6 Responses to The Government doesn`t give ATOS

1. 

   Andy on April 5, 2011 at 15:30

   Please read this it may help I cut and pasted it from http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosveterans.html

   Re: ATOS HEALTHCARE OR DISABILITY DENIAL FACTORIES
   a summary of a research report by Mrs S…
   distributed as of 25th June 2010

   RESEARCH SUMMARY

   The full detailed research report is very long and identifies a great deal of information as yet unknown to the DWP. Whilst the report includes evidence from my own experience, which is atypical in any research, this was necessary and, happily, this has been accepted by professionals as a very significant contribution to the detailed evidence within the report. First responses to the report have been very positive. Indeed, this research was originally undertaken as a private initiative to identify evidence of the unacceptable clinical practice by Atos Healthcare medical staff. As a retired health professional, and having established serious cause for concern, I am obliged to reveal my findings to others. It is sincerely hoped that the very disturbing evidence identified within the report will not now be summarily dismissed, because my own unacceptable experience has been included as part of the evidence, and as recently implied by the Clerk to the DWP Select Committee.

   This summary is to permit the reader the ability to identify the most serious evidence without the need to access the entire report. Readers are reminded that the DWP Contract with the private contractor Atos Healthcare is 500 pages long in its entirety. Few people have accessed the Contract, which is why Breaches in Contract are widespread, easily identified and ongoing and chronically sick and genuinely disabled people are suffering trauma as the result of this oversight.

   Nine months intensive research into the activities of Atos Healthcare has revealed the company involved with the DWP and other government departments at the highest level. Atos founded COHPA, the Commercial Occupational Health Providers Association. At their 2009 AGM and conference, which was a black tie event, the following people were in attendance:

   Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health & Work, HWWB
   Professor Mansel Aylward, Director Unum CPDR & former DWP Chief Medical Advisor
   Greame Henderson, Head of Health & Work DH
   Dr Bill Gunnyeon, DWP Chief Medical Advisor
   Cynthia Atwell, Chair RCN Public Health Forum RCN
   Dr Steve Boorman, Director Corporate Responsibility Royal Mail
   Dr John Osman, Chief Medical Advisor HSE

   Successive DWP Chief Medical Advisers are obliged to form a working association with the company, and ATOS Healthcare acknowledge their liaison with government departments with various public awards. To reciprocate, the DWP has recently announced a new award for the company (June 2010).

   HISTORY:

   American firm known as UNUM PROVIDENT (US) are one of the biggest insurance companies in the world.

   In 2002/03 an American class action lawsuit in California identified UNUM PROVIDENT (US) as running “disability denial factories” and the Judge fined them $31.7 million. The company were ordered to re-investigate countless thousands of other refused claims, something the company has still failed to complete 7 years later.

   UNUM PROVIDENT (UK) fund psychosocial disability research at Cardiff University. Prof Mansel Aylward is the head of research at the Unum Provident Centre at Cardiff University and he was the DWP Chief Medical Adviser who recommended this medical evaluation system to the government to reform government care costs for DLA etc. Prof Mansel was instrumental in the methods to be used, imported from America using identical methods as Unum Provident. Unum Provident is banned from several States in the USA. Atos Healthcare have employed the same methods as Unum Provident, hence the vast and growing numbers of chronically sick and genuinely disabled people being betrayed by this system of medical ‘evaluation’ which, in fact, is a seriously compromised 25 minute basic computer questionnaire, with no allowances for the vast differences within the same identified health condition.

   ATOS ORIGIN is the parent company of Atos Healthcare, originating from South America and a dominant force in the computer market worldwide. ATOS ORIGIN was awarded the government contract for IT facilities for the 2012 Olympic Games.

