Update on ATOS

kurgon

Yet more concerns surrounding Atos Healthcare, the firm who carry out assessments on people hoping to claim Employment and Support Allowance, have been aired:

According to the Observer, 12 doctors employed by Atos are under investigation by the General Medical Council over allegations of improper conduct. They could be struck off if the investigation finds against them. Most of the complaints relate to their treatment of people undergoing the Work Capability Assessment (Part of the procedure for claiming Employment and Support Allowance). Two doctors have already appeared before the General Medical Council. More details at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...uct-disability

A large group of individuals and organisations, under the banner of the National Protest Against Benefit Cuts, wrote an open letter to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Royal College of Nursing outlining detailed concerns about the ethics of medical staff working for Atos, and requesting that they immediately withdraw their support. “We are outraged that Atos is profiting from denying those of us who are sick or disabled, the benefits we need to survive and maintain our level of health. In May, at the protest outside Atos headquarters, a number of people spoke about our experiences of the examination, being denied benefit and having to appeal to get it back. One woman testified that her brother, who had severe depression, committed suicide after being cut off”:

The letter can be found at:
http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wor...e-bmj-and-rcn/

Atos have reportedly censored critical posts made about them online. In the case of CarerWatch, the entire forum was pulled for a while by its hosts after Atos claimed it had been libelled. After further investigation by CarerWatch, the source turned out to be link that a user had posted there five months previously, without comment. At the time of writing the forum has been reinstated, but the offending post removed. For the background, including their correspondence with Atos, see:
http://carerwatch.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/latest-with-atos-2/

We mentioned in the last bulletin that a branch of Atos are providing the IT support for the Paralympic games and are also sponsoring it. Activists are now calling for the games to be boycotted because of these links:
http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?page=172

rogerblack

THE PROBLEM IS NOT solely ATOS.

The major problem is that the system is designed in such a manner to be a very 'tick-box' operation.

It is often not possible - with the best will in the world - to, from the information supplied by a claimant on the ESA50 alone (as many naive claimants will do) properly assess the persons disability in 40 minutes, unless they have a single obvious disability.

Everything from the forms to the application process is designed to make people drop out at every step.

In addition, the largest unfairness is that ESA and JSA are not joined up.
You can be found fit for work by ESA, while being not entitled to JSA.

kurgon

rogerblack wrote: »

All of the links are broken because you've linked them from inside the NHS.
You need to edit out the NHS url before the second http:// - or you need to link directly from the source.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/aug/13/atos-doctors-improper-conduct-disability

http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/open-letter-on-atos-healthcare-to-the-bmj-and-rcn/

http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?page=172


In addition.
THE PROBLEM IS NOT solely ATOS.

The major problem is that the system is designed in such a manner to be a very 'tick-box' operation.

It is often not possible - with the best will in the world - to, from the information supplied by a claimant on the ESA50 alone (as many naive claimants will do) properly assess the persons disability in 40 minutes, unless they have a single obvious disability.

Everything from the forms to the application process is designed to make people drop out at every step.

In addition, the largest unfairness is that ESA and JSA are not joined up.
You can be found fit for work by ESA, while being not entitled to JSA.

Thanks for the update re links - have now amended them. In relation to this not only being about ATOS, that is irrelevant. This update is about the issues concerning ATOS and nothing else. It doesn't lay all the blame at their door, but does point out some key issues.