Forum Home → Discussion → Work capability issues and ESA → Thread
tape recording of ATOS assessment
Good afternoon all!
I have a client who has been asked to leave his last 2 ATOS work-related assessments due to alleged verbal agression to the reception staff and security guard.
He was found on both occasions not to be entitled to ESA due to failing to submit to a medical. Both of the appeals I have lodged have been successfully revised in his favour on review.
He is now awaiting a 3rd ATOS assessment and he would like to have the assessment recorded. He states he believes this is his right.
I cannot find any information about the right to have the assesment recorded. Please can anyone point me in the right direction?
I have a copy of the Oct 11 WCA Handbook for health care professionals and this states the request to record the assessment should be refused (Section 4.1.3, p 129) - does anyone know if this position has changed?
Thanks.
on 1 february 2012, then employment minister chris grayling told parliament that recording to be offered to people that want it -
Thank you Ros :)
Atos guidance on taping below. Unauthorized taping can be used as evidence in tribunals as the technical rules of evidence that apply to the courts don’t apply to tribunals. In 2010 the DWP and Atos carried out a pilot using taping but I’m not aware of what the conclusions were or what became of them.
Audio or video taping of examinations
The DWP never requires that a medical assessment for the purpose of advising on
entitlement to state sickness or disability benefits be recorded on audio or videotape.
Any requests by claimants to tape an examination should not be directly refused, but
our policy in these circumstances should be fully explained to them.
Claimants may request that their interview and assessment by a Medical Services
doctor in respect of a benefit claim be recorded either on audio or videotape.
Such a request can only be agreed with the prior consent of the examining doctor,
and then only if stringent safeguards are in place to ensure that the recording is
complete, accurate, and that the facility is available for simultaneous copies to be
made available to all parties present. The recording must be made by a
professional operator, on equipment of a high standard, properly calibrated by a
qualified engineer immediately prior to the recording being made. The equipment
must have facility for reproduction so that a copy of the tape can be retained by all
parties
The responsibility for meeting the cost of the above requirement rests with the
claimant.
Any request by a claimant for an assessment to be audio or videotaped must be
declined unless the above safeguards are in place. The claimant must instead be
offered the opportunity of a rescheduled assessment in the presence of a
companion or other witness. If the claimant refuses to avail him/her self of this
opportunity and refuses to proceed with the assessment, the doctor should return
the file to the DWP with a note explaining the situation.
Unauthorised Taping
It is for Medical Services, in conjunction with their legal advisers, to determine the
action to be taken in the event of a claimant making an audio or video recording
without the prior knowledge and consent of the examining doctor, or without
ensuring that the safeguards defined above are in place.
here’s april 2012 rightsnet story on dwp research -
and report itself -
Thanks guys!
In evidence on the WCA to the Work and Pensions Committee on 21.11.12, Mark Hoban confirmed that audio recordings were available on request -
‘What is interesting is that we do offer audio recording; it is there at the claimant’s request. The take-up rate is phenomenally low: about 40 or 50 people a week ask for the recording. The evaluation suggests that 47% of people would find it helpful, but only 1% of claimants in the pilot asked for a copy of the transcript. There has been no evidence that the audio recording improves the quality of the assessment; the quality is the same whether it is recorded or not.’
here’a link -
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmworpen/uc769/uc76901.htm
Disability Rights UK have just put up a FAQ on their website about the audio recording of WCA assessments
http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2013/june/audio-recording-wca-assessments
and yesterday the Minister for Work and Pensions answered 3 questions on the subject
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130606/text/130606w0002.htm#13060670000031
Unauthorised Taping
It is for Medical Services, in conjunction with their legal advisers, to determine the
action to be taken in the event of a claimant making an audio or video recording
without the prior knowledge and consent of the examining doctor, or without
ensuring that the safeguards defined above are in place.
I’m struggling to see how they have the power to take any meaningful action. Tape recording a conversation or assessment is a legal activity. ATOS can refuse to continue the assessment if they wish, but in that case the claimant has not refused to submit to a medical examination so their benefit should continue.
As far as I’m aware recording conversations between two individuals by one of those parties without the consent of the other party is not unlawful in itself. Problems arise when recordings are passed to third parties as interception of certain communications is illegal under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. A possible legal remedy of the party recorded without consent is to apply to the court for an injunction preventing publication or broadcasting of the material in question. The court might grant the injunction preventing publication or broadcast to disinterested third parties but not, say, to an appeal tribunal, as long as certain conditions were met. The recording party, generally, has a public interest defence. The issues are many and can be quite complex, hence the Atos advice. Anyone contemplating such recording would do well to seek specialist legal advice from a solicitor specializing in media or privacy law.
Good afternoon all!
I have a client who has been asked to leave his last 2 ATOS work-related assessments due to alleged verbal agression to the reception staff and security guard.
He was found on both occasions not to be entitled to ESA due to failing to submit to a medical.
If your client has the verbal agression as a result of cognitive impairment or mental disorder, one wonders whether the DWP should just accept that your client meets descriptor 17!
Good afternoon all!
I have a client who has been asked to leave his last 2 ATOS work-related assessments due to alleged verbal agression to the reception staff and security guard.
He was found on both occasions not to be entitled to ESA due to failing to submit to a medical.
If your client has the verbal agression as a result of cognitive impairment or mental disorder, one wonders whether the DWP should just accept that your client meets descriptor 17!
If he’s under secondary services there should be a clinical risk assessment or a needs assessment (or both) that staff could print off quite quickly and makes good impartial evidence which is usually persuasive for JCP staff.
the government has now announced that it’s extending the evaluation of providing audio recordings of WCAs until the end of the summer and will update claimant communicaitons to boost awareness that they can be requested -
here’s a link to today’s rightnset news story -
and yesterday’s debate in the house of commons -
And if your client has significant MH difficulties/ cognitive impairment or anything else that results in a disabling condition the run the argument that recording is required as a reasonable adjustment for disability under Equality Act 2010. More sustainable argument than evidential one! FOI general requests on this are found on the What Do They Know site (sorry can’t get up link)
here’s a link to the what do they know site -
So assuming a client knew they had to phone Atos Customer Services and request a recording well in advance of the WCA and succeeded in having a recording made, they will be handed a copy at the end of the WCA as a matter of course and will not have to make a formal request for one? Or have I lost the plot?