Forum Home → Discussion → Work capability issues and ESA → Thread
Anyone aware of any caselaw on the (im)partiality of an atos healthcare professional?
Probably being very optimistic but seems odd to frequently cite their impartiality in a response given that they are in your pay…
I can find stuff on the weighting of evidence and the length of time taken to conduct the examination but not their independence / impartiality specifically.
You might want to take a look at CE/428/2011. Per Judge Ovey:
‘That decision makes clear that there is no general rule that where there is a difference between the evidence of a medical professional producing reports for the use of the Department of Work and Pensions in making decisions as to social security benefits and the evidence of a claimant, the evidence of the medical professional should be preferred. It may be a legitimate conclusion in a particular case that a medical professional’s view is to be preferred because it is more objective and independent, but that is a conclusion only to be reached after a consideration of the particular evidence, and the claimant should not be left in the dark as to what the tribunal made of his or her evidence: that is, whether it was honest but inaccurate, was an unconscious exaggeration or was a deliberate exaggeration.’
here’s a link to CE/428/2011 -
That’s great, thank you!