atos cancelled medical now letter asking why did not attend

cp7

hi, my sister claims is/ib through illness (moving from this to esa) and was sent a wca form and subsequently asked to attend for a medical.

i helped fill out form and arranged to take her last fri 21 oct. on tue 18 oct she rec'd a letter from atos advising that they had rec'd further evidence from her gp and she was no longer required to attend and her medical was cancelled.

today she rec'd a letter and a form to fill, headed by jobcentreplus but in an envelope with atos address stamped on it asking why she didn't attend and that her benefit may be stopped.

i called atos on her behalf and was advised they didn't know why she was sent a letter advising not to attend medical. they said they didn't keep copies of letters they send out and it looks like it was an error. what???? they mentioned waiting for report from gp so i asked were they still waiting but no it was just a thought! who wrote the letter? they don't know that either.

they said to fill out form and when jcp send it back to them they'll know who wrote it by the handwriting, unbelievable!

my sister is up to high doh, got herself all psyched up for the medical, found the strain has put her blood pressure sky high too. what an utter shambles. atos couldn't have cared less.

does this happen often, are atos really that incompetent? as both letters came in atos envelopes they must know how/who/why sent them. someone handwrote name, address, ni, date etc etc. truly awful that they don't sign these letters which cause so much stress.

anyway this is just to let people know what happens to folk who do as asked. obviously we don't know what'll happen now, prob get sent another questionnaire to fill out.:mad:

jojo_2012_2

I don't know about ESA. But in regards to sending them back the letter they sent you, only send a photocopy, someoneone's messed up along the way and that may be your only proof.

cp7

hi thanks for advice, will send a copy and keep original. someone has messed up but atos are acting like it's nothing! saying they don't keep copies of letters they send out. just ridiculous.

surely someone who is writing to a person would have to check details of evidence from gp, date of medical, informing jcp etc before they would even begin to write a letter cancelling such an important medical.

an error??? some error. i thought it was jcp who had maybe not heard from atos about cancelling and this would be sorted by a phone call.

thinking about it though, although the letter/form from jcp asking why she didn't attend is headed by jcp it comes in an envelope from atos and was sent the next day after the med was due. a bit too quick for atos to have let jcp know it seems. feel there's more to this and my sis is in such a state now.

thanks for reply and advice

tessiem

Hi,

I'm afraid this sounds all too familiar, I had an ATOS medical booked a few months ago for ESA (the same week another ATOS doctor booked me in for a home visit for DLA!) I'm on crutches and walk, painfully at a snails pace, any way, when I turned up to the medical I was told "Oh no, we cancelled you this morning, we've tried phoning and everything!" I got out my phone and surprise, surprise, no message or missed call, her response to this was a very snotty "We don't leave messages" (didn't believe for an instance that they'd phoned at all) She was quite taken aback at my anger for a painful wasted trip as well as the emotional turmoil and didn't apologise once. She then advised that I would get another appointment via letter in a few weeks time. A few weeks past and I recieved a letter with a new appointment date, only problem was, the date they had given was the same day the letter was sent out so obviously had missed it which then caused them to "suspend" my ESA as I was a "no show"
It cost me £6 in phone calls to sort out their mess and I eventually had my medical a few weeks later! (Which, pleased to say, was conducted by a compassionate and empathatic nurse)
I have heard many ATOS adminastrative horror stories BUT they will compensate for phonecalls/postage etc, just say you want to complain and seek compensation (Sadly they won't pay for emotional turmoil!)
Wishing your sister all the best for her medical, I really hope she gets a decent Nurse like mine, I'm sure most are reasonable! Great to see she's got a lovely sister to help support her!

bobajob_1966

cp7 wrote: »

hi thanks for advice, will send a copy and keep original. someone has messed up but atos are acting like it's nothing! saying they don't keep copies of letters they send out. just ridiculous.

surely someone who is writing to a person would have to check details of evidence from gp, date of medical, informing jcp etc before they would even begin to write a letter cancelling such an important medical.

an error??? some error. i thought it was jcp who had maybe not heard from atos about cancelling and this would be sorted by a phone call.

thinking about it though, although the letter/form from jcp asking why she didn't attend is headed by jcp it comes in an envelope from atos and was sent the next day after the med was due. a bit too quick for atos to have let jcp know it seems. feel there's more to this and my sis is in such a state now.

thanks for reply and advice

The letter you received is computer generated. Whilst there is obviously some human interaction in the process, there is far less cross referencing than you seem to think.

