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Atos Medicals - Questions, Answers and Support

toggle said:
as vp says, depends on the doctor. i asked mine if she wanted payment for the letter she provided for university and she informed me she had absolutely no idea how to charge me and couldn't be bothered to find out.

the more info the better. any correspondance that discusses your condition. whether it's a summary of your description of symptoms or a confirmantion of diagnosis, discussion of medication or schedule for treatment.

if you're on medication, then also report the side effects and how they affect you.

I'll be honest, most of this will make bugger all difference if you get assessed by the standard atos drone. but gathering them together now will allow you to prove you did give the asessor all the available information when you go to appeal.

if you have a condition that isn't 'tick box' somethign with complex effects, variable effects then keep a written record. himself has a big book of loopy where we write down stuff like the time he tried to incinerate us. like the times he goes out and leaves the back door wide open. like the time he forgot to eat for 24 hours and decided to work himself up into a state and dump me because his procrastination was translated into me stopping him doing stuff. it really does help if you give the appeal as much info as possible. and a record made over time is a more valuable document than you scrawling out stuff from memory 3 days bfore they need the paperwork/
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All of this is very helpful too, I'm just wondering how best to present that sort of info to them. It doesn't necessarily come up as answers to their generic questions, so combination of medical records and my own "diary" sounds like the way to go.

And the bit I've highlighted sounds very familiar to me, situations where I've interpreted the behaviour of others as demonstrating they have particular negative intentions towards me, then reacting on that basis and causing myself and them all sorts of trouble and pain. I've probably done similar shit on here, TBH - maybe I should scour my posts for examples to include :facepalm:

Anyway, time to make another appointment to see the GP
 
Googling "ATOS LIMA" has led me to this site, which includes a copy of an ESA85 Medical Report Form

Lots of useful info for me, and hopefully for others.

There is also stuff about the technical aspects of the LIMA software, though I'm not sure that's directly relevant, but it does demonstrate how the whole process of assessment seems to be geared towards disregarding info which isn't "correctly" presented or entered into the software, and therefore making it less likely that all aspects of someone's condition are properly taken into account. No surprises there then :mad:
 
It's been a fraught few weeks since my medical. Everyday waiting anxiously for that letter to come. Been so out of mind with worry that I have been unable to focus properly on my uni work and have fallen behind with my reading and attendance. However today the letter came and I have passed and will be moved onto ESA (I've been put in the work group)I was literally crying with relief earlier. Such a heavy weight off my mind, I was dreading having to go through all that appeals process.
My advice to anyone facing a medical would be to always insist on it being recorded and take the main person who helps with your care needs with you so that they can emphasis your case.
 
dynamicbaddog said:
It's been a fraught few weeks since my medical. Everyday waiting anxiously for that letter to come. Been so out of mind with worry that I have been unable to focus properly on my uni work and have fallen behind with my reading and attendance. However today the letter came and I have passed and will be moved onto ESA (I've been put in the work group)I was literally crying with relief earlier. Such a heavy weight off my mind, I was dreading having to go through all that appeals process.
My advice to anyone facing a medical would be to always insist on it being recorded and take the main person who helps with your care needs with you so that they can emphasis your case.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you've had good news.

After further rummaging around, I've come up with this, a detailed summary of the "assessment of whether an applicant has limited capability for work", including a breakdown of how points should be awarded. This means I now know what I need to demonstrate to make my case.
 
dynamicbaddog said:
It's been a fraught few weeks since my medical. Everyday waiting anxiously for that letter to come. Been so out of mind with worry that I have been unable to focus properly on my uni work and have fallen behind with my reading and attendance. However today the letter came and I have passed and will be moved onto ESA (I've been put in the work group)I was literally crying with relief earlier. Such a heavy weight off my mind, I was dreading having to go through all that appeals process.
My advice to anyone facing a medical would be to always insist on it being recorded and take the main person who helps with your care needs with you so that they can emphasis your case.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear that mate. :)
 
andysays said:
Thanks, that's a useful way of approaching it. I'll make an appointment to discuss this with my GP ASAP and see if I can get her to write some sort of summary of my medical history as it relates to this. Even if I have to pay for this, sounds like it will be money well spent.