   ATOS HEALTHCARE:

   DANGEROUS CONTRACT: This dangerous DWP Contract offers the medical opinion of the AH Disability Analyst as a PRIORITY, which the DWP Decision Makers accept verbatim, so all additional specialist medical opinion of Consultants, offered by the patient/claimant, is totally overlooked. Six weeks training as a AH Disability Analyst does not an expert make(!) – contrary to claims by Atos Healthcare. By definition, a Consultant is an expert in his field of medicine and it is dangerous nonsense to accept a junior doctor’s limited clinical experience over the opinion of a clinical expert. The excuse used is that the AH Disability Analyst is “trained in disability” and is not making a diagnosis. Consequently, desperately ill people are now being declared fit for work because they are physically capable of collecting a pen from the floor! Patients,welfare advisors and MPs all presume that specialist medical opinion by a Consultant will be accepted because they are unfamiliar with the details of the Contract. The previous DWP Select Committee have commented about this in their last report, which has also been totally ignored by the DWP, together with ignoring all evidence offered by successive annual reports by the President of the Appeal Tribunals.

   Medically unqualified DWP Decision Makers, who are administrators with basic skills, now decide the fate of all applicants depending on the conclusions of either a seriously flawed computer tick test and/or AH Disability Analysts who all have limited clinical experience. Hence AH can claim that they are not responsible for the awarding of government care benefits. Their evaluation system causes a crisis for the many victims of this systematic government medical tyranny, and AH escape all responsibility whilst Ministers confidently offer unstinting support. It’s no wonder that AH is so confident, with an income of £100 million per year from the DWP. The level of unnecessary distress caused to the victims of this tyranny cannot be quantified but is significant and, clinically, totally unjustified and unacceptable.

   Without supervision Atos Healthcare staff breach the DWP Contract frequently.

   The Contract requires specialist medical opinion for several conditions, including all confirmed cases of terminal cancer and muskulo-skeletal disorders etc. This is routinely ignored by AH with devastating consequences, whilst the UK government offer total support for this private company. http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatos.html refers. (Website designer is terminal with brain tumour.)

   AH doctors do not have access to a patient’s detailed medical history at the interview with the patient, as confirmed by AH, so one needs to question why so much detailed medical evidence is requested; which will be totally ignored?

   Bogus medical reports by AH staff also written about profoundly disabled children.

   AH doctors are referred to as Disability Analysts, and the company claim that they do not have the same responsibility as a doctor who is responsible for diagnosing and treating patients. The GMC insist that all doctors have a duty of care for anyone they examine for any reason – the company disagree.

   The Government has ignored successive annual government reports by Judge Robert Martin, as President of the Appeal Tribunals, identifying serious concerns with the medical reports from this contractor. Judge Martin reported concern at overwhelming evidence that DWP Decision Makers consistently refuse to believe the claimants. Tribunal Chairs express constant concerns that medical reports from AH “did not coincide with reality” yet these reported concerns are repeatedly ignored by the DWP.

   Patients are not acknowledged and are referred to as “customers”, which is deeply offensive, as the DWP is this company’s customer and not the patients/claimants who rapidly become victims of this system. This is despite the Contract reference to ‘patients’. Claimants on Unemployment Benefit may be customers, patients in receipt of sickness and/or disability benefits, or a War Pension that IS NOT a benefit, are quite clearly patients and/or claimants but not “customers”.

   ATOS HEALTHCARE is totally unaccountable for all medical examinations. All usual patient safety networks in place for NHS and private healthcare do not apply and, according to the GMC and the Healthcare Commission, Atos Healthcare, as a company, “…have total immunity from all medical regulation.”

   NO CLINICAL SUPERVISION: Everyone, from Ministers down to the lowest administrator, has been convinced that this evaluation system with this private contractor is closely monitored and so the general public are constantly reassured. In reality, the only monitoring is by basic administrators who invite an opinion from the company, which they then forward to the enquirer. There is no clinical supervision whatsoever. The Correspondence Manager simply repeats verbatim anything advised by the company, and dismisses any concerns re clinical accuracy, as he is totally unqualified to investigate. The Decision Makers simply repeat anything advised by AH staff. This isn’t supervision it’s adoration, and anything reported by this private company will be accepted by the DWP totally and without challenge. This complete lack of any independent clinical supervision of this company’s medical practice is a dangerous precedent and unknown in any other clinical situation.

   Company employed doctors, both past and present, have expressed concern that most patient health/fitness is assessed using a computer tick test questionnaire, which takes almost all of the 25 minute allocated time with a ‘customer’ and there is no time for any clinical examination. QED countless thousands of genuine sick and disabled claimants are being refused care benefits and/or increases in War Pensions based on an identified seriously flawed evaluation system.