It is clear that a mistake has been made, but you are not helping your sister by making such a fuss. All you need to do is send proof that the medical was cancelled and wait to hear back from them with a rearranged appt. All your sister needs to know is that it is being dealt with, and there is nothing to worry about.

cit_k

Lodge a formal complaint with the DWP and ATOS, and ask for ATOS compensation, and DWP compensation, seeing as both parties seem to have messed up.

cp7

tessiem wrote: »

Hi,

I'm afraid this sounds all too familiar, I had an ATOS medical booked a few months ago for ESA (the same week another ATOS doctor booked me in for a home visit for DLA!) I'm on crutches and walk, painfully at a snails pace, any way, when I turned up to the medical I was told "Oh no, we cancelled you this morning, we've tried phoning and everything!" I got out my phone and surprise, surprise, no message or missed call, her response to this was a very snotty "We don't leave messages" (didn't believe for an instance that they'd phoned at all) She was quite taken aback at my anger for a painful wasted trip as well as the emotional turmoil and didn't apologise once. She then advised that I would get another appointment via letter in a few weeks time. A few weeks past and I recieved a letter with a new appointment date, only problem was, the date they had given was the same day the letter was sent out so obviously had missed it which then caused them to "suspend" my ESA as I was a "no show"
It cost me £6 in phone calls to sort out their mess and I eventually had my medical a few weeks later! (Which, pleased to say, was conducted by a compassionate and empathatic nurse)
I have heard many ATOS adminastrative horror stories BUT they will compensate for phonecalls/postage etc, just say you want to complain and seek compensation (Sadly they won't pay for emotional turmoil!)
Wishing your sister all the best for her medical, I really hope she gets a decent Nurse like mine, I'm sure most are reasonable! Great to see she's got a lovely sister to help support her!

thank you and i'm sorry to hear about your shameful dealings with atos. i'll let you know what happens next, sister just wants it sorted.

regards

cp7

bobajob_1966 wrote: »

The letter you received is computer generated. Whilst there is obviously some human interaction in the process, there is far less cross referencing than you seem to think.

It is clear that a mistake has been made, but you are not helping your sister by making such a fuss. All you need to do is send proof that the medical was cancelled and wait to hear back from them with a rearranged appt. All your sister needs to know is that it is being dealt with, and there is nothing to worry about.

hi, thanks for your reply. really not trying to make a fuss but feel a bit limited when dealing with atos/jcp especially on behalf of my sister. i wonder, if this was just an error, then who was supposed to receive it, maybe someone else turned up for their medical in error.

it didn't appear to be computer generated at all and i'm not totally convinced by the conversation i had with the atos person that she actually knew what was happening, she wasn't very sure at all.

regards

cp7

cit_k wrote: »

Lodge a formal complaint with the DWP and ATOS, and ask for ATOS compensation, and DWP compensation, seeing as both parties seem to have messed up.

hi, thank you for reply and advice, my sis should complain but would they even compensate for an 'error'. it seemed too trivial for atos! they don't keep copies of letters they send out i was advised, just as well my sister kept it.

regards

amus

Just send it back in the envelope provided stating what you have stated on here.

cit_k

cp7 wrote: »

hi, thank you for reply and advice, my sis should complain but would they even compensate for an 'error'. it seemed too trivial for atos! they don't keep copies of letters they send out i was advised, just as well my sister kept it.

regards

I think ATOS are lying to you, or misleading you at the least, surely they must have if not a 'copy' of the actual letter, a log of which type of letter was sent, on what date.

Otherwise, how could they set time scales etc for sending out a reminder, or benefit sanctions/stoppages for failing to comply with the letters?

If they kept no records, they would never be able to prove you were sent a letter asking you to attend a medical in the first place, so everyone could simply deny getting one - and not be sanctioned.

Which obviously is not happening, so they must keep records.

If they are not keeping records, that in itself is a serious problem, and one that is perhaps even more serious than the original complaint itself.