ATOS Appeals & Reconsiderations

News Flash!  The DWP have finally admitted that due to the ongoing back log of pending ATOS appeals that the system is close to breaking point. With this in mind Jobcentre staff are being asked to ring each petitioner at home and try to persuade them to accept a Reconsideration instead of an appeal. They will tell you that this is a quicker process as the decision will be undertaken by your local Jobcentre and you will avoid all the stress of  a formal appeal procedure. What they won’t tell you is that

·         The whole point of a reconsideration offer is to bring down the number of formal appeals pending and massage government disability statistics

·         That they have been authorised to pressure you for a verbal agreement there and then for you to waive your right to appeal

·         That they will keep on ringing you at random intervals for up to 6 weeks in order to get such an agreement

·         That phone calls will be followed by formal letters implying that you may not get your benefits reinstated/backdated unless you agree. (This is not true!)

DO NOT BE BULLIED INTO AGREEING TO THIS! All reconsiderations will be automatically conceded to ATOS and not only will your benefits will be stopped there are no further rights to appeal the decision ( in the small print on the letters). Insist on your right to a formal appeal and stick to your guns. If we all do this the system cannot possibly cope with the increasing numbers of appeals and we can give these bastards the thrashing they deserve.

Name and address withheld.

You couldn't make this up!

Following the Bank Holiday weekend the entire team of  an ATOS staff office in the Yorkshire and Humberside district phoned in sick with “stress” on Tuesday.

Perhaps we should arrange for a panel of disabled people to conduct a computer generated assessment upon their return to work to decide whether they are fit to have a job in the first place!

(Don't you just love it!!  It's at times like this that I wonder what is going on in the head of our beloved leader. His only concern nowadays seems to be bombing the c**p out of Syria. I think he has a few urgent concerns at home which he could address.)

New Investigation into Atos Healthcare

Public spending watchdogs are to launch a new investigation into Atos Healthcare, the company that carries out controversial medical tests for people claiming sickness and disability benefits.

The National Audit Office (NAO) move emerged as the Government disclosed that Atos has been paid £754m  for the tests since 2005. It has also landed other government contracts, including IT work for the Home Office and Highways Agency.

Lord Freud, the Welfare Reform Minister, revealed that annual spending on the medical services contract had risen from £73.3m in 2005-06 to £114.3m in the  year to March.  He said the increase in the budget is due to a rise in the number of tests.

He was replying to a written House of Lords question this week by Lord Alton of Liverpool, a crossbench peer who  asked the NAO to intervene.  The NAO has told Lord Alton the extension of the Atos contract to a new benefits regime for the disabled is “an area of interest” to it and it has begun discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Lord Alton said: “The Atos contract with the Government has become like a licence to print money. Astronomical sums are involved. Worrying questions have arisen about whether the terms of the company's tender have been met; whether performance matches promise; and whether a project undertaken on the pretext of giving value for money has done so. When millions of pounds of public money is being diverted to private companies, it is crucial that there is accountability, transparency, and public confidence. I welcome the NAO's decision to scrutinise the Atos contract and think the Public Accounts Committee should ask Atos and the DWP to appear before them."

Stephen Timms,  Labour’s employment  spokesman, said: “This  Government has been warned time and again to get a grip of this contract, but the truth is Iain Duncan Smith [the Work and Pensions Secretary] has let Atos spin out of control and the taxpayer and vulnerable people are picking up the pieces.  Anyone taking the Work Capacity Assessment  today is now eight  times more likely to end up in a tribunal than a job and the cost of those appeals has soared by 40 per cent  in the last year alone. Ministers have got to fix this mess – fast.”

 The multinational firm, which sponsored last year’s Paralympic Games in London, has been criticised by employment rights groups for the allegedly harsh way it assesses the sick and disabled. Some 40 per cent of people claiming incapacity benefit  appealed against its rulings and 38 per cent of them were successful. Despite that, the company won a further contract to assess the new personal  independence payments for the disabled.  The Government has been criticised by MPs for allowing a virtual monopoly to develop.  But ministers insist that Atos only makes recommendations about claims, with final decisions taken by the DWP.