   NO REDRESS: Any victim will find no useful redress whatsoever if they attempt to complain. They are advised to make a private complaint to the GMC regarding the named doctor who examined them. When already so ill and/or disabled, this is an unreasonable request and there is evidence to demonstrate that company staff refuse to offer their names to any claimant who has the temerity to request it at interview. Well-documented evidence has confirmed that many claimants have been prevented from recording the medical assessment, or taking notes during the interview with an AH staff member. This is sinister yet the DWP are happy to support any company requirement.

   REPORT FORM ALTERATION: The previous DWP medical report forms contained a question to permit the investigating doctor to confirm his clinical findings, to identify the %age disability of the patient at examination and to confirm that his findings were in agreement with the medical opinion of the patient’s GP. The system worked very well for any patients having a detailed medical examination. The report form has now been changed to prevent any doctor from offering a clinical opinion as to the %age disability demonstrated following examination of the patient, as confirmed by the visiting Consultant, on behalf of the Appeal Tribunal, who carried out a clinical evaluation of myself. A medically unqualified administrator, usually following the opinion of a junior doctor who has failed to carry out any clinical examination, now decides the %age disability of the patient. They simply supervise a flawed computer tick test for the majority of claimants. This is why this medical evaluation system is so very dangerous. No doubt this clinically unacceptable system has saved money, as countless numbers of genuine claimants are refused the help they are entitled to expect and no clinician would have approved this system in its present format. The doctors and representatives of disability organisations, consulted before this system was operational, and who Ministers constantly refer to in their defence of this medical tyranny, are now all challenging the practice and validity of this dangerous and seriously flawed medical evaluation system. (See comments in the detailed main report.)

   All applicants for state disability benefit, and now also War Pensions, are presumed to be bogus. Guilty until proven innocent is the psychology now employed by Atos Healthcare, with encouragement and full approval from the DWP. I received a letter from a Correspondence Manager from the DWP, covering 6 pages of A4 text, all insisting the virtues of the company and ignoring any evidence to the contrary. He is simply quoting verbatim comments from the company. He is totally unqualified to do anything else.

   Following a Freedom of Information request the Contract Manager forwarded copies of emails between the Medical Directors of both AH and SPVA – who supervise War Pensions and are presumed to be concerned with the welfare of disabled veterans. Emails confirm overwhelming SPVA support for the MD of Atos Healthcare, and all letters written to me were first forwarded to the MD at AH for prior approval before being sent to me – in the hope that the SPVA were not causing any problems for the company! The SPVA MD demonstrates loyalty for the private contractor and not the veterans but, in his defence, he claimed that AH were unwilling to investigate my concerns without his intervention. I had been in correspondence with AH for 9 months before the SPVA were informed, despite the Contract requiring AH to advise the authority of any complaint. They didn’t and, really, why should they? Without supervision this private contractor can do anything and that doesn’t necessarily include abiding by the Contract, not least because most people are totally unfamiliar with the details of the DWP Contract with AH.

   The Contract requires AH to respond to all enquiries within 2 days but they don’t, AH are required to advise the Authority of any patient/claimant complaint but they don’t, the Contract prevents terminally ill patients from attending DWP Pathway meetings, so why are they forced to attend against DWP threats of the removal of benefit if they refuse, and why do AH ignore the Contract requirement that provides a Specialist medical opinion for all cases of terminal cancer, musculo-skeletal disorders etc? AH breach the Contract at will because there is no clinical supervision and no one to prevent this happening.

   Dr Bill Gunnyeon, the new DWP Chief Medical Advisor, together with Dr Steve Boorman for Royal Mail and Cynthia Atwell for the RCN were all distinguished guests of Atos Healthcare at the COHPA AGM in Sept 2009. There is a mutual appreciation society going on between Government Departments and Atos Healthcare at the highest level, and Atos Healthcare demonstrates that they are untouchable, as confirmed by all research evidence.

   To date, the GMC have failed to successfully investigate any doctor from AH usually because “people become discouraged because a GMC investigation can take up to three years to complete”. Hence, the government’s claims that vulnerable people will be protected are a total nonsense.

   The MD of Atos Healthcare refuses to personally respond to any correspondence because the GMC will investigate anything in writing – as confirmed in emails to MD at SPVA. The MD’s opinion is routinely forwarded via the National Customer Relations Manager.

