Accounts from MPs “I have been sent nearly 300 case histories, many of which make heart - rending reading. I cannot begin to do justice to their feelings of distress, indignation, fear, helplessness and, indeed, widespread anger at the way they have been treated. Nor can I easily contain my own feelings at the slowness, rigidity and insensitivity with which Atos and the Department for Work and Pensions have responded — or very often not responded — to the cries of pain that they have heard repeatedly.” Michael Meacher Labour MP ___________________________ __________________________________________ A number of people who have been assessed reasonably recently had their incapacity benefits stopped but then reintroduced on appeal are now being reassessed and found fit for work once again. Surely people who ha ve recently been assessed and won on appeal should not be being recalled by Atos. John Leech Liberal Democrat MP _____________________________________________________________________ “I, like all other Members, have received a huge amount of corresponden ce about 15 awful, tragic cases of individuals who have been badly treated by Atos during their work capability assessments. The fault lies not with Atos, but with its employer, which, in this case, is the Department for Work and Pensions. When we look at the other employers for which Atos works, such as Royal Mail and the NHS, we see numerous cases of people who have been signed off work — not just their current work, but for any work ever again, with a recommendation that they be retired from all kinds of work — going back to Atos, but this time when it is employed by the DWP, and being assessed as entirely fit for work.” Natascha Engel Labour MP _____________________________________________________________________ “ I was very disturbed when Atos got the contra ct for the personal independence payments... There have always been problems with Atos. As a major contractor, it has repeatedly failed to inspire confidence and needs shaking up....The problems include centres that are inaccessible, and a long distance away. It can be difficult to travel to them, and there might be no parking there. There are sometimes no rails on the walls. People might have to lose a whole day’s earnings to attend, or use up a day’s annual leave. Some centres are on the second floor, with no proper lift. The testing centres can be hard for people in wheelchairs to get into. Some of my constituents tell me that they have been tested by doctors who do not even speak English properly. All of that is totally unacceptable, especially when people a re going to those centres in fear and apprehension that that their benefit will be taken away.” Robert Halfon Conservative MP _____________________________________________________________________ “Although the Department [for Work and Pensions] has made much of the fact that Atos does not actually make the decisions, with that being done by decision makers in the job centres, I have never seen evidence of the decision makers taking account of any evidence apart from the Atos assessment and the questionnai re, unless the case goes through appeal or reconsideration... [I have] had the experience...of seeing people who have claimed employment and support allowance as a result of a physical disability or illness ending up with mental health problems owing to the s tress of going through the system. [In] the local authority area that I live in — 60% of appeals are being won by those lodging them.” Pamela Nash Labour MP _____________________________________________________________________ “[I] fear that the reputation of Atos may be so damaged that it can never really be effective? Perhaps the time has been reached when we need to park Atos and move on in a different direction.” Charles Walker Conservative MP ___________________________________________________________ __________ “There is a huge groundswell of discontent about Atos and the work capability assessment. It is deplorable that our sick and disabled constituents are experiencing immense hardship after being deprived of benefits having endured an Atos WCA. We 16 all recall last year’s television programmes exposing the way people are treated across the country by Atos, and I have heard from a number of my constituents who have been badly treated — treated without care, compassion or understanding. We need to ensur e that the people who are going through the system are treated well, justly and fairly. The British Medical Association has called for the work capability assessment to end immediately and be replaced with a system that does not cause harm to some of the m ost vulnerable people in society. I call on the Government to change course and look again at this process.” Iain McKenzie Labour MP _____________________________________________________________________ “I would like to read into the record an e - mail I r eceived from a constituent. It is probably similar to e - mails that all hon. Members have received. It reads: ‘They never asked about the amount of pain I have to contend with or how tired I get from coping with it. After the interview I was told I was to be disallowed ESA benefit. I could probably go down the route of appeal but I really don’t feel like fighting for a benefit that I have already been made to feel that I do not deserve, neither do I have the energy to appeal.’ If we in this House cannot gi ve voice to these people, who are some of the most vulnerable in our society, I really do not know what we are for.” Stephen Gilbert Liberal Democrat MP _____________________________________________________________________ “The key weakness of the system is the perfunctory, mechanical, inhuman and rushed process of assessment. I have to point out to the Minister that as the system has been handed to the private sector, the more perfunctory the process of assessment, the greater the profit made by Atos and the assessors. The system is perfunctory and totally inadequate...the assessment fails patients with mental health conditions, particularly schizophrenia, which are very difficult to assess and treat. It fails when conditions are intermittent and emerge on e day only to fade away the next. It fails on degenerative conditions, too. The process is more concerned with shaking them off benefit than with treating their cases properly. We were assured by Atos and the Department that there was no quota, but I thi nk we can guarantee that any medical assessor for Atos who finds that the total or a high proportion of the number of people he is examining are not fit for work will not advance his career in assessment, his career in Atos or his contact with the Departme nt. Inevitably, there are those pressures on the assessors. Our PAC report on the system was pretty damning — one of the most damning we have done.” Austin Michell Labour MP _____________________________________________________________________ 17 “I could r efer to a stream of cases in which people have conditions that come and go and have good days and bad days. When Atos assessors make the assessments, those people can often be having a good day and the tick boxes do not allow the right decision to be made. The clear point is that there needs to be a fundamental reform of the process. It is right that we should assess people to see whether they are capable of work, but the people subjected to horrendous trials and tribulations as a result need further suppo rt and deserve to have the whole process reconsidered so that it can be improved for the benefit of all.” Bob Blackman Conservative MP _____________________________________________________________________ “There are real questions about Atos and the Gove rnment. If I had a contract with anyone who failed in 40% of their decisions and cost me a lot of money, I would not continue to use them. However, the Government have just given Atos the contract for the personal independence payment, so they cannot be di ssatisfied with its performance. There are questions to answer. Are the Government giving targets to Atos, either covertly or overtly? Have the Government discussed their expectation of reducing the number of people on benefits or is Atos doing that of its own accord? Everybody says officially that there are no targets, but workers report a different story. When Dr Steve Bick went undercover for the “Dispatches” programme, he was told more than once that the process is meant to take people off benefit, and that if he did not find enough people fit to work, his assessments would be monitored. He was also told that if he found more than 12% or 13% of people unfit for work, he would be told that his rate was too high.” Julie Hilling Labour MP ________________ _____________________________________________________ “I do not think it is necessarily wrong, harsh or unreasonable to say that people who could work should be supported into work, but we need to do that in a way which recognises the dignity of individua ls going through the system. Despite my support for the welfare changes that this Government are making, the examples that I have seen in my own constituency surgery leave a lot to be desired. We should not throw out the baby with the bathwater, but we nee d to make sure that the recommendations that have been made time after time are implemented as soon as possible. We owe that to the constituents we represent.” Guto Bebb Conservative MP _____________________________________________________________________ “My caseworker, like those of many Members, is inundated with cases that are tragic and heart - rending. The telephone line to my office is often clogged with crying people. They often ring several times a day, as they are unable to cope with the stress th at they are facing. Many have mental health problems, and are unable to cope with the paperwork. They are unsure what to do with it, and they ring me to ask for help 18 in the most tragic and personal way.” Madeleine Moon Labour MP __________________________ ___________________________________________ “In my surgeries, I have heard several harrowing and very sad accounts from constituents who have been subjected to impersonal and inhumane work capability assessments by Atos. One has been diagnosed with an agg ressive brain tumour, which cannot be completely removed because that would leave her paralysed...Last year she had radiotherapy to slow down the growth of the tumour, but in October she was told that it would grow back even more quickly, and that she would have to have further radiotherapy or she would die. I should add that this lady also has polyarthritis and asthma. Why has this lady been placed in the work - related activity group? Her doctors and consultants have specified that she should be placed in the support group as she is fighting for her life. Her only concern should be winning that battle.” Jonathan Edwards Plaid Cymru MP _____________________________________________________________________ “One of the things that has disturbed me most over the past couple of years is the way in which disabled people have found the process an assault on their dignity. I am also disturbed by the failure of the Government to take remedial action and manage the contract with Atos more effectively. Public money is be ing spent on these assessments. There is a substantial body of evidence to show that they are failing to deliver, yet the Government continue to hide behind commercial confidentiality in declining to make public the details of their relationship with Atos. That lack of accountability is not good enough. Sadly, I regularly meet constituents who have found the process of the work capability assessments...to be humiliating. Far too many face an unacceptable delay to their appeals, and the hearings take place in the inappropriate setting of our criminal justice system. While those presiding at tribunals do their best to make people feel at ease, what message does it send to a person already crushed by low self - esteem or anxiety to be seen in the same setting a s offenders? Not surprisingly, it adds to their sense of worthlessness – already stoked by a longstanding political narrative from both sides of the political divide that they are shirkers not workers or a drain on Britains hardworking people. They ar e neither. Dr Sarah Wollaston Conservative MP _____________________________________________________________________ “I have encountered incontinent patients being asked to make four - hour round trips on public transport. I have also encountered constitue nts who have had to make very long journeys by public transport only to find that their appointment is not double - booked, but triple - booked. My biggest ongoing worry, though, is about people who have found themselves placed in the work - related activity gro up with very little realistic prospect of finding a job.” Dr Eilidh Whiteford Scottish National Party MP _____________________________________________________________________ 19 “Of the couple of dozen constituents I met last week, about half of them had no idea that they could take a companion to the assessment process. They said that they had not been told. Of those who did know that they could take a companion and who had sometimes done so, that companion was not made to feel welcome and was not able to as sist the When the work capability assessment was introduced, we knew that it would be difficult and that we were trying something new. We built in the review process that led to the appointment of Professor Malcolm Harrington and some of the early improve ments, which I think we all welcomed. Today, however, we have to face up to the fact that it is no longer possible to make the kinds of improvements that would make the system viable.” Kate Green Labour MP _________________________________________________ ____________________ “I asked my caseworker... how the work capability assessment was affecting people in my constituency. She said, “How many people do you want me to tell you about?” I asked her to give me her view. This is a woman who for seven years was a legal officer for the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians and has worked for me for four years. She said that about every third call is about benefits — mainly about ESA and people being found fit for work. People are being found fit for work despite an NHS GP, a consultant or psychiatric reports saying that they are not. Atos does not seem to take medical reports into account when deciding on someone’s capability. About 90% of my work is now benefits - related, whereas two years ago the fig ure was about 20%. As the citizens advice bureaux and jobcentres cannot cope, they refer cases to their local MP.” David Anderson Labour MP _____________________________________________________________________ “There are cases in which people have had to wait for up to a year before winning appeals and then immediately face another work capability assessment, so the whole process starts again. Why cannot such people be given at least a considerable period of grace? Surely that would be possible? There is the disregarding of expert medical opinion. I understand that there are marginal cases, but I have seen cases — as, I am sure, have all Members — that bear absolutely no relation to the WCA reports. Because I always make a point of visiting constituents at ho me if they have a problem with Atos, I see for myself that in some cases the reports bear no relation to the reality. I believe that appeal tribunals that overturn such reports should highlight blatant instances of that, because it clearly constitutes a mi suse of public money when the reports are written so badly. There are people who are not considered fit for work — for instance, those who are awaiting operations with no idea of the time scale — and who are put into the work - related activity group although t hey cannot work. That strikes me as a contradiction in terms. Jeremy LeFroy Conservative MP 20 “This is at least the sixth debate that we have had on the issue. The concern expressed by Members about an issue of public administration in all those is unprece dented in recent decades. There is example after example of human suffering on a scale unacceptable in a civilised society... One of the key factors coming out of [Mind’s] survey of people facing the work capability assessment process was that 51% of them s aid it made them have suicidal thoughts. Any system involving that level of risk is