ATOS - good stories please?

TrixieB

I know this site has lots of the not so good - and downright disgusting - stories of ATOS medicals, as someone who will shortly be applying for DLA and ESA can I please hear of good stories to get a better picture?

Filling out these forms and acknowledging that you are in need is hard and scary enough without the constant feeling that you are going to fail at the first hurdle and be subjected to unfair medicals and have to go down a long road of appeals and tribunals to get your entitlement, so think why bother?

So come on, there must be some people out there with good experiences of their contacts with ATOS?

NASA_2

There are a few on this site that have told their stories of being treated fairly and adequately but due to the nature of the forum they are few and far between.

By its very nature you are only going to get people coming on here who think they have been wronged in some way - or the likes of myself who tries to give advice on benefits.

Do be aware though that the unheard majority do exist. No-one, or next to no-one, comes on here to say how great their experience was and how they got all the help they needed. And there are people who have been helped immensly by staff of ATOS/DWP and affiliated organisations.

rogerblack

Last January, in the snow...
I went there early, the staff were helpful, the doctor I saw accurately recorded the assessment as best she could.
The issues I have with the subsequent report are mainly due to the fact that as I diddn't properly understand the descriptors, I answered 'yes' to some 'can you do' questions on the ESA50, hence the interview did not probe into those areas, and I got no points.

chivers1977

I went about 6 weeks ago and was panicking about the whole thing given the stories you read. I had subscribed to Benefits and Work so knew what the key words that they were looking for. My dad went with me and when I started to say something that wasn't clear enough, he interjected. It was a proper doctor that I saw. He ddn't have my ESA50 or any details about me but I knew to take my paperwork with me. I took recent letters that I had from my consultant which he read carefully before commencing the assessment. I have THoracic Outlet Syndrome so not a common condition and therefore I did think that I would be turned down. I am very pleased that I was put in the WRAG as that is where I belong. I haven't got my ESA85 yet but the doctor was very clear about all of the limitations on my daily life. It may also have been helped by the fact that I have been accepted for a PHI claim where my own employer believes that I am not able to do any job within the orignansation at present.

Go with open eyes. Make sure you take your paperwork. Make sure that you don't say that you can do things when you can't do them without pain repeatedly or safely. ie I can walk 100 metres but not without pain and not repeatedly - that means I can't walk 100 metres (in the ATOS world!). I highly recommend the Benefts and Work guides for helping you to understand the descriptors so you don't fall into the trap that the previous poster did of not scoring when they should have done.

Pinkdebster

I had my first medical about six weeks ago..............I had been placed directly into the Support Group when I first applied (about a year ago) and so this was my first experienc................like you, I was terrified after reading all the horror stories!!

The lady I saw was absolutely lovely! She was a nurse but seemed very knowledgeable about my condition and obviously read up on it. She made a very big deal about telling me what a help my form had been and how well I had completed it. She said I had explained everything really well and she was able to go off and carry out necessary research.

I had a broken arm at the time as a result of a black out and a feeding tube up my nose (I was waiting a hospital admission for a permanent feeding tube) - as soon as she saw me she said she wasn't going to continue with the examination as, in her opinion, it was unnecessary. She wrote down all my medications and took the documents I had prepared for her from the relevant medical staff and then told me to go home and forget all about it. She would be placing me directly back into the support group - she even said "I have absolutely no idea why they made you attend a medical!"

Now I had also read on here about not taking too much notice of "nice people" so I asked her outright if I could definitely take her word that this was the case - she said "would you like me to give it to you in writing now?" And true to her word, I received a letter confirming this decision two days later.

So maybe it's not all bad...............I for one was pleasantly surprised!! It does appear that back-up documentation and good, clear completed forms play their part too.

tod123

ATOS are an excellent organisation tasked with the very difficult job of getting the benefits classes back into work.

ATOS take the lost , and give them a future, where those people can be freed from their benefit lifestyle and become productive members of society again.

Sarah69

I had a medical last October. The lady who saw me was English and very nice. I passed my medical and was put in the wrag group. Yet a close friend of mine had a very different experience. She saw a foreign person and immediately there was a language barrier my friend did not understand a lot of what the person was saying. She was turned down and there were a few lies in her report. She has appealed and won her case.

Chippychap

Sarah69 wrote: »

I had a medical last October. The lady who saw me was English and very nice. I passed my medical and was put in the wrag group. Yet a close friend of mine had a very different experience. She saw a foreign person and immediately there was a language barrier my friend did not understand a lot of what the person was saying. She was turned down and there were a few lies in her report. She has appealed and won her case.

Imho the race of the Doctor is no indicater of the outcome.
If your friend is prepared to sit blindly whilst not knowing what is going on then it is hardly anyones fault but there own.
Just say "pardon" and do not move on until you understand what they are saying.
The interview is adversarial and going in thinking fluffy bunny thoughts is a sure fire way to get plucked and stuffed.
These people have a financial incentive to get you off the benefit books so view the whole procedure as that.
These verm1n would try to get Stephen Hawking a job as a football referee.
Go in prepared for the worse and hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Also, some Doctors have been found to not have a license to practice in the UK so any language problems then ASK THEM.
GET A GRIP FOLKS a pleasant outcome is the benefits being confirmed and not until

cwc100

Reading on this forum I have definitely found more negative stories than positive ones with ATOS and I was starting to think that they might be a nightmare. It started to make me and my sister feel anxious getting transferred from IB to ESA. It would be so beneficial to see more positive stories to get a better perspective.

cosmic-dust

TrixieB wrote: »

So come on, there must be some people out there with good experiences of their contacts with ATOS?

I did post my experience last night but it appears to have gone into the sin bin somewhere along the lines. I wonder how that happened :cool:

wellynever

cosmic-dust wrote: »

I did post my experience last night but it appears to have gone into the sin bin somewhere along the lines. I wonder how that happened :cool:

It's on page two the thread got locked bit of a heated debate about atos you'll find it