Atos Medicals - Questions, Answers and Support

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''The Government will hit the unemployed with the requirement next year that jobseekers claiming JSA or its equivalent under the Universal Credit will have to show they are spending 35 hours a week looking for work. Later this year they intend to replace the DWP jobsearch website of Jobcentre Plus with the Universal Jobmatch system, whic will require claimants to log into to monitor their jobsearch efforts. If a claimant does not search for work for a minimum of 35 hours a week, they will face 8 weeks sanctions for a first offence, 6 months sanctions for a second offence. This is totally ridiculous and was dreamt up by IDS and Lord Freud, saying that the unemployed should not be allowed to sit at home doing nothing

post on CIf, I can imagine this being chaos, but also some bright spark will create a bit of software so it looks like someone is logged in, etc..

btw, who is going to pay for always on net access, a PC, etc..

what about disabled people/people with MH issues who have failed ATOS test, how on earth could someone with ME spend that long on the net?

and this is assuming that looking online is the only wy to search for work.

 

[Frankie Jack]

Warning from The Full Facts about a con man offering help with

• Disability Living Allowance
• Attendance Allowance
• Employment And Support Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income Support
• Industrial Injuries Benefit

on Tribunal Representation South west

Seems its a git called Leigh Windsor who will charge £200 for help with WCA tribunal who is actually this arsehole..

Charity lottery boss pocketed £273,000 of ticket money and went on the holiday meant to be top prize *Daily Fail link*

The boss of a charity lottery has been jailed for pocketing thousands of pounds and taking his family on the dream holiday which was supposed to be the star prize.
Millionaire Leigh Windsor, aged 46, stole £273,000 from two air ambulance charities and picked phantom winners from the phone book after fiddling the draws.
He creamed off the first three months of payments from thousands of customers who joined up because they believed they were supporting charity.

​

​

 

[treelover]

Good spot, what an odious creature, i suspect we will see more of this as legal aid is withdrawn...

 

[Frankie Jack]

Arsehole has "Ask about my no win no fee service" at the bottom of the page.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

here is a video of Ruth Anim. The woman ATOS put in the Wrag.. !!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/video/2012/oct/04/welfare-assessors-disabled-work-video

on BBC news this evening

 

[Quartz]

This is making me feel quite uncomfortable - it's survivor's guilt.

Don't. Taxpayers pay these funds so that people in need - like you - get the care and funds they need. After all, it might be them or someone about whom they care next.

 

[treelover]

on BBC news this evening

Not national though..

 

[Frankie Jack]

Not read up or looked into this yet. Good plan or perhaps a way of passing the buck to the NHS via this Salus body?

Disabled Scots spared Atos assessment after firm forced into retreat thanks to Record campaign

Atos will continue to carry out “work capability assessments” in Scotland for employment and support allowance, which replaced incapacity benefit.
But the PIP assessments due to begin next June will now be done by Salus, the occupational health arm of NHS Lanarkshire. Atos signed a £22million deal for the work with Salus last week.
Salus are a social enterprise, with profits from outside contracts ploughed back into patient care.
NHS Lanarkshire promised yesterday: “We are committed to ensuring that everyone assessed is treated with dignity and receives a professional service.
“It will be delivered in a compassionate and transparent manner, supported by robust governance.”
But Atos remain involved as holders of the overall contract for the assessments.
And Greatrex warned: “We need reassurance from Atos that the views of experienced NHS doctors and nurses will be given sufficient weight, rather than being dismissed as often happens with work capability assessments.”

 

[Celt]

curious curious call from the Job centre, tellingg me I had nil points on ESA, was there anything I didn't say at the medical - and there was. I asked her could she ring back at a time I wasn't going to reply in shock and heavily medicated for pain, she asked me a few questions, I remembered some of the things I had missed and then she said, from this conversation I can award you 15 poimts! I'm not sure, have I just made support group?

 

[ash]

curious curious call from the Job centre, tellingg me I had nil points on ESA, was there anything I didn't say at the medical - and there was. I asked her could she ring back at a time I wasn't going to reply in shock and heavily medicated for pain, she asked me a few questions, I remembered some of the things I had missed and then

she said, from this conversation I can award you 15 poimts! I'm not sure, have I just made support group?

This seems a rather unorthodox assessment follow up but who knows with the current system. Sorry but not the support group 15 points puts you into the WRAG which is 12 monts contribution based ESA or longer if you are non contribution with conditionality of undertaking work related activity (WTF that is who knows )

 

[Celt]

ah ok, well will see how that works out, but rather relieved - i think

 

[ash]

Yes part of the battle is won it is difficult to get into the WRAG, sad that it is a victory to prove that your disability is severe enough not to be able to work!

 

[Treacle Toes]

Disabled Scots spared Atos assessment after firm forced into retreat thanks to Record campaign


THE Record has been congratulated, by politicians and campaigners, for helping force Atos into retreat by exposing the stories of disabled Scots who were denied benefits by the firm.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/disabled-scots-spared-atos-assessment-1370433

 

[Treacle Toes]

Rebranding and distancing? Same shit different provider? :faceplam:

 

[equationgirl]

Don't know why the politicians are congratulating the Record, they should be offering their abject apologies for allowing such a situation to develop. If the politicians had done their job properly in the first place there wouldn't be anything to fix.

