Atos Medicals - Questions, Answers and Support

[tufty79]

not ATOS related, but an ESA question - is anyone else on contributions based esa and affected by the new time limitation clause? they've told me my claim will automatically close on april 30th, but they'll automatically send me a form to fill out to apply for income based before then (my faith in them managing to do this isn't high) - anyone got any experience of this/how problematic it's likely to be? i also had an ATOS assessment in january, which has kept me in the WRG - anyone know whether (if it's accepted) changing over to income based will mean another assessment straight off? ta x

answer to this:
i was told that i'd need to fill out forms for income-related esa, which didn't arrive. i rang to chase them up, and was told that i *didn't* need to fill out any forms, as they had all the info they needed, and should be transfered automatically onto income based esa.
had a mild panicmoment on the 30th april, and rang again to double check that i didn't need to do anything, and was told that my claim had been stopped, and because i hadn't filled in the forms that they hadn't sent me, it wasn't going to be transferred to income-based (and that they'd send the forms out but it'd take a couple of weeks).

i checked my bank account at midnight, and it looks like my claim *hasn't* been stopped. the last week's been a bit stressful, to say the least

They should come with a health warning, like cigarettes.

i think dwp staff should too. i realise they're understaffed, underpaid and overstretched, but the amount of wrong information i've been given by them is fairly staggering.

 

[Disjecta Membra]

After reading abit of this tread, I'm a little anxious going to meet Atos for a medical. The Tories have already made being disabled and claiming welfare almost impossible. Now ive gotta go to a bloody private company to sign me off work, what a joke. I'm very obviously disabled (sometimes) which makes me wish i'm bad on that day cos otherwise they'll jump at any oppotunity to not pay me anymore, i don't even get DLA without a fuss cos i can roll over in bed, do my shoes up etc. them wankers should try my standard of living for a week. Oh well i aint even met them yet, i'll attempt positivity till then and wait for the possible diatribe after.

 

[rr22]

After reading abit of this tread, I'm a little anxious going to meet Atos for a medical. The Tories have already made being disabled and claiming welfare almost impossible. Now ive gotta go to a bloody private company to sign me off work, what a joke. I'm very obviously disabled (sometimes) which makes me wish i'm bad on that day cos otherwise they'll jump at any oppotunity to not pay me anymore, i don't even get DLA without a fuss cos i can roll over in bed, do my shoes up etc. them wankers should try my standard of living for a week. Oh well i aint even met them yet, i'll attempt positivity till then and wait for the possible diatribe after.

Don't go into it blind whatever you do,they WILL lie,and try to trick you at every turn.
The best site I found for information was http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/ it cost's for full access but even the free stuff is worth a look.
You really must be prepared to stand a chance against these shitbags.
H.T.H.

 

[Greebo]

After reading abit of this tread, I'm a little anxious going to meet Atos for a medical.<snip>i don't even get DLA without a fuss cos i can roll over in bed, do my shoes up etc. them wankers should try my standard of living for a week. Oh well i aint even met them yet, i'll attempt positivity till then and wait for the possible diatribe after.

Best of luck with the medical, please arrange to have somebody with you if at all possible. It's bloody criminal what you have to go through to get money which is supposed to be available for what you need (ie. increased costs because of disability or prolonged ill health).

 

[Disjecta Membra]

there just a bunch' bastards, i've spent years learning and struggling to get by. Never done a DLA before and i tried it and they pay nothing for my struggling because ive found means/ways to cope, in their eyes that's that done, i'm alright because i can move, good one. When your disabled, you have a tendancy to want to not feel inadequate and useless so you dont ask for help at every oppotunity from people around you. So your dignity in these tests/hearings works against you.

 

[yardbird]

Have you had a notification of when the assessment is going to be yet?
Notify them ASAP that you want it recorded.
If your written notification has no mention of recording then phone them tomorrow and ask/demand why you have received one without recording mentioned.
It's always your worst day. You WILL be very obviously disabled on the day you see them!
Take someone with you as a witness and to assist you - you do need assistance, right?
Leave your dignity at the door and BE inadequate.
Under NO circumstances put on a brave face.
ATOS plays a percentage game for money, they have absolutely no interest in your health.
Oh yeah - You cannot pick a pound coin from the floor under any circumstances!
Good luck, and come back for more info if needed.