Atos has said that it has met its obligations in delivering a “complex and challenging contract” and implemented all the changes recommended by the independent reviews .

More than 40 per cent of the reports carried out on disability benefit claimants by the back-to-work assessor Atos are flawed and unacceptable, according to an audit commissioned by the Government.

Following months of complaints about allegedly unfair and slapdash decisions made by Atos, the Department for Work and Pensions  audited around 400 of the company’s written reports into disability claimants, grading them A to C. Of these, 41 per cent came back with a C, meaning they were unacceptable and did not meet the required standard.

The lowest grade does not necessarily mean the decision was wrong, but that a serious error or omission occurred, such as no evidence to justify the recommendations, or inconsistencies in the evidence provided.

The findings mean the company will be stripped of its monopoly on deciding whether people with disabilities are fit to work. The DWP said the poor quality of the company’s written reports were “contractually unacceptable” and announced on Monday it would be inviting other companies to bid for fresh regional contracts by summer 2014 to help reduce waiting times. Liam Byrne, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “This is a direct consequence of three years of appalling contract management by Iain Duncan Smith.”

More than 600,000 of the 1.8 million assessments carried out by Atos since 2009 have been the subject of an appeal, at a cost of £60m. Around 30 per cent of the appeals succeeded. Mark Hoban, minister for Employment, said: “Where our audits identify any drop in quality, we act decisively … It’s vital we continue to improve the service to claimants, which is why we are introducing new providers to increase capacity.”

Richard Hawkes, chief executive of the disability charity Scope, said: “It’s about time the Government told Atos to smarten up its act. But, it’s also strikingly clear to disabled people that the whole £112m per-year system is broken.”

A spokeswoman for Atos said: “Our priority is the quality of our work and, following the recent audit, we quickly put in place a plan to improve the quality of written reports.”

This is just the beginning !!

Disability Living Allowance & The Pines

A message from the campaign KEEP Disability living allowance say NO to reforms

Urgent Update - Disability Living Allowance & The Pines

At last, opposition Councillors are challenging the decision to close The Pines, a care home for 24 severely disabled people. Campaigners and residents want to stay where they are and the Council is considering moving severely disabled in to the heart of Wigan Town Centre where they will be at clear risk of harm - Wigan Today - http://links.causes.com/s/clLW5a?r=U9nD

Please sign the petition to oppose the closure of The Pines - http://links.causes.com/s/clLW5h?r=U9nD

The petition to stop the abolition of Disability Living Allowance expires in 13 days. If you have not signed please do so as we are approaching 50,000 signatures. Sign here - http://links.causes.com/s/clLW5o?r=U9nD

Thank you

Mike Moulding

DISCUSS THE UPDATE

The New ATOS Test

Respite Care is on the Critical List.

                                                                           

                The whole idea of Respite Care is to provide accommodation for clients whose spouse or carers are unable to care for them during short periods of time, due to holiday, medical or other reasons. I would think that it is also required to provide a reasonable standard of care for the client.

                A few weeks ago I stayed for two weeks in a Disabled Care Residential Establishment. This facility provides Residential Care for the disabled as well as Respite Care.

                The two weeks I spent there were quite horrendous. The facility, although seeming to cater for everyone, quite simple does not. This particular establishment caters to a large degree on providing care for those disabled who have very limited mobility and extremely limited communication skills.

                These people do however seem to be treated well and from what I saw were looked after in a friendly caring environment. So far, so good.

                The issue which I have however, is a problem with could be interpreted as slightly controversial but that is not my intention. The problem is that despite the capacity of the establishment or physiotherapy facilities provided, I think that the actual standard of care and other facilities should match the needs of all service users.

                  There seems to be a misconception that people who are disabled are also two sandwiches short of a picnic.  In the minds of many there seems to be a direct correlation between one’s physical mobility and one’s mental agility. Of course, this is simply not the case but the scary thing is that a vast Care System seems to have been built up around this misconception.

                  In practice, what this generally means is that the majority of clients are left sitting quietly while those who are mentally proficient are bored ridged with nothing to do. What would help is the realisation that disabled people with unimpaired cognitive function need mental stimulation as much as the people who care for them. I raise this point as there seems to be a mistaken belief that provided the Respite Care Establishment has some sort of bed and a toilet then it is – Job Done – if you get my drift!