   CONCLUSIONS:

   All patients/claimants are in a no win situation.

   Atos Healthcare is successfully running disability denial factories in the UK, funded by the DWP, and identical to those used in America. There is nothing in place to stop them and all evidence that challenges AH medical report or conclusions will be resisted. Patients/claimants have no protection. There are countless numbers of distressing stories available of genuine patients being traumatised following a visit to these government funded medical assessment centres, where no actual medical evaluation will be undertaken other than a seriously flawed computerised tick test.

   The permitted activities of this private contractor are dangerous and, without medical supervision, the chronically sick and disabled people of this nation remain in jeopardy. It’s not enough that these victims endure such shocking treatment by this contractor but they are also placed under intolerable additional pressure, with the constant threat that their financial support will be removed, without warning, because the DWP want to save cash and the sick and disabled people of this country make very easy targets. The very detailed research report has been accepted by Professor Harrington as evidence for his independent inquiry, to be published in December.

   “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”
   Edmund Burke

   Mrs S… Retired health professional, War Pensioner

   23rd August 2010

   Reply
   • 

     Leon on April 6, 2011 at 23:27

     A brilliant piece and very timely as the new ATOS test starts to hit vulnerable people.
     An important addition here is that people have the right to appeal the decision. I happen to know this is being underplayed, with some DWP staff being instructed not to mention it to those who miss this right on the gobbledygook forms and letters. Take heart, the ones I know will.

     Also, contrary to the above, people should be sent the result of their assessment together with the detailed scoring by ATOS. Apparently the magic number is 15.

     You can find more and the actual assessment form in the Govts own website and elsewhere.

     http://www.disabilityalliance.org/esa50.pdf

     http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/esa/DG_172012

     Reply
2. 

   Jenny Fletcher on April 30, 2011 at 14:44

   Further investigation of Professor Mansel Aylward, Director Unum CPDR & former DWP Chief Medical Advisor indicates that he is carrying out research funded by the UK Gov. as well as UNUM which is aimed at proving that a)depression is not a real illness
   b)depression, however serious can be ‘cured’ by work. This seems to be more of a ‘Victorian work ethic’ rather than the result of any kind of serious research. I can find no other research on the internet that even suggests that this is the case.

   Prof. Aylward’s opinion appears to be that his notion applies even if a seriously depressed person is being returned to look for work in a market that is heavily biased against them for age and previous history of mental health problems. Very sketchy anecdotal evidence relies on people who had a job to go back to with supportive employers and colleagues

   It would appear that the Gov. have partially funded Prof.Aylward’s research with the idea that the outcome is pre-supposed and will support the attitude displayed by Atos so-called HCP’s, i.e. that Prof.Aylward’s research will produce exactly what the Gov./DWP want to hear. I don’t call this independent research.

   Can someone please explain to me why an SRN qualified Atos assessor can override the opinions of an eminent consultant psychiatrist and say I am fit for work, yet when I turn up with additional health problems related to high blood pressure, I am told I have to be seen by a GP-qualified assessor. My hypertension checks are done by the practice nurse at my GP surgery. Doesn’t add up does it!

   After a second WCA found me ‘fit to work’ I requested the full report and found that it contained answers for questions that were never asked and misrepresentations of questions I did ask, plus glaring inconsistencies between different parts of the assessment report. I complained to Atos as well as requesting a Tribunal Appeal. Amazingly Atos admitted fault and the DWP agreed, after some wrangling that they would restore my full benefit. They failed to tell the Tribunal Service. On the day the tribunal should have happened (22 Dec 2010) I was phoned and asked why I wasn’t attending. I explained and told that there was no need for me to attend and the clerk to the Tribunal contacted the DWP on my behalf. It took till mid-January to get my backdated additional benefit from August 2010.

   Immense hardship is being caused because claimants only get the minimum rate (now approx £70 per week, plus housing and council tax benefits). For me, this was not sufficient to pay basic utility bills and eat, bearing in mind it was the coldest winter for 100 years. Tribunals are still routinely delayed by 6-7 months. Claimants should not have to suffer such long periods on reduced benefit because the DWP and Tribunals service are understaffed and incompetent.

