Have your say on health and disability assessments

UKParliament

Hi Everyone,

On Wednesday 3 February at 2.30pm, the Public Accounts Committee will be holding a session on contracted out health and disability assessments.

The Committee would like to ask for your help in informing this session.

If you, or someone you know or care for, has had an assessment for Employment Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payments (PIP) or a Fit for Work assessment (FFW), the Committee would like to hear about your experience, whether positive or negative.They would like to hear particularly about experiences in the last two years.

Share your comments in this thread by 10am on Thursday 28 January.

This is your chance to inform the work of Parliament and hold the Government to account.

vlad

This is an opinion not an experience; contracting out these services has been an unmitigated disaster

hardpowered

Agreed. Complete mess.

nannytone_2

as a blind person ... i neatly fit into the 'boxes'
most peop[le don't
\being ill/dosabled is a stressful experience. it doesn't need to be made harder

Weary_soul

A complete mess thats really only there to deny ill people what is rightfully theirs and to make a nice buck for private companies. Many of which have a rep in the states for fraud.

Mrs_Ryan

Experience here- two PIP assessments. First one was awful- it was lies from start to finish. Refused to take into account my mental health problems and said that I was just pretending I couldn't do something when I genuinely couldn't. Wouldn't let me stop and calm down when I had an anxiety attack. I don't even think the assessor was qualified- second assessor told me she was a Registered General Nurse but I have no idea what the first assessor was and she was cagey on the subject. 0 points after totally ignoring my medical evidence and even saying 'there is no evidence provided by a suitably qualified person for my back pain' (letter provided was from an experienced orthopaedic surgeon at the local hospital!)
Second assessment- home assessment. Slightly better, assessor seemed to know her stuff and she was at least adequately qualified. Accepted refusal to carry out some instructions and adequately noted. However there were still some glaring inaccuracies and the fact they refused to take into account my cancer diagnosis until tribunal was staggering despite being awarded ESA Support Group without assessment for it! (Evidence from oncologist provided)
When I requested mandatory reconsideration for my first claim I was promised re-assessment from a mental health professional as the DWP representative admitted the assessor had not dealt with my complex mental health issues correctly and seemingly had no idea what on earth they were or what effect they have on me. I never got this and was refused again.
Awarded PIP at tribunal when judge and Dr finally saw the effects of my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder supported by evidence from my rheumatologist and admitted yes I needed social support which neither assessor would admit to!
Second assessment last summer first assessment early last year.

UKParliament

On Wednesday 3 February from 2.30pm, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee will hear evidence on contracted out health and disability assessments.

The Committee will hear from:

• Rachael Badger, Head of Policy for Families, Welfare and Work, Citizens Advice
• Phil Reynolds, Co-Chair, Disability Benefits Consortium
• Tom Pollard, Policy and Campaigns Manager, MIND
• Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work & Pensions
• Nicole Kett, Director, Health Service, Department for Work and Pensions
• Chris Stroud, Divisional Managing Director, Capita
• Leslie Wolfe, General Manager, Maximus UK
• David Haley, Client Executive, Personal Independence Payment, Atos

Watch the session in full on Parliament TV.

vlad

THE_TRUTH wrote: »

They should do more checks, There are far too many playing the system.

Are we talking about tax evasion now?

vlad

UKParliament wrote: »

On Wednesday 3 February from 2.30pm, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee will hear evidence on contracted out health and disability assessments.

The Committee will hear from:

• Rachael Badger, Head of Policy for Families, Welfare and Work, Citizens Advice
• Phil Reynolds, Co-Chair, Disability Benefits Consortium
• Tom Pollard, Policy and Campaigns Manager, MIND
• Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work & Pensions
• Nicole Kett, Director, Health Service, Department for Work and Pensions
• Chris Stroud, Divisional Managing Director, Capita
• Leslie Wolfe, General Manager, Maximus UK
• David Haley, Client Executive, Personal Independence Payment, Atos

Watch the session in full on Parliament TV.

its the same old faces time and again! there are many more charities that could speak for the disabled but every time its mind and cab,the others are all working in the system, its a joke tbh

UKParliament

The House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee has published a report on 'Contracted out health and disability assessments'.

The report concludes that companies carrying out health and disability assessments are still failing to meet acceptable performance standards.

Report summary

For many years the Department for Work & Pensions and its contractors have struggled to provide timely, high quality health and disability assessments to inform decisions about benefits or to help people on sick leave back to work.

We are encouraged to see that the Department and its contractors have reduced backlogs and delays for claimants in receiving decisions, and are slowly improving the quality of assessments.

However, contractors' performance still does not meet claimants', the Department's and taxpayers' expectations.

Department cannot afford to be complacent

There are particular concerns about the quality of assessments. As the Department increases the number of assessments to be completed by contractors it cannot afford to be complacent and must learn from past experience to ensure contractors are set challenging but realistic targets against which they are held to account.

The Department also needs to develop a competitive market for health and disability assessments to ensure that there are sufficient credible bidders for contracts as they come up for renewal.

Chair's comment

Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said:

"The troubled history of this programme hammers home the importance of getting contracts right — and the importance of then holding contractors properly to account.

In this case, poor performance has had a tangible human impact. We have seen some improvements but there is a long way to go before people being assessed can be confident of getting the service they deserve.

Our Committee heard evidence of the assessment process continuing to create anxiety for claimants; of double-booked appointments and arduous journey times. Some assessors simply do not understand particular medical conditions.

Up to one in five reports sampled by contractors were below the required standard and there is also evidence that attempts to reduce delays have undermined the quality of assessments, many of which are subsequently overturned on appeal.

These are serious failings that must be dealt with rigorously. We will expect to see evidence of a more enlightened approach to the needs of claimants, greater transparency over contractor performance and a renewed focus on improving the quality of assessments."

Read the report in full on the Committee's website.

Ames

It needs a 'competitive market'? Really?