                    The very fact that the ‘library’ consists almost solely of Mills & Boon, power sockets are completely out of reach and the very mention of a computer amounts to an act of treason punishable by being force fed fish fingers for days on end, seems to have escaped the notice of our illustrious leaders.

                     Another problem which is all too evident is the prickly one concerning staffing levels. In an attempt to cut costs one of the first things to be cut is the number of staff.  The downside of this of course, is that the less staff there is, the greater the possibility of staff not being around if something goes horribly wrong. One example of this was when yours truly made a speedy journey to a toilet only to find that some numbskull had placed a large heavy immovable hoist next to where I desperately needed to go. With the staffing levels so low, my pressing of the ‘assistance bell’ went unheeded. Needless to say it was a damp experience!

                     This establishment in which I was incarcerated for a fortnight was the proud owner of a computer system whose broadband signal was so slow it didn’t come by fibre optic, it was delivered by carrier pigeon. It wasn’t a case of ‘clicking on’, more of a case of enduring the onset of interminable boredom while waiting for the wi-fi signal to decide if it wanted to make an appearance.

                      I have been informed that my wish to be placed on Respite at another Care Facility located next to a glorious beach, promenade and coffee shop, not to mention a very desirable pub, will not be granted by the powers that be. It appears that while pre-paid beds in the formerly mentioned facility remain available then no other Establishment will be used.

                      It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the holders of the purse strings and the pen-pushers that the reason there are vacant rooms in this institution is that no bugger wants to stay there! The phrase ‘Over my dead body’ springs to mind but hey! Let’s not tempt fate!

Copyright © Ian m Allan 2013

               

               

Disability Benefits Latest Recruit

I hope that is the first of many images for this Blog.

This one sent by Lynn Myland.

ATOS

They called me in for assessment

A medical by Dr. Turk

To see if I was suitable

For any kind of work.

He asked me what kind of work

I thought that I could do,

I said that, “Since I cannot walk

I really don’t have a clue.”

“A wheelchair based pavement tester

Is the job for me

Reporting all those cracks and bumps

That many people do not see.”

But the Atos man just shook his head

And said, “We’ve got plans for you!

You’ll go along to Job Centre Plus

And be at the front of the queue!”

Now I’ve got a job as a taxidermist

I really love that line of work,

For it allows me to do just what I want

And to stuff old Dr. Turk!

They will treat you with contempt

And will show you who is boss

For whether or not you’re fit for work

They couldn’t give Atos !!

Copyright © Ian m Allan 2013

Learning Disability Cuts

A message from the campaign KEEP Disability living allowance say NO to reforms

Learning Disability Cuts - Mencap Statement

As the Care Bill is proceeding through Parliament it is becoming clear that a larger burden of cuts are being faced by people living with learning disability or other mental health.

It is believed many people living with learning disability will lose some or all of their Disability Living Allowance after 2015.

Many Councils have cuts services for people with learning disability and in Wigan the Council have announced their intention to close The Pines, a care home for 24 people living with severe learning disability.

Attached is a statement off Mencap who say we all must try to do what we can to oppose unfair cuts. - http://links.causes.com/s/clLuSc?r=SNyY

Please sign the petition to oppose the closure of The Pines - http://links.causes.com/s/clLuSi?r=SNyY

Petition to keep Disability Living Allowance from being abolished - http://links.causes.com/s/clLuSs?r=SNyY

Follow the Community Action Party on Facebook - http://links.causes.com/s/clLuSH?r=SNyY

The Way of the System

Put them down

and keep them low

Take away all things

which they know

Tamper with wheelchairs

and make them go slow

For you are now part of the System.

Don’t get them up

leave them in bed

We’ll just ensure

they’re watered and fed

And leave them there

until they are dead

That is the way of the System.

Come in for respite

Enjoy your stay

You’ll be bored

All of the day

You’ll be begging to be taken away

From the Regime of the System.