   DWP immediately put me in for another assessment which has not yet taken place once again, due to Atos incompetence. The last aborted assessment (Thursday 28th April 2011) was mostly due to the fact that they are not allowing long enough time slots for assessments to be done and delays occur progressively through the day. I was accompanied by my CPN who had another appointment to keep later in the day. We were told by the receptionist that if we waited 1 hour, the assessment could be done in 30 minutes. The doctor disagreed when we got in and said we would have to re-book. A previous appointment was cancelled by phone with 1 hours notice by Atos who said they were already over 2 hours delayed at 12 noon!

   I was supposed to see a female GP assessor this time. I was NOT pre-warned that she was ‘unavailable’ and that I was going to see a male assessor. Claimants do not have the right to insist on a same-sex assessor as they would do in a hospital.

   All my experiences will be reported to the upcoming Select Committee investigation of Atos. My overall opinion of Atos and the WCA is that the organisation is incompetent and neither they or the test, even its reviewed and amended form is fit for purpose.

   All this has had a very negative effect on my anxiety and depression and the high blood pressure is in the opinion of my GP, the result of what I have experienced in this rotten, incompetent and corrupt system.

   Reply
3. 

   Leon on May 2, 2011 at 23:55

   Well done Jenny for fighting these cruel and amateur assessments. I can well appreciate it is not easy. Many vulnerable people with even less staying power than you I know are going under. It truly makes me ashamed to find that most of my fellow people on this island do not seem to give a damn. Swallowing instead the easy ‘scrounger’ lies from the right wing comics. Frightening times.

   However, on your point about work being good for depression, I think that like most simplistic great lies, it can have a germ of truth in it. (Goebbels). For decades Govt ‘in house’ psychologists have masses of evidence that 6 months or a year or more spent on the dole results in total demotivation and yes depression. No surprise what, in this vicious employer jungle. What is more the same research shows that though you may begin claiming the sick say for severe Asthma, a year on there is a one in 3 chance you are a then claiming it for depression. In fact you are 5 times less likely to ever then to return to work again. Even if you want to. Believe it or not some people targeted by this shit system have welcomed the chance to talk of being capable of work. Then sadly they find the total lack of support. Surprise, surprise, the govt did not mean it. Just as long as you stop being a drain on Bankers bonuses

   Please do not misunderstand. I am on your side. But we do not need to spend hours searching the net to know that the sheer isolation, and discrimination, of being long term unemployed or incapacitated through ill health, can lead to depression. Do we? As indeed work in this nightmare market can. Depression is complex. Many levels of severity.

   The clever lie by HM Gov in all of this is simple. How can they get away with using smoke and mirrors to blame the vulnerable victim for their crime. Contract a private circus ‘health’? company from France of all places – To find all depression is the same.

   Some of it can be incredibly convincing – if we can just forget we are now governed by gangsters.

   Reply
4. 

   Northwinds on August 23, 2011 at 22:51

   Hi all
   I’m wondering if anyone knows of any options to legitimately record their atos appointment. I have asked for the chance to do this and received the now standard letter, but having subsequently looked into it, and could only find a twin synchronised tape deck (like the kind they use in police/detective shows) available from a company named Neal. To hire such a thing I was quoted £250 plus VAT for a day.
   Now I in no way have that kind of disposable cash.
   Does anyone know of any other ways to do this to atos’ acceptance.
   I have some earlier experience in sound recording (before I fell sick) and have a fairly recent handheld pro standard digital recorder which i picked up second hand a few years ago (mainly out of interest) and thought I could use that which would record direct to an SD card – that would however leave me with the problem of their (atos’) copy on cassette.
   So I was thinking on purchasing a reasonable quality cassette recorder from somewhere like ebay and attaching it to my digital recorder’s output so i can give them a cassette copy while I retain the digital version.
   Surely they couldn’t object to that?
   Please get back to me with your thoughts.
   Many thanks.

   Reply
5. GPs and the “no incentive” story « Though Cowards Flinch on November 18, 2011 at 23:50

   [...] it’s entirely coincidental that COHPA was founded by ATOS Healthcare, which owns ATOS origin, which already has a £500m contract to conduct incapacity assessments, but which doesn’t necessarily do them very [...]