ATOS - good stories please?

FTW

Fridge3 wrote: »

OP wanted good stories about ATOS. The company you keep referring to is a different one, unless of course you're defaming ATOS?

I did say the company concerned. So, do you have one to share?

FTW

Fridge3 wrote: »

I must take issue with that post. The word 'slightly' is not necessary.

Keeping it in line with the OP's original request, did you have a good story to share, and what was your positive experience with these assessments?

Fridge3

FTW wrote: »

Keeping it in line with the OP's original request, did you have a good story to share, and what was your positive experience with these assessments?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=47481613&postcount=928

Hollybush

Sadly I found myself subjected to a WCA by an ATOS Nurse recently. For those people that believe the press and that everyone claiming benefits are scroungers I am fortunate in that the kind of job I do pays over £100,00 per year (for which I am grateful and happily work very hard for) and have no wish not to be working. I have seen two highly experienced GPs and two very experienced consultants who all agree I am not fit to work and to do so would make my condition significantly worse.

However, the ATOS Nurse knew better and said I have no limitations and can work. When I eventually got the medical report (nearly 3 months after requesting it) I was shocked. It did not reflect what was said during the examination (I recorded it so I have a complete record of everything said and done), was factually incorrect (including their medical opinion), did not follow the specified WCA protocol (much lauded by ATOS and the DWP as why they system is ‘so good’) such that some parts of the examination weren’t completed and others were done in a manner that makes them medically and legally flawed. The ESA documentation states that any medical opinion the HCP gives must be backed up by evidence (evidence based medicine is another things ATOS and the DWP love to talk about) and yet the ATOS Nurse either failed to provide any evidence or simply made it up.
I have dealt with ATOS Origin a part of my work and they are a pure money making machine (as all consultancy companies are) that is only concerned about increasing billable hours. ATOS Healthcare is part of this machine and has no concern about the ill people they deal with. If you search the web you will find numerous credible examples of people (quite a few terminally ill) who were told they could work. These included people with brain tumours, numerous condition meaning they were unable to leave their homes, heart conditions, etc. Some of these people actually died before they were able to complete their appeal against the ATOS Healthcare decision (no doubt helped along by the considerable stress caused by the whole process. The TUC quote a case where ATOS Healthcare carried out an examination for the employer of one very ill person and certified that the only option was retire them on the grounds of ill health as there was no chance that they would ever get well. Several months later (with a condition that could only deteriorate) ATOS Healthcare assessed the person for ESA and found that they had absolutely no functional impairment that would prevent them working. The person concerned had severe angina that caused them to become breathless after moving for a few minutes.
Do not trust anything ATOS Healthcare tell you or do. Take someone with you and covertly record your examination (they won’t let you do it openly!). From the moment they open the door and call your name the examination has already started (this is specified in the ESA documentation) and everything you do or say is being looked t to see if they can find a reason to say there are no reasons why you cannot work. The documentation tells the HCP to watch if you are able to move your hands during the examination to touch your hair, itch your nose etc. Just sitting in the exam room is part of the test. The process is heavily biased towards what the HCP sees on the day and writes in the report, even if it contradicts what medical specialists you may have seen say. The ESA system is badly flawed so beware!