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ATOS told to stop reassessing people
forum member
Mental health & welfare rights service - Wolverhampton City Council
Total Posts: 2262
Joined: 15 October 2012
It has appeared on my FB page that a leaked DWP memo from January has revealed instructions to DWP to stop automatically reassessing people when their prognosis period has expired.
This comes to help ATOS get the increasing backlog of assessmsents down.
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/2645-all-repeat-wca-medicals-to-be-stopped
More wheels falling off!
picked up by the mirror and patrick butler from the guardian
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/atos-crisis-fit-to-work-checks-shelved-3180876
‘... because it is an “operation decision” rather than a policy change there is no need to inform “external stakeholders such as claimants, claimant representative groups, Members of Parliament etc”.’
https://twitter.com/patrickjbutler/status/438024494050209792
‘... May try and pick this up tomorrow.’
plus came across this guy ... ‘work test whistleblower’ ... who may be worth following -
https://twitter.com/dr_wood_wca
http://worktestwhistleblower.blogspot.co.uk/
benefitsandwork reporting that people who are due to have their ESA award reassessed in the coming months will now have that assessment deferred for a full two years.
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/2648-repeat-esa-medicals-deferred-for-two-years
forum member
Welfare benefits caseworker, Mary Ward Legal Centre
Total Posts: 148
Joined: 18 October 2013
Atos have issued a statement of clarification that doesn’t really clarify much…..
Atos Healthcare receives referrals from DWP when they want us to carry out an assessment for a claim to ESA. We continue to do this for DWP and we are processing all claims that are being sent to us.
We receive referrals for claimants who are making a new claim to ESA, claimants whose claim is being reviewed by DWP and also from those people who are receiving Incapacity Benefit but who are being reassessed under ESA guidelines.
DWP recently decided to defer routine repeat assessments until further notice. Although they will still refer cases where there has been a reported change in condition, typically where someone’s condition worsens.
What this means to Claimants
We continue to receive new WCA referrals and they will continue the assessment process as normal.
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.
here’s a copy of the ‘Gatekeeper Memo / Information Alert’
‘Announcement of the decision to defer routine repeat work capability assessment referrals for Employment and Support Allowance from 20 January 2014’
File Attachments
- Gatekeeper_memo_January_2014.pdf (File Size: 16KB - Downloads: 892)
I’ll be interested to see what “alternative interventions” they come up with to ensure that ESA “off-flows” continue.
forum member
Sunderland West Advice Project
Total Posts: 1003
Joined: 22 June 2010
Who told him he had the right to defer?