WFHRA assessment

50Twuncle

Yesterday - 8 months after my previous assessment - I had my WFHRA - which turned out to be a joke !!
I was actually seen 20 minutes late and was in the office for 20 minutes
The "girl" who saw me - failed to introduce herself - she could have been anyone off the street - and she was Eastern European - speaking poor English and understanding even less.
I had prepared for the medical by producing 2 sides of A4 with the "standard Q & A" on it - she refused to accept this - preferring, instead to make me struggle to get a few words out of me (I am virtually unable to speak) - had it not been for my supporter (from Headway) - the whole thing would have been laughable ......
This was not a medical - it was a "SILLY LITTLE GIRL - TRYING TO SPEAK ENGLISH TO ME, FAILING TO LISTEN TO MY REPLIES/FAILING TO UNDERSTAND MY REPLIES" !!
No medical was performed - to see what I was/was not capable of doing.

What was the point of my attending (and getting "worked up over the thought of it" ?)

I am making an official complaint about my treatment.

Oldernotwiser

I think that your prejudices are showing!

50Twuncle

Maybe they are - but they are still functioning and they agree with me - I was fuming after yesterdays "medical"
I was expecting someone who could speak English -and who would at least, try to understand me - and not virtually rip my notes out of my hand to stop me from using them !!
That's not a bad rate of pay for someone pulled in - off the street - £60 for 20 minutes work.

dmg24

Did you read the information I provided on your previous thread? The WFHRA is not a medical as such.

The person that you saw will be a medical professional, so far from a 'girl'. I have to agree with ONW that you do seem to have let prejudices affect your attitude towards the situation.

I am not sure where you have got the £60 rate from?

If you do wish to make a complaint, you need to rethink your grounds, or at least the way that you express them. Writing something along the lines of the above will get you a curt reply that the person is fully qualified to fulfil their role.

50Twuncle

£60 is what the Medical professional gets paid by DWP for the assessment for however long it takes

daska

TBH I had my WFHRA this week and had a very similar experience. Whilst the doctor (and yes it was a Dr) had very good technical written English his accent was so strong that I struggled to understand him.

I made a point of stating at the outset that I needed slow clear speech and struggled with strong accents because my concentration is impaired and I find it difficult to learn new skills - according to his report I would benefit from retraining.

He raised his voice when I failed to understand his question about my 'sealed'. My sealed what? Eventually he explained he was asking about my 2 year old 'child'.

When he called me from the waiting room I failed to hear my name because his accent was so strong that the way he pronounced my name actually turned it into a female name into completely different male name.

When asked about hobbies I mentioned that I had just started attending a 6 week costume workshop for a parade later in the year. 1.5 hours with a carer to do the difficult bits like cutting and sticking and carrying etc. So according to the doctor I am now working.

My support worker explained that we had brought my wheelchair because the last medical had resulted in my needing 3 people to move me from the interview room to to the car, so his professional evaluation was that I had no difficulty walking.

He stated that my speech was 'vivid' and that I was perfectly able to return to work immediately -even though we had clearly explained that at the last medical I had been literally dribbling on the same desk he was now sat at. Ad nauseam...

So in what way was that doctor able to do the job he was paid to do? His accent was impenetrable, his behaviour unprofessional and his summation completely inaccurate. All in all a waste of tax payers money.

We've rung the JC+ and explained and requested a copy of the original medical from the ESA helpline and I feel another letter to my MP coming on...

dmg24

21Twinkle wrote: »

£60 is what the Medical professional gets paid by DWP for the assessment for however long it takes

Do you have evidence of this?

50Twuncle

I did have a link that mentioned a £60 payment to Atos Doctors no matter how long the medical went on for - but have lost it
I have emailed Atos to get a travelling expenses form and received the response expected "We do not pay any travelling expenses" - funny thing - according to the leaflet sent to me originally - they do - Also - see http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatos.html for a good and somewhat long website with a similar experience to what I am going through

50Twuncle

Found it - http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/news-archive/170-dwp-doctors-earn-how-much - and I was wrong - try £104 per (DLA) medical + travelling expenses at 40p per mile -
But what about incapacity for work personal capability assessments?
These are carried out at Medical Examination Centres. According to Nestor, doctors have the potential to earn more than £300 a day carrying out examination centre work. They also explain that on average doctors examine 4 to 5 clients within a 3.5 hour period of work in the centres. So a reasonable estimate is that a doctor doing two sessions a day would see up to 10 clients in order to earn that £300.
So that’s around £30 a time for incapacity medicals. But the faster the doctor can zip through them – the fewer questions they ask and the less typing they do – the more money they can earn.
For me (living in the sticks) - I was the only "client" there and the "medical professional" was still 25 minutes late and I was hurried through in 20 minutes - it all starts to become clear to me now .....

gutbrod10

atos only pay the client, patient 25p per mile to travell to a medical and there doctors medical staff get 40p then !

50Twuncle

Yep !
That's why "medical professionals" can afford nice houses, cars and holidays ...
Don't forget that some of these "medical professionals" have been trained at our expense (the UK ones) and may be earning astonishing money through their practice - this DWP pay is just extra "pocket money" to them...