irretrievable and unreformable. That is why I believe it should be scrapped and why the British Medical Association has said it should be scrapped. I say the following, an d I do not say it lightly: we now know that the system does not work. We know the human suffering that is occurring. The responsibility is now on us to do something about it. We will be to blame for every injury, harm, suicide and other death as a result o f the system if we do not scrap it now and bring in something that is fair and based on proper medical knowledge — assessment by a person’s own GP, reinforced by expertise.” John McDonnell Labour MP __________________________________________________________ ___________ “I heard about a number of harrowing cases — not from the CAB, interestingly, but from the jobcentre, whose staff see people coming back into training and what have you after the assessment. Those staff are incredulous at times at the cavalier a pproach of Atos to people’s health conditions. Long - term disabled people have come back into the work arena; unbelievably, within three months of being told that they are perfectly fit for work, they have dropped down dead. I would not like that on my con science, and I find it surprising... When someone drops down dead within three months of being assessed as being perfectly capable of going back to work, what is the review process for Atos? We have heard about the Harrington report and the need for mental health champions. Only last week, a constituent, who, frankly, did not know what time of day it was, went through the process. Not only were they not allowed to have their carer with them, but no mental health champion was there... I find it interesting tha t we have just heard that there will be 60 champions in the country. Patently and obviously, that is not enough.” Heather Wheeler Conservative MP _____________________________________________________________________ “Through a freedom of information requ est, I understand that the DWP keeps a figure for the number of people who have died but does not record the causes and how they died. It has been asked to record the suicide cases, for example, but has not done so...there are a number of well - publicised cas es where people have taken their own lives because of this system. It is not too putting it too strongly to say that this coalition Government have blood on their hands for the deaths of those individuals. 21 We need a new start for people with mental health conditions. We need to take them out of the system and we need a separate work stream for dealing with them. They should be assessed by people who are qualified psychiatrists and people who understand mental health. If we do not do that, we will continue to have the torture — I will use that word — that people are going through in this system.” Kevan Jones Labour MP _____________________________________________________________________ “Dr Greg Wood is a doctor who was employed by Atos until he left its emplo y at the start of May this year. In the middle of May, he made a series of serious and very specific allegations about his experience as a doctor working at an Atos centre and the way in which the work capability assessment was carried out. For the record, he suggests not that we should get rid of the assessment, or even that it gets cases wrong at either end of the scale, but that people in the middle are being caught because of the flawed way in which the system is designed and implemented. He said that “ claimants are often not being assessed in an even handed way... HCPs are not free to make independent recommendations, important evidence is frequently missing or never sought in the first place, medical knowledge is twisted and points are often wrongly with held through the use of an erroneously high standard of proof”. He said that if Atos assessors “show deviation from the official line the HCP is instructed to change the report” and: “In about a quarter of assessments important documentary evidence is mis sing but the assessments go ahead regardless.” He said that training of new HCPs creates an environment where they “expect that they will see in the course of their work score too few points to qualify for ESA. This is often the de facto starting hypothes is, with the effect that the claimant usually faces an uphill struggle before the assessment has even begun.” He said that HCPs often “begrudgingly” score claimants and that an attitude is drilled into them “which leans towards finding reasons not to awar d points”. Those are very serious and specific allegations that I would have expected the Government to take seriously, given the warm words we frequently hear from the Minister and the Secretary of State, who has now left his place, about improving this process and constantly being vigilant about making it better for people. I wrote to the Prime Minister on the same day asking him to investigate the allegations. He passed the correspondence on to the Secretary of State, who wrote back to me on 22 June. I got back a one - page letter — I have it here — that made absolutely no reference to any of the specific allegations. It did not say that there was a problem; it was just a standard response. The Government wanted to brush it under the carpet. That attitude bel ies the problems that exist.” Tom Greatrex Labour MP _________________________________
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:10:01 +0000
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