Atos Medicals - Questions, Answers and Support

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Thanks- maybe we need to invent a new word for the congrats??? I know how you feel and I am still monitoring benefits and work and other websites and don't suppose I will ever stop. I agree we could all do with some holders for those boulders

There must be another word. Where's that thread about words that need to be invented

 

[Celt]

Glad you got the right decision.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Cheers Celt

 

[equationgirl]

There must be another word. Where's that thread about words that need to be invented

Totes amazeballs?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Totes amazeballs?

I'll never remember that

Maybe we should just stick with congratulations, as in congratulations for ATOS/DWP believing you

 

[equationgirl]

I'll never remember that

Maybe we should just stick with congratulations, as in congratulations for ATOS/DWP believing you

'Wow' would do too - as in 'Wow! They actually believed me!'

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

'Wow' would do too - as in 'Wow! They actually believed me!'

yes, and a lot quicker to type for people who may have upper mobility problems

 

[WouldBe]

yes, and a lot quicker to type for people who may have upper mobility problems

I was going to say "or dyslexia" but you could get OWW which doesn't sound as positive.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I was going to say "or dyslexia" but you could get OWW which doesn't sound as positive.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Yep! Support Group, no medical

Do you think I'd be teasing you all if it was the WRAG. I'd be on here ranting and raving

YES!!!!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

YES!!!!

Funnily enough, I went to bed last night, not so much relieved but more angry that we have to go through this shit rather than them just contacting doctors and believing doctors who say you're not fit enough to work.

As I said yesterday, too early to celebrate as I have another weight on my shoulders which seems to have just got heavier after receiving latest hospital letter

 

[ViolentPanda]

Funnily enough, I went to bed last night, not so much relieved but more angry that we have to go through this shit rather than them just contacting doctors and believing doctors who say you're not fit enough to work.

As I said yesterday, too early to celebrate as I have another weight on my shoulders which seems to have just got heavier after receiving latest hospital letter

Sorry to hear that.
Himself's chemo?

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Just rang to find out how long his award is for and was told 24 months (from 9 September), so looks like they made the decision as long ago as a month (ie. before GP's letter was sent).

 

[JTG]

Quick question... a friend is appealing her WCA decision, the original assessment being with a nurse. She has Joint Hypermobility Disorder, is this something that should be assessed by a doctor in ATOS' guidelines?

 

[yardbird]

Quick question... a friend is appealing her WCA decision, the original assessment being with a nurse. She has Joint Hypermobility Disorder, is this something that should be assessed by a doctor in ATOS' guidelines?

They don't think like that. On a bad day the cleaning lady may stand in. I've got MS and they had absolutely no idea.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Quick question... a friend is appealing her WCA decision, the original assessment being with a nurse. She has Joint Hypermobility Disorder, is this something that should be assessed by a doctor in ATOS' guidelines?

Can't help you, but I think equationgirl would know the answer to this. She'll probably be along soon

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

They don't think like that. On a bad day the cleaning lady may stand in. I've got MS and they had absolutely no idea.

Yes, but if it is the case, she can at least request it surely?

 

[JTG]

Can't help you, but I think equationgirl would know the answer to this. She'll probably be along soon

Cheers, I've spent the last few days trawling through the thread but can't remember if the answer's in here now!

The whole thing's ridiculous, for example they've contradicted themselves by saying she "sat comfortably for 40 minutes" but also that she couldn't sit for more than 10 minutes (can't remember exact wording). "Cleanly dressed with smart appearance" when (and I quote my friend), she "looked like shit!"

Needless to say she wants the nurse's head on a stake...

She's finally got the report (took them three weeks to send her it) and is appealing. She has regular stress related jaw dislocation/pain/infection which isn't helped by this, her knee has been dislocating every day for a couple of weeks now, she struggles to type at times due to her fingers swelling up and the colder weather isn't going to improve things much. She's going to have days when getting out of bed or opening doors will be a struggle for a few months now.

But, you know, get a job

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Cheers, I've spent the last few days trawling through the thread but can't remember if the answer's in here now!

The whole thing's ridiculous, for example they've contradicted themselves by saying she "sat comfortably for 40 minutes" but also that she couldn't sit for more than 10 minutes (can't remember exact wording). "Cleanly dressed with smart appearance" when (and I quote my friend), she "looked like shit!"

Needless to say she wants the nurse's head on a stake...

She's finally got the report (took them three weeks to send her it) and is appealing. She has regular stress related jaw dislocation/pain/infection which isn't helped by this, her knee has been dislocating every day for a couple of weeks now, she struggles to type at times due to her fingers swelling up and the colder weather isn't going to improve things much. She's going to have days when getting out of bed or opening doors will be a struggle for a few months now.

But, you know, get a job

Yeah, I had a quick look, but there's so many ATOS threads, it's possible it's not on this one

and it's for crap like the above that they should be recorded

 

[equationgirl]

Cheers, I've spent the last few days trawling through the thread but can't remember if the answer's in here now!

