On Thursday the DWP announced that Atos is withdrawing from its contract to run Work Capability Assessments, the controversial assessment for people too sick or disabled to work. Interestingly the DWP both claim that they sacked Atos (“We removed them. It’s not them walking away”) and that Atos paid them for leaving. Which to me sounds like Atos chose to leave, as I’d have thought that the one responsible for ending the contract early would be the one that pays the penalty fe

The government has been carