Atos list of what to bring to an assessment
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
The list below is from the Atos website under “What to bring to your assessment:”
“Please bring with you your appointment letter and:
• Your passport or three other different types of identification, such as a birth certificate, driving licence, utility bill.
• Any hospital appointment or admission letters.
• Any tablets or other current medication, such as inhalers.
• Any medical aids, such as walking aids, hearing aids, glasses and contact lenses.”
Q1: Do you regard this list as sufficiently comprehensive and as helpful to claimants as it could be?
Q2: Is this list compatible with the detailed instructions in the WCA manual which refers to other documentation that could be presented?
Yours faithfully,
J Newman
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Dear J Newman
Please see attached response to your FoI request 3472
Kind regards
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request,
My question is not about means of identification, but the WCA itself. DWP's own literature emphasises the importance of claimants presenting all available evidence relevant to their condition and the WCA manual instructs HCPs as to what they must do with it. Why then does Atos not prompt/remind claimants when there are arranging the appointment?
Yours sincerely,
J Newman
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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Atos list of what to bring to an assessment'.
I am not sure why there is a delay
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/at...
Yours faithfully,
J Newman
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Department who will respond to you direct.
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[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
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Dear J Newman
Please see attached response to your FoI request IR 328
Kind regards
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear J Newman
Please see attached response to your FoI request IR 324
Kind regards
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear J Newman
Please see attached response to your FoI request IR 324
Kind regards
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request,
In your reply you acknowledge “A claimant may also bring additional evidence to the assessment; it is the responsibility of the individual to decide whether there is any further medical evidence in addition to that already provided with the ESA 50. Any evidence bought by the claimant must be read by the HCP and the report should make reference to the evidence that has been considered, the evidence will also be copied for the DWP Decision Maker.”
But nowhere in information sent to claimants does this appear. It is particularly relevant given that there can be several months between returning the ESA50 and the WCA appointments.
We are told that DWP is intent on improving customer service, but you do not seem at all interested in the one (small) opportunity you have here. The positive effect would undoubtedly be more “right first time” decisions and less appeals.
Yours sincerely,
J Newman
This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been received at the DWP Central FoI Team.
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Department who will respond to you direct.
Should you also have any further queries in connection with this request
do please contact us.
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
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[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
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Dear J Newman
Please see attached response to your FoI request IR 32
Kind regards
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear DWP Adelphi Freedom-of-Information-Request,
I will close this request, but will point out that I have neither expressed an opinion nor asked you to confirm it. What I have done is state a fact that is a direct consequence of what you have said and given you the opportunity to comment if you feel it is improperly derived. If you do not, clearly you accept the statement.
In this case you have confirmed that DWP has not implemented the improvements recommended by Harrington and accepted by Grayling. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
J Newman
This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
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We will forward your request to the relevant information owner within the
Department who will respond to you direct.
Should you also have any further queries in connection with this request
do please contact us.
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
References
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Dear Mr Newman,
Please see attached response to your FoI request.
Kind regards,
DWP Central FoI Team
J Newman left an annotation ()
PS. On the basis that the answer to Q1 is yes, I have closed this request.
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J Newman left an annotation ()
Final annotation:
This last response from DWP was not expected and is irrelevant to the question raised – it seems that no matter how bad something is, if Prof Harrington has not specifically highlighted it, it will not receive attention.
The fact is that there is a wide variety of additional evidence a claimant can provide (to DWP and/or at a WCA), which is not always obvious and it would be useful to list examples as a prompt. DWP does only the bare minimum and Atos does nothing at all to genuinely offer help to claimants in this regard.
Moreover, in a recent response to points raised by the BMA, Professor Michael O’Donnell, Chief Medical Officer, Atos Healthcare said
“Thirdly, Atos Healthcare and DWP encourage people to submit additional medical evidence at any stage of the process for consideration as part of the claim. Our Healthcare Professionals ask for additional medical information from the claimant’s GP or other medical specialist when an individual’s completed questionnaire suggests that they may have a high level of functional loss, and as such may not require a face-to-face assessment. Unfortunately, these requests are not always answered.”
From my own direct experience, this is categorically not true. Atos HCPs often don’t pay due regard to the ESA50, let alone anything additional – mine did not even log that I presented certain documents, let alone take copies of them. Likewise, DWP had additional information that it decided to completely ignore and has admitted the fact.