Why should we care

We don’t  give a toss

As long as we make money

And don’t make a loss

When you come here

We’ll show you who’s boss

For this is the way of the System.

Leave them for an hour

Upon the old loo

That’s what we are told

That we should do

If you call us

We won’t answer you

You will have to wait for the System

Old men who were heroes

And women so kind

Trapped in infirmity

Here you will find

All slowly going

Out of their mind

Living under the System.

Staff may come

And staff may go

There are things

Which only they know

Records of such

They never will show

The secrets of the System.

Anything you hear

With your own ears

We don’t care

If it brings on the tears

You’ll be unhappy

For the rest of your years

For you will die in the System.

Copyright  ©  Ian m Allan 2013

Disabled Quiz.

This is a shortened version of the original quiz.

DISABLED QUIZ

This Quiz should never have had to be written.

The only reason it has been written is to highlight the neglect, stupidity and uncaring attitude which exists in The Care Industry. There are so many different aspects of ‘Care’ that I have arranged this quiz in sections. I have not included as many sections as I would have wished because if I had, you poor reader would probably have given up the will to live by part 27 !!

Humorous though it may initially appear, it should be considered that a great many of the optional answers in the Part 1 Multiple Choice as well as indeed their related questions are in fact based on real events which I or my friends have had to deal with causing us distress, upset and mental anguish.

The really scary bit is that I have endured everything marked *

The reason I have decided to include the humorous content is hopefully to highlight the sheer stupidity of some of the decisions and practices by people in authority who should know better!

I suppose that by highlighting these things I am hoping that steps will be taken to improve matters.

In this respect though, I am not holding my breath...!!

PART  (1)

Question 1)

I have lost my DLA and no longer have sufficient funds to heat my house, Do I ...

A) Pack my clothes and coat with newspaper to stay warm like the government has advised?

B) Drill a hole in the party wall and steal my neighbour’s electricity?

C) Not really a problem as I will have already starved to death by September?

Question 2)

*I am in ‘Respite Care’ for two weeks. There is a metal hoist blocking my way to the toilet, Do I...

A) Press the Fire Alarm?

B) Turn around and break my speed record while finding another toilet?

*C) Just sit there and let nature take over?

 Question3)
*Staying at a Residential Care Facility there is no reliable Wi-Fi signal. Should I...
*A)  Complain about the dire state of their knackered computer system?

B)   Realise that the disabled should not be able to contact the outside world?

C)   Rejoice in the knowledge that I still have a pen and paper?

Question 4)

*When your disabled transport fails to turn up after waiting over 3 hours. Do you...

A) Start making your own way along the hard shoulder of the motorway?

B) Get a tow?

C) Don’t go out?

*D)Get  driven home in a disability vehicle by the Residential Care Home staff where I had been staying after the booked disability transport failed to turn up despite several phone calls during which we were told, “The transport is on its way!”.  I later found out this transport never did arrive!!

Question 5)

 *You have been disabled for a while and unable to walk at all. Your cognitive ability is unimpaired and you are looking for a new challenge or something new to learn. Do you...

A) Study the ‘Beginner’s Guide to Easy Crosswords’?

*B) Study Walschaerts Valve Gear System for Steam Locomotive Engineering?

C) Study Physchology?

D)Study counselling in order to help other disabled people?

E) Give up learning anything new because you are disabled?

F) Find something creative to do like Art, Writing etc.

Question 6)

*You are disabled. The Government is cutting back its welfare expenditure.  Do you...

A)Become a militant protester and chain yourself to the railings outside Parliament?

B)Bombard your MP with letters of concern about your reduced benefit?

C)Write to newspapers and give interviews  about your circumstances?

D)Complain that this is all the Bankers’ fault?

E)Accept that there is nothing you can do about?

*F)Write a Blog and/poetry and gradually gain support?

Question 7)

*You received appalling care in a Residential Care Establishment. Do you...

A)Do nothing because you are disabled?

B)Shout and create a fuss while still at the Care Establishment?

*C)Make notes and log details in order to complain to a higher authority?

D)Accept that this appalling care is only to be expected and you are lucky to be there at all?

Question 8)

Respite Care is provided to give carers a break from caring for a spouse.

