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My Dan Manville moment
I am having a bit of a Dan Manville ‘did I dream it?’ moment.
I’m sure that I read fairly recently (last year or so?) an FOI or Parliamentary statement about the number of WCAs that were conducted as home visits. From memory the number was extremely low, perhaps 2% or 3%. I cannot for the life of me find this info now when I need it in connection with an MR.
Can anyone point me to it or was it a DM inspired dream?
Many thanks.
This was in the work and pensions select committee report on PIP and ESA assessments.
26. The Department forwards claimants’ application forms to the relevant contractor on receipt. For a minority of claimants, the decision on entitlement is made on the basis of paper evidence alone. In most cases, however, the contractor will contact the claimant to arrange a face-to-face assessment. Claimants who are unable to attend an assessment centre can request their assessment be carried out at home. The decision on whether this takes place is made by contractors’ Healthcare Professionals (HCPs). Home visit rates vary widely between contractors. Capita carried out 56% of its assessments at claimants’ homes in 2016. This compared to 14.5% for Atos and just 1% for Maximus. Maximus explained that if medical evidence suggested impairment sufficient to justify a home visit, the HCP might judge that they have enough information to make recommendations on the claimant’s fitness for work, without a face-to-face assessment taking place at all. The reason for the large difference between Atos and Capita’s rates was not entirely clear to us, although David Haley, Chief Executive of Atos, explained that it might result from “slight” differences in the location and capacity of assessment centres between the two contractors. Capita carries out a much smaller proportion of PIP assessments than Atos. Atos’s approach to granting home visits will therefore have implications for a much larger group of claimants.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmworpen/829/829.pdf
Is this what you were looking for?
I think Shawn needs to give serious consideration to closing some of the Covid-19 social forums but maybe starting one called “Dan Manville Dreamt It”.
Excellent, thank you dream diviners