I am pleased for the Record though, sterling work from them. The national papers could learn a lot - it comes to something when the red tops are kicking off on these issues, it's the Record & the Mirror that have done a lot of collation and investigation on this issue.

 

[Frankie Jack]

Atos giving PiP back to the SNHS while taking a cut. Also these Salus OT people work with the Biopsychosocial shite as well.

 

[Treacle Toes]

Atos giving PiP back to the SNHS while taking a cut. Also these Salus OT people work with the Biopsychosocial shite as well.

http://www.salus.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx

Criticism

Some critics point out this question of distinction and of determination of the roles of illness and disease runs against the growing concept of the patient–medical tradesperson partnership or patient empowerment, as "biopsychosocial" becomes one more disingenuous euphemism for psychosomatic illness.[20] This may be exploited by medical insurance companies or government welfare departments eager to limit or deny access to medical and social care.[21]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopsychosocial_model

 

[Frankie Jack]

Salus Absence Management

EASY is an innovative absence management service designed to improve attendance at work. We are one of the very few organisations in the UK which utilise the bio psychosocial model as recommended by Dame Carol Black in her report "Working for a Healthier Tomorrow" (2008). EASY supports and engages with every employee from their first day of absence until the end of their absence. The service is completely transferable as an adjunct to any organisation's Sickness Absence Policy, with the goal of promoting the earliest healthy return to work.

Reads like employees are harrassed from day one of illness to get back to works again.

 

[Frankie Jack]

Hi thanks for the comments. Whats happening at the moment is I received a letter the next day, which was dated the date of the assessment...advising me not to attend the assessment....I think this is very strange indeed. The letter also says we have received more information...Yet to find out what this information is....
dirtytrainers in reply to charleykitty 1 day ago

 

[equationgirl]

Salus Absence Management



Reads like employees are harrassed from day one of illness to get back to works again.

My HR department rang me when I was in hospital, and that was after two months off sick. If it's the first day of absence with my chronic pain, if the phone isn't by the bed I can't actually get out of bed to answer it, plus I can often have a bad attack for 'only' 24-36 hours so I'll likely only need one day, maybe two off work. If it's the first day of absence with my kidney problems I'm likely to be puking for Olympic gold or concentrating on staying upright and getting to the GP for the meds. I know from experience my brain shuts down all non-essential functions like comprehension and coherent speech so if someone phones me I won't make any sense. The length of absence is then unpredictable.

If someone phones me from day 1, I'm reporting them for harassment. Sickness absence isn't solved with firm encouragement.

 

[Celt]

curious curious call from the Job centre, tellingg me I had nil points on ESA, was there anything I didn't say at the medical - and there was. I asked her could she ring back at a time I wasn't going to reply in shock and heavily medicated for pain, she asked me a few questions, I remembered some of the things I had missed and then she said, from this conversation I can award you 15 poimts! I'm not sure, have I just made support group?

This seems a rather unorthodox assessment follow up but who knows with the current system. Sorry but not the support group 15 points puts you into the WRAG which is 12 monts contribution based ESA or longer if you are non contribution with conditionality of undertaking work related activity (WTF that is who knows )

ah ok, well will see how that works out, but rather relieved - i think

Yes part of the battle is won it is difficult to get into the WRAG, sad that it is a victory to prove that your disability is severe enough not to be able to work!

I'm still rather disbelieving, the conversation with the job centre lady was very, very odd, I think I'm only going to believe this when I have it in writing. It is a very empty victory for want of a better word. So what happens in WRAG ?

 

[ViolentPanda]

Don't know why the politicians are congratulating the Record, they should be offering their abject apologies for allowing such a situation to develop. If the politicians had done their job properly in the first place there wouldn't be anything to fix.

You're presupposing that those politicians give a tupenny toss about doing their jobs properly for their constituents , rather than for their party line. This is just a bit of flim-flam to make the public think they give a shit.

I am pleased for the Record though, sterling work from them. The national papers could learn a lot - it comes to something when the red tops are kicking off on these issues, it's the Record & the Mirror that have done a lot of collation and investigation on this issue.

Now if only they'd try a bit harder on other papers, we might have half a chance.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I got the dreaded brown envelope, which I forgot to open yesterday because I'm stressed and it ended up buried under a newspaper.

Any guesses what it said?

 

[Libertad]

 

[Libertad]

Minnie?

 

[equationgirl]

I got the dreaded brown envelope, which I forgot to open yesterday because I'm stressed and it ended up buried under a newspaper.

Any guesses what it said?

How thick is it and what size?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

How thick is it and what size?

Not very thick (ie. four or five pages). C5 sized envelope

 

[equationgirl]

Not very thick (ie. four or five pages). C5 sized envelope

Have you opened it yet? Only we're all here to help work out what it means, if you want us to.

Sounds like the decision letter to me.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I have opened it and it is the decision letter.

 

[Greebo]

Do you need to put the kettle on?