And I would be very interested in finding out more about these LIMA software questions if equationgirl or anyone else knows more about them - I find it much easier to prepare for this sort of thing beforehand than do it off the cuff.
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You rang? :D

Yes, I looked into the LIMA software earlier in this thread. It's basically a series of questions with drop-down menus for the answers. When the questionnaire is complete, the LIMA software generates a standardised report based on the answers. Note - and this is important - if you supply supplementary or explanatory information to any of the questions, the answers will be entered by the assessor in a text box BUT THIS INFORMATION IS NOT USED IN THE STANDARDISED REPORT. The report uses an algorithm to piece the answers given through the dropdown boxes so you get nonsense sentences such as 'The claimant has mild upper limb amputation'.

You can download a copy here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/requ...A Review Exam Application Technical Guide.pdf

This is the manual the HCP is supposed to use to complete the assessment:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wca-handbook.pdf

This is the manual the DWP decisionmaker is supposed to use:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch42.pdf

Here are the descriptors:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/m-06-11.pdf

Be warned, the descriptors are not perfect and do focus mainly on physical health problems. This has been raised as an issue by several mental health charities and action groups such as MIND.

I am happy to answer any questions you have on the software :)

Hope this post helps. The original posts I made on the software can be found on page 5 of this thread.
 
andysays said:
All of this is very helpful too, I'm just wondering how best to present that sort of info to them. It doesn't necessarily come up as answers to their generic questions, so combination of medical records and my own "diary" sounds like the way to go.

And the bit I've highlighted sounds very familiar to me, situations where I've interpreted the behaviour of others as demonstrating they have particular negative intentions towards me, then reacting on that basis and causing myself and them all sorts of trouble and pain. I've probably done similar shit on here, TBH - maybe I should scour my posts for examples to include :facepalm:

Anyway, time to make another appointment to see the GP
Click to expand...

you're better with in person examples. unless you're in a position where you're saying you mainly interact with people online because you do silly shit. and you even do silly shit there.

and even if the assessment dosen't include anything, then you will have a better chance to present the actual problems and effects rather than the bits of it their system tells them to ask at appeal.

and not assuming you will definately have to go that far, but it is always a good idea to be prepared for it to do so. treat a success at assessment is an early win in the whole process
 
toggle said:
you're better with in person examples. unless you're in a position where you're saying you mainly interact with people online because you do silly shit. and you even do silly shit there.

and even if the assessment dosen't include anything, then you will have a better chance to present the actual problems and effects rather than the bits of it their system tells them to ask at appeal.

and not assuming you will definately have to go that far, but it is always a good idea to be prepared for it to do so. treat a success at assessment is an early win in the whole process
Click to expand...

That last bit was just some throw away silliness, but your advice as always is sensible and worth finding a way of implementing.
 
andysays said:
No, I don't really have anyone to ask to go with me. Is that an issue?
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It really shouldn't be, but it can lend your case strength if someone goes with you and takes notes. It has been shown anecdotally to make some assessors behave better, and also provides a contemporary record of the assessment if you need to appeal.

It is your right as a claimant to request recording of your assessment however this normally has to be confirmed and reconfirmed and there have been reports that even after all this the machine is not available at the centre on the actual day. Certainly if you have any kind of concentration or memory issue you might want to look into back-up recording devices such as your mobile phone. Many have a recording function (test it before your appointment obviously).
 
Update: VP's rescheduled ATOS assessment will be 15th December (just in time for Saturnalia :rolleyes:). After reading the letter he hit the phone (as suggested by the bloke in charge last time) just to remind them that it needs to be recorded.

At which point it transpired that the individual centres are not issued with a list of who to record until the week before, at the earliest. So please call back then. :facepalm:

Of course, should it happen to slip somebody's bureaucratic excuse of a mind again, it'll just be a case of pointing out that the assessment is unfair and invalid unless recorded, and then insisting on it being rescheduled. Again.

I ain't fussed, it's not as if VP's got less than a year to live. We can easily play a longer game than ATOS, if that's what it takes.
 
Last edited:
ffs Greebo and ViolentPanda what an utter hoop-jumping palaver this all is.

It's a shame there aren't targets to be met for recordings, with associated financial penalties if they aren't met (to be paid as compensation to the claimant, obviously). Money seems to be the only thing that focuses their minds in any way.
 
You know this state of the art digital recording equipment allegedly used? It was a twin cassette recorder! :D

I have no idea how much "special training" it takes to simultaneously press "record" for both tapes! Maybe, erm, 10 minutes?
 
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