I am a thorn in their side, you can be too.

 

[Disjecta Membra]

Thx Yardy, much appreciated and i will take your advise. I like the pound bit, made me laugh. My (bad) AS should be enough, plus the other complications associated, but if they deem i can scratch my nose, so all's well, they can put me on js as "nose scratcher" see how long it takes them to find a job

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, apologies if it has

DLA TO PIP MEDICAL BONANZA
Disability living allowance (DLA) claimants have been divided into four regional lots and are being sold off to ten shortlisted bidders – including multinational security companies - for the purpose of being medically assessed for personal independence payment.

A fifth, nationwide lot is also up for grabs, but the DWP have said they do not intend to use this contract unless things go wrong with regional suppliers.

PIP is due to begin replacing DLA for working age claimants from spring next year, with all current DLA claimants having to be reassessed for the new benefit. The contracts for PIP medicals are worth up to a billion pounds in total and have attracted the attention of many multinational companies.

Amongst the bidders through to the final round in all four regions is the increasingly heavily criticised Atos, who will undoubtedly be hoping that their LIMA software will give them the edge over their rivals.

Relative newcomers to the scene are security guards G4S, who have also been shortlisted for every contract. Their forensic medical arm, though more used to helping catch rapists and paedophiles, won a small contract to pilot PIP assessments last year. In 2010, three G4S security guards were bailed after the death, whilst they were restraining him, of an Angolan refugee being deported from Heathrow.

Serco, another company with a heavy security presence, have been shortlisted for Northern Ireland. Amongst many other contracts, Serco run prisons, detention centres and immigration removal centres in the UK and abroad. In Australia, a Serco training manual is alleged to have taught employees how to use pain, including punches and kicks, to subdue asylum seekers.

Capita, which runs the Criminal Records Bureau on behalf of the Home Office and is invariably referred to as ‘Crapita’ by Private Eye, has also been shortlisted for all regions. The company has been involved in a number of less than successful public service contracts in the past, including Individual Learning Accounts which were subject to fraudulent claims on an unprecedented scale and which were shut down after just one year.

Other potential providers include Avanta, Ingeus Deloitte, APM UK, Reed In Partnership and Vertex.

A4E, currently mired in fraud investigations, did not make it through to any of the shortlists.

Security firms!

 

[Greebo]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, apologies if it has



Security firms!

Eris, Athena, and Ares, I can't believe this is happening. Actually, that's wrong - I don't want to believe it's happening but I can easily believe that it could at the moment.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I'm not familiar with those names, but I'm familiar with Crapita and Group 4

 

[yardbird]

I note that the LIMA software is being held back from everyone else by ATOS.
Not that I really care mind.

Last night I had a dream where someone committed suicide during an assessment

 

[savoloysam]

Found nasty ATOS bitch on Facebook.

Must.Resist.Urge.To.Stalk.

 

[Frankie Jack]

Found nasty ATOS bitch on Facebook.

Must.Resist.Urge.To.Stalk.

Giz the link please sam.. By PM if needs be..

After a month of no benefits at all I'm ready to rip some new arseholes..

 

[savoloysam]

Best not mate but ATOS is listed as an employer on there so fill yer boots if ya need!

 

[yardbird]

Giz the link please sam.. By PM if needs be..

After a month of no benefits at all I'm ready to rip some new arseholes..

Whenever I speak to them on the phone I always tell the person on the other end that they are working for the devil and they aught to leave an employer that is killing people!
Go for it girl.

 

[equationgirl]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, apologies if it has



Security firms!

For fucks sake just when you think it couldn't get any worse...

 

[yardbird]

For fucks sake just when you think it couldn't get any worse...

Yeah. Complete and utter insanity.
"Divided into four regional lots"
True, true madness - postcode assessments

 

[equationgirl]

Yeah. Complete and utter insanity.
"Divided into four regional lots"
True, true madness - postcode assessments

None of the firms involved give me any confidence in their abilities in this area, although to be fair Serco do occupational health assessments and use properly qualified and experienced doctors to do them (in fact when I was getting a hard time from work about being off they totally stuck up for me and wrote a useful report on my condition for HR) so they at least understand the limitations of disability and chronic health problems.
BUT
this is a completely different thing and none of the 4 firms are experienced in DWP assessments.