*The Respite care establishment should provide (for the disabled person)...

A)Accommodation and basic care for every disabled person?

B)A good standard of accommodation and care for every disabled person?

*C)A good standard of accommodation and care for disabled people of similar ability? (see note)

*D)An inspiring establishment which promotes activities, learning and positivity?

*E)Access to reliable computer and/or  Wi-Fi capability?

C) note. I see little point in putting clients of mixed ability into the same Residential Care Home.

 This is because they will not be able to communicate with each other and if the facilities are geared towards the clients who have learning issues it will be detrimental to those who do not.

Question 9)

*You get free Patient Transport provided to take you to Hospital Physiotherapy. Are you...

*A)Grateful for the provided transport?

*B)Angry because it arrives two hours late for your Physiotherapy appointment?

*C)Angry and Depressed when it doesn’t pick you up to take you home again?

*D) ‘Held Hostage’ when they get you into it but can’t open the door to let you out?

Question 10)

*A 60 year old disabled man who is confined to a wheelchair is in pain, shakes and cannot talk properly and needs assistance to do everything is deemed ‘fit for work’ by ATOS. He goes to the Job Centre and tells them he has been sent by ATOS.  He is told...

*A)  “YOU ARE  KIDDING ME!! GO HOME!!”

B)  “We have a vacancy for a window cleaner.”

C) “I’ve had enough! You can have my job if you like!”

D) “How do you fancy being a scaffolder?”

Question11)

*After being declared fit for work by ATOS and having their benefits stopped Disabled people have...

A)Become Olympic Gymnasts?

*B) Self-harmed?

*C) Committed suicide?

*D)Suffered severe depression and anxiety or made their mental illness profoundly worse?

*E)Died of the illness/disability which according to ATOS they never had in the first place?

Question 12)

A good part-time job for an ATOS medical assessor would be...

A)A Stand-Up comedian?

B)An undertaker?

C)A politician?

D)A Tailor (stitching up) ?

Question 13)

It has been suggested (by myself) that Bankers’ Bonuses should be awarded with the same diligence and effort as ATOS judgements. This would mean that bankers would have to demonstrate and prove that...

A)They can park their 4x4 in a disabled bay?

B)They can list their off-shore bank accounts in alphabetical order?

C)They can provide evidence of having visited the Cayman Islands?

D)They are penniless, distressed, self-harming and on the verge of suicide?

Question 14)

As well as the Disabled, other groups in the UK to be persecuted by the Government in this time of Financial Restraint and Cutbacks include...

A)The Bankers?

B)The Politicians?

C) “Wait... I’m still thinking... Eh!... There have to be others. Surely... Eh!... ?

D)The Job Centre staff harassed by hundreds of complaining and distressed disabled people?

Question 15)

ATOS  Appeals. If you don’t agree with the ATOS Medical Assessment decision you can...

A)Appeal to the brain surgeon who happens to be moonlighting there as a plumber at the same time?

B)Appeal to the ECHR on the grounds of disability discrimination? (I wouldn’t bother – you probably won’t live long enough!!)

C)Appeal on the grounds that you have contracted some deadly infectious disease ( the name of which you cannot pronounce)  from your last visit to the infested swamps of Borneo?

D)Appeal on the grounds of ‘Diminished Responsibility’ because you were mad enough to go to their assessment in the first place?

Question 16)

At the ATOS assessment you are asked if you want to say a few words ...

A)In your defence?

B)To your phsychiatrist?

C)To the  ‘Sun’ newspaper?

D)To the ‘Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights’?

Question 17)

At the ATOS assessment you are asked what kind of job may suit you. You reply...

A) “Are you having a laugh? You self-centred, insensitive, disability-phobic  brainless half-wit!!”

B) “I am claiming political asylum” in your best Bulgarian voice

C) “A North Sea Oil Platform Engineer”?

D) “An Astronaut”?

Actual TRUE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS given in real situations in PART (1) marked with *

                            PART (2) For People who have thoughts about Disability on a daily basis.

Please answer A,B,C or D and check your rating at the end of PART (2).

Question 1

You want to go on a bus journey. Do you say...