The whole thing's ridiculous, for example they've contradicted themselves by saying she "sat comfortably for 40 minutes" but also that she couldn't sit for more than 10 minutes (can't remember exact wording). "Cleanly dressed with smart appearance" when (and I quote my friend), she "looked like shit!"

Needless to say she wants the nurse's head on a stake...

She's finally got the report (took them three weeks to send her it) and is appealing. She has regular stress related jaw dislocation/pain/infection which isn't helped by this, her knee has been dislocating every day for a couple of weeks now, she struggles to type at times due to her fingers swelling up and the colder weather isn't going to improve things much. She's going to have days when getting out of bed or opening doors will be a struggle for a few months now.

But, you know, get a job

You rang?

Here's the DWP guidance note for joint hypermobility which may be useful:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/...ical-conditions/joint-hypermobility-syndrome/

The evidence section states:

Because of the wide range of clinical manifestations and spectrum of disability and needs it may often be necessary to obtain further evidence, in the form of a GP or physiotherapist report or a report by an examining medical practitioner. A rheumatologist’s report may be particularly helpful.

Does your friend know if the assessor had any experience of joint hypermobility? Oh, and if you turn up smart they do use it against you.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

told you she'd be along soon

 

[equationgirl]

told you she'd be along soon

It's like you know me or something

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

It's like you know me or something

You are the one when it comes to finding info like this

 

[equationgirl]

You are the one when it comes to finding info like this

It's a superpower I'm using to fight those Atos fuckers

 

[JTG]

Thanks

Am asking if nurse had any experience. I doubt it tbh

And according to my mate she didn't turn up smart anyway!

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Thanks

Am asking if nurse had any experience. I doubt it tbh

And according to my mate she didn't turn up smart anyway!

Found a video online yesterday where someone taped their assessment and was asking nurse about her qualifications. She wasn't at all happy

 

[JTG]

No idea what experience the nurse had as it goes

 

[equationgirl]

Thanks

Am asking if nurse had any experience. I doubt it tbh

And according to my mate she didn't turn up smart anyway!

You're welcome

I'd be surprised if they had any experience relevant to your friend's condition - and experience of several degrees of severity of the condition at that. Certainly all I've seen over the last year is that any old 'healthcare practitioner' gets wheeled out for these assessments, and they have little or no experience of complex conditions (especially ones that don't follow textbooks progression) or multiple disabilities together.

If your friend can go through the report line by line and highlight the errors, that would be helpful. Did she attend alone or did she take a friend with her?

Is your friend appealing the decision?

 

[JTG]

Yeah, tbh even her GP has problems getting to grips with her condition and the severity of it and trying to get a referral to a specialist or even physio with knowledge of it has been tough. As I understand it, it's not massively well understood, and the degrees of it are quite varied - she has a particularly severe case sadly

Just remembered: she's actually been registered blind in her left eye since birth but the assessment had her down as "able to read text with both eyes"! Talk about not paying attention...

She went alone. She was going to get someone to go with her but wasn't able to arrange. I'm a long way away but not for much longer and I intend to tag along for any appeals etc. Yes, she is appealing. She has to, she can't go back on JSA because she can't work the bar/waitressing jobs which are prevalent where she lives (seaside town).

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Just remembered: she's actually been registered blind in her left eye since birth but the assessment had her down as "able to read text with both eyes"! Talk about not paying attention...

oh that's perfectly normal for them

A SCOTS-BASED Royal Marine who lost a leg in Afghanistan underwent a bizarre health assessment – then was told he didn’t qualify for disability benefits.

Aaron Moon suffered fractures to his shoulder, spine, pelvis, hip, heel and legs, a ruptured spleen, dislocated knees and a shattered lower leg which was amputated, after a roadside blast.

But he was told after a work capability assessment by benefits testing firm Atos his false leg was just as “able” as a real one, and his £100–a–week disability living allowance was being stopped.

Now 25-year-old Aaron is going to a tribunal to try to win back his benefits.

Yesterday he relived the extraordinary, humiliating test he was made to endure by a nurse working for Atos.

Aaron, from Bolton, said: “He read out my injuries, including the amputation, before examining me.

“He asked me to point down my left foot, then my right foot, and I said, ‘I haven’t got a right foot’ and he said, ‘Oh, right’.

“He said, ‘Can you move your toes?’ I said, ‘I’ve no leg.’

“I took it off to show him and he looked surprised.

“I was shocked. He’d read out my notes but didn’t seem to know my injuries.”

Armoured Support Group specialist Aaron – a promising rugby player – was attached to Arbroath-based 45 Commando when a bomb wrecked his Viking armoured vehicle in Lashkar Gar in 2009.

He said: “I’ve fought for my country and when I got back, the Government turned their back on me.”

A letter he was sent explained the Department for Work and Pensions had “surmised he could walk 200 metres pain–free”.