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Atos Medicals - Questions, Answers and Support

Greebo said:
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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Probably needs special training because most people would not know what a cassette recorder is! Perhaps they couldn't get hold of any wax discs.
 
Thanks for the good wishes, folks!
Spent about 50 minutes in all with the HCP (she didn't tell us what sort of "healthcare professional" she was), and it took a lot of willpower on my part to not say "blimey, I haven't seen one of those since the last time I was in a police interview room!" when I saw the double tape deck (which was identical to the ones coppers used to use)!
The HCP was a bit stunned at the volume of medications, and by my descriptions of my problems. She was typing away into her LIMA software at ten to the dozen,not that that means anything with regard to the LIMA report that will be produced. Took along a load of medical evidence, plus copies of the insert of all the meds I take. We did our best, so now it's just a case of waiting for a decision (they didn't say how long that would take).
 
Greebo said:
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?
Click to expand...

Very difficult to get hold of one of them what with their scarcity and everything. :hmm:

Glad that you've got that over and done with though.
 
ViolentPanda said:
Thanks for the good wishes, folks!
Spent about 50 minutes in all with the HCP (she didn't tell us what sort of "healthcare professional" she was), and it took a lot of willpower on my part to not say "blimey, I haven't seen one of those since the last time I was in a police interview room!" when I saw the double tape deck (which was identical to the ones coppers used to use)!
The HCP was a bit stunned at the volume of medications, and by my descriptions of my problems. She was typing away into her LIMA software at ten to the dozen,not that that means anything with regard to the LIMA report that will be produced. Took along a load of medical evidence, plus copies of the insert of all the meds I take. We did our best, so now it's just a case of waiting for a decision (they didn't say how long that would take).
Click to expand...
Best wishes x
 
At one point she tried to end the assessment saying that she'd got enough information, but I told her that she hadn't covered VP's hearing loss on one side (which limits ability to work in less than silent conditions or where lipreading is difficult), nor his migraines and ice pick migraines, which make it dangerous to drive or operate machinery. No test of grip or balance either. :hmm:

Did explain that a normal 3 session course of minor dental treatment which might reasonably be fitted into one week would take about 6 weeks for VP as he'd need to recover between each appointment.
 
Glad it went ok, hopefully they'll see sense and the DWP will not meddle with your benefits at all. All hope that you're both not too wiped out by all this.

I wonder if the police sold a load of old cassette recorders onto the DWP? Or perhaps someone went skipdiving on behalf on the assessment centres...
 
equationgirl said:
Glad it went ok, hopefully they'll see sense and the DWP will not meddle with your benefits at all. All hope that you're both not too wiped out by all this.

I wonder if the police sold a load of old cassette recorders onto the DWP? Or perhaps someone went skipdiving on behalf on the assessment centres...
Click to expand...

The tape decks had exactly the same tamper-evident seals on the cases as the copshop ones used to, so I wouldn't put it beyond ATOS to have gone skip-diving, or to have bought a job lot for pennies at an auction #cashinthedungeons.
 
Actual picture from the net of something uncannily like the incredibly scarce state of the art audio recording device
2012-06-26-18.24.28_720x720.jpg
 
Greebo said:
At one point she tried to end the assessment saying that she'd got enough information, but I told her that she hadn't covered ...
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Well done! I hope you follow that up with a formal complaint as to the assessor's lack of competence. Apart from being an actual complaint, it will give you yet another opportunity to restate VP's problems.
 
That is ridiculous about the recording device! :facepalm:

I hope you are both OK this evening and that a good result is coming your way xx
 
Quartz said:
Well done! I hope you follow that up with a formal complaint as to the assessor's lack of competence. <snip>
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When you say "lack of competence" the HCP didn't at any point say what her medical competence was. :hmm:
 
Glad it finally happened, with recording (what a joke, those machines, most people won't have any way of playing them), and hope you get the right result without further hassle. Good it was out of the way before Christmas.
 
chainsawjob said:
Glad it finally happened, with recording (what a joke, those machines, most people won't have any way of playing them), and hope you get the right result without further hassle. <snip>
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Gosh, I do hope that you're not suggesting that recording in a more or less obsolete format was at all deliberate. ;) I can see why you might think that, but couldn't possibly comment.

Thanks for the good wishes.
 
kittyP said:
That is ridiculous about the recording device! :facepalm:
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The only bonus is that at least it was hooked up to a decent mic - a PZM or "pressure zone mic", for those "in the know" - which is the best type for "recording in an office/room" situations.

I hope you are both OK this evening and that a good result is coming your way xx
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Thanks!

As I remarked at the time of the (aborted) October appointment, the chairs were like torture devices. They have decent lumbar support, but the rest of your back suffers for it. By the time we got home my back was spasming bad enough to require a couple of valiums to stop the muscles expressing their annoyance through the medium of interpretive dance!
 
chainsawjob said:
Glad it finally happened, with recording (what a joke, those machines, most people won't have any way of playing them), and hope you get the right result without further hassle. Good it was out of the way before Christmas.
Click to expand...

Fortunately for me, being an old fart who still has a fairly large collection of audio tapes, I not only have ways to play them, I also know how to digitise them. :)
 
A dreaded brown envelope fell through the door this morning, and it was pretty obvious it would be the result of my WCA, as it was a thick thick brown envelope. I gulped (to shift my heart out of my throat and back into my chest), and opened it straight away: "Dear Mr *****, blah blah blah blah blah...." - the blahs carried on for eight paragraphs. Only in the ninth paragraph was I informed "You have been placed in the support group because your illness or disability restricts the possibility of working". So, nearly a whole page of ever-increasing blood pressure and heart rate before they tell me the important fact! This was followed by another four pages of their standard arsery, which I still read through, just in case there was a "just kidding, scrounger scum!" hidden anywhere in the text.
So, that's that dealt with for the present, anyway.
 
Great news Greebo and VP, I am surprised you got the full report on your medical in the post, I thought that only happened if you didn't pass. All I got was a letter saying I'd been put in the work group. When I went to my first 'work focused interview' at the job center they didn't have any information from the medical about me either. When I told her I was a full time student she didn't quite know what to do with me and she had to talk to her supervisor. In the end they decided to leave me alone but said I'd be asked to come back in 6 months just to see if my circumstances had changed!
 
dynamicbaddog said:
Great news Greebo and VP, I am surprised you got the full report on your medical in the post, I thought that only happened if you didn't pass.
Click to expand...
Afaik you can request it..
equationgirl - I never got anything in writing saying when i'd next be reassessed. I phoned the dwp and asked last month - they told me it'd be twelve months after my original assessment, the anniversary of which is looming in a couple of weeks. Not heard a sausage about it yet :hmm: half hoping the stories about atos delays still hold, otoh i'd rather get it over and done with - as long as i get notice and chance to prepare etc..
(obviously not answering for VP, like).
 
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