All repeat WCA medicals to be stopped

sja75

I feel sorry for those existing claimants that have being re-assessed recently.

Imagine having an assessment on the 17th of January. You are wrongly declared fit for work then having to face Mandatory Reconsideration and the Appeals process only to later discover the 'Operational Change' as of 20 January.

Morglin

The minister for Disabled, Mike Penning, has finally admitted, officially, that WCA's have been suspended.

Minister finally admits ESA repeat medicals suspended

Created on Friday, 28 February 2014 13:22

Category: Latest news


"Mike Penning, minister for disabled people, finally admitted in the WOW debate yesterday that the DWP have suspended the sending of employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants to Atos for repeat medical assessments, as Benefits and Work revealed on Monday. He also did not deny the two year length of the suspension for those affected, which we disclosed on Wednesday.

On Monday we broke the news that the DWP have told staff that due to a growing backlog at Atos all current ESA claimants who have not already been referred to Atos will be left on the benefit, without further medical checks, until another company can be found to do repeat work capability assessments (WCAs). On Wednesday, following contact from a DWP insider, we also revealed that claimants due to be referred to Atos were being given a two year repreive.

Until yesterday, however, neither the government nor the DWP would confirm this information. But in the WOW debate yesterday, Kate Green MP asked Penning point blank about the issue [column 472] :

“My point is on the WCA, and I hope that the Minister will address the question that I and my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore) raised about the suspension of reassessment of ESA claimants for the next two years. Will he tell us why the Department appears to have decided not to inform claimants or Members of Parliament about that?”
Penning responded:

“If we were to inform claimants and Members of Parliament about the minutiae of every single change in policy, we would be here a lot longer. As most Members know, I am not hugely party political, but I must point out that the previous Administration did not offer that level of information either. That is not how Governments work. We are trying to deal with the delays, and to ensure that people get what they are entitled to as quickly as possible and that nobody will be worse off while we are doing that. We are, however, in the middle of a really difficult negotiation with Atos over the WCA.”

Penning’s response is a welcome, but grudgingly given, confirmation of the news broken on Monday by Benefits and Work. However, it also displays his extraordinary lack of understanding of what it is like to be a sick or disabled claimant dreading the post arriving every day, for fear it will include a summons to an Atos medical. To actually know when your medical is likely to happen is not ‘minutiae’, it is a matter of enormous importance.

The suspension of referrals does not, unfortunately, affect claimants who have already been referred to Atos by the DWP.

As Atos made clear on their website yesterday, having been inundated with calls about this issue:
“Any WCA repeat referrals that we have already received from DWP will also continue through the WCA process as they would before.
“You can normally tell that this process has started because you receive a Limited Capability for Work questionnaire, or ESA50. You should still return forms, supply additional evidence or attend appointments for a face to face assessment as necessary.”

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/2663-minister-finally-admits-esa-repeat-medicals-suspended

Lin

~Chameleon~

Does this mean people could still receive an ESA50 if they were referred to ATOS before the cut off date or should they all have been sent out by now?

donnac2558

I will say they should have been sent out by now.

My one year was up on the 17th January and I have received nothing, I should have got it well before the 17th probably the end of December.

Murphybear

"If we were to inform claimants and Members of Parliament about the minutiae of every single change in policy, we would be here a lot longer. "

This may be true but there can't be many "changes in policy" that affect so many people in such a drastic way.

My repeat assessment ESA50 has been with ATOS for 8 months now, I've not heard a peep out of them. Perhaps they are waiting until I retire (1 year and 4 days)?:j

~Chameleon~

donnac2558 wrote: »

I will say they should have been sent out by now.

My one year was up on the 17th January and I have received nothing, I should have got it well before the 17th probably the end of December.

Thanks. I know someone who was expecting to receive their ESA50 mid January too but they've heard nothing as yet. They suffer terribly with anxiety anyway so the stress of waiting has made them quite ill. I'll pass on the info and keep fingers crossed they've escaped the review.

Anchoress

Perhaps someone can tell me what the review date is?

My prognosis was for two years.

So is the review date two years from the original WCA or from the actual decision date?

And how long before the review date do they send out the ESA50?

If anyone can please help with this it would help put my mind at rest because I phoned them a few weeks ago and they said I would be up for review.

My original WCA was on the 1st March 2012

Morglin

As far as is known at the moment the review date moves on at least two years from when it should have been.

So, if you were due to be reviewed in March 2014, it will now be March 2016, at the earliest.

But, bear in mind that things can change!

The ESA50 usually is sent out about a month or so, before they need it back, but there have been variations (regionally) with this time frame.

But, as things stand,you shouldn't hear from them until at least January 2016.

Lin

Anchoress

Thanks Lin, but I'm still not convinced I'm safe for now. I received my original ESA50 on my birthday in late 2011, the forms had to be back in early Jan and my WCA was on the 1st March 2012.

I haven't heard anything from them but I might still be in the system as a referral pre 20th Jan.

It would help if the DWP would say that no more forms would be sent out rather than their cut-off date.

Oh well, I'll keep on stressing.

xsunnysuex

Anchoress wrote: »

Thanks Lin, but I'm still not convinced I'm safe for now. I received my original ESA50 on my birthday in late 2011, the forms had to be back in early Jan and my WCA was on the 1st March 2012.

I haven't heard anything from them but I might still be in the system as a referral pre 20th Jan.

It would help if the DWP would say that no more forms would be sent out rather than their cut-off date.

Oh well, I'll keep on stressing.

If your review is 1st March 2014 then you are safe. No more referals are being sent to atos from 20th Jan. If you were going to be called, you would have received the forms by now.