A) I cannot get on a bus?

B)Why would I want to travel by bus?

C)They Should design busses to suit me?

D)What is a bus?

Question 2)

You have a hospital appointment to go to. Do you say...

A) Great! I really need my physiotherapy session?

B) I don’t think I’ll bother going. I’m healthy enough?

C)They can’t offer me anything I can’t do on my own?

D)I hope it is a Private Hospital. I don’t want to mix with ordinary people?

Question 3)

You have to stay in ‘Respite Care’ establishment for a week. Do you say...

A) “I know it’s not good, but I don’t have a choice?”

B) “Over my dead body!!”?

C) “Great! I’ll enjoy the computer room and the Sauna?”

D) “I expect it has a sea view and 24 hour room service?”

Question 4)

You see a disabled person in a wheelchair stuck in a large crack in the pavement. Do you...

A)Stay with them and ask a passerby for assistance?

B)Walk past and grin smugly?

C)You carry on going?

D)You carry on going thinking, “Why should I help? It’s their problem – not mine!”?

Question 5

The UK Government  are reducing disabled benefits but also reducing tax payable by the rich, and giving an increased amount of money away in Foreign Aid to dubious Regimes. Do you say...

A) “Exactly what I thought they would do! They don’t care about us!”?

B) “And why shouldn’t they – the disabled don’t need it!”?

C) “I Don’t understand what all the fuss is about!”?

D) “I wish those disabled layabouts would stop complaining!!”?

Question 6)

Disabled people are genuinely worried about how they will survive. Do you say...

A) “I don’t know how I will survive!”?

B) “They just want to be dramatic!”?

C) “The Government will look after me. I’m genuinely disabled!!”?

D) “Will these disabled layabouts ever stop complaining?” ?

Question7)

ATOS have claimed another disabled person is fit for work. Do you...

A) Worry how you will drive the crane when you can’t climb stairs?

B) Say, “All he has to do is sit on his arse!!”?

C) Say, “That ATOS chappie was a really nice bloke.”?

D)Say, “Bet they won’t have to work as hard us! Pass the Champagne, Reginald old chap!!”

Question 8)

In the General Election you think about voting Conservative. Do you want to speak to...

A) A Psychiatrist – Urgently!! ?

B) Your local M.P. to check the small print of their Manifesto?

C)Your friends in the pub?

D) Your Wine Merchant’s Champagne Ordering Department ?

                                                                       PART (2) ~ ANSWERS

Mostly A’s )

Of course you’re disabled but you already knew that didn’t you?

Mostly B’s )

You’re not disabled yet but you have a one in six chance of experiencing severe disability during the course of your lifetime. (More than half of disabled people are pensioners who have lived perfectly healthy lives until their later years). Ditch that smug attitude now and consider how you would want to be treated in that person’s place.

Mostly C’s)

You are disabled but the penny hasn’t dropped yet! Discriminatory practice and a NIMBY attitude have seriously affected your cognitive functions and they are now so deeply ingrained that you don’t even realise the extent of the damage to your mental health. Seek professional help now before it is too late!

Mostly D’s)

You are beyond hope. Maybe a legal injunction will make you behave even if common decency is beyond your understanding. That’s probably why you work for the DWP/ATOS/ House of Commons and wouldn’t dream of changing your Tory vote or deep cleaning that dirty, pus infected swamp that passes for a mind.

PART (3)

THE BIG QUESTION

Can you tell the difference between A) and B) ?

A)Helpless individuals who are disabled either mentally, physically or both. People who have given all they have to give and are tired and emotionally drained from constant worry about how they will survive when their benefits are cut. People who have endured and still enduring physical pain caused by accidents or neurological illnesses. People who are struggling with the realisation that no matter what they do, their life is not going to get any better. All they can see is a long tortuous road towards old age and finally death. People who not complain to others about their hardship.

B)Able and fit benefit cheats who are so pathetic that they want to deprive those who are entitled to help. People with absolutely no morals who think the UK Government owes them something!!

Strangely the UK Government cannot tell the difference so they persecute the disabled!!

                     

Copyright ©  Ian m Allan & Lynn Myland 2013