Having looked into the LIMA software a bit, I'd not want my competitors seeing how crap and biased it is either.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Forgot to post this from Benefits and Work website as well

In response to Paul Smith's letter to the DWP asking how many recording devices are available to the 141 assessment centres

1) Could you let me know how many Audio Recording Devices Atos have
available to them throughout their entire 141 Assessment centres in
the UK?

Read the response here. The answer is quite staggering

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/audio_recording_devices

 

[equationgirl]

Forgot to post this from Benefits and Work website as well

In response to Paul Smith's letter to the DWP asking how many recording devices are available to the 141 assessment centres



Read the response here. The answer is quite staggering

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/audio_recording_devices

You're right, the response is quite staggering. It makes me do this --------> all at the same time.

Fuckwits.

 

[yardbird]

Well I'm on the phone again, now that I've read that.
Note my past posts, I knew it!!
I was told quite clearly:

The recording machine was a TRIPLE recording machine.
One copy for me. One for ATOS. One for DWP.

I could have recording at home.

All assessment appointment letters must now say that you can have recordings as now required by DWP.

The HCP can refuse !!!

Oh do fuck off.

*Yardie will have entertaining time speaking to browbeaten ATOS person today *

 

[yardbird]

I have just spoken to ATOS and it sounds like I won't have to be reassessed. They have sent all the info back to the benefits office.
Bit of a let down really, I was sooo up for ripping the shit out of them and my sister in law (retired GP) wanted to sit in as my witness/helper and query everything.
I await correspondence from the ESA people.

 

[Greebo]

I have just spoken to ATOS and it sounds like I won't have to be reassessed. They have sent all the info back to the benefits office.
Bit of a let down really<snip>

Glad that it's possibly one less ordeal for you to go through, yardbird. OTOH if you hadn't got yourself thoroughly prepared for it, you'd probably have to have the "reassessment".

 

[yardbird]

Glad that it's possibly one less ordeal for you to go through, yardbird. OTOH if you hadn't got yourself thoroughly prepared for it, you'd probably have to have the "reassessment".

I shall continue to harass and question these people in the hope that I may help others as well as myself.

 

[WouldBe]

Well done yardie.

With only 11 recording devices across the whole country, if everyone needing an ATOS assessment requested a recording the system would grind to a halt.

 

[yardbird]

They will have big problems if everybody requests a recording of their assessment, because they won't have the gear. Several people all having asked, then they'll be juggling like crazy, if everybody asks/demands then ATOS medical centres will come to a grinding halt!!Mar 29, 2012​

​

I just spoke to "customer relations"​

The woman would not address any of the points mentioned in the above freedom of info request.​

The particular thing that she would make no comment on was when I said that everyone now had the right to have their assessment recorded.​

"How can you deal with that when you have 11 machines for 141 sites? "​

She had NO IDEA how many assessment centers there are ​

 

[Greebo]

The woman would not address any of the points mentioned in the above freedom of info request.

The particular thing that she would make no comment on was when I said that everyone now had the right to have their assessment recorded.​

"How can you deal with that when you have 11 machines for 141 sites? "​

She had NO IDEA how many assessment centers there are ​

FFS!

 

[spirals]

I've just had a huge form to fill in from them about my fitness for work as they are moving me from one form of my pension contributions being paid due to me being disabled to another type of disabillty benefit. I still won't get any money though and I wonder how much money and time they have just wasted to change the name of the benefit (probably not the right word).

 

[equationgirl]

I have just spoken to ATOS and it sounds like I won't have to be reassessed. They have sent all the info back to the benefits office.
Bit of a let down really, I was sooo up for ripping the shit out of them and my sister in law (retired GP) wanted to sit in as my witness/helper and query everything.
I await correspondence from the ESA people.

And I think that's why they sent your stuff back to the benefits office

Seriously, given the seriousness of your condition and the numerous fuck-ups reported in the press, someone's had a common sense moment.

Good for you

 

[equationgirl]

Well done yardie.

With only 11 recording devices across the whole country, if everyone needing an ATOS assessment requested a recording the system would grind to a halt.

I feel a plan coming on....