ready for my assessment now"
Oh, but I do get out, but no day is the same so can't plan things in advance and have to give in and stay at home.
My GP, my physiotherapist and my neurologist all say that I mustn't travel to them, they must come to me.
Tbf on a bad day (when crashed or in more pain than usual), VP slurs a bit, can look a bit vacant, and takes more time than you'd expect to finish a simple sentence.
OTOH staff working in a medical environment should be aware than anyone can sound and look more dim than they really are when in a lot of pain, distracted by other symptoms, or just plain exhausted!
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
My favourite moment was seeing one doctor noticing the book I was reading, and going a bit pale. The title? "Research Methods and Audit for General Practice".
Dr. "Why are you reading that?".
Me "just brushing up on protocols. I think that GP surgeries are great sites for conducting social research, with all the cross-cutting social vectors, don't you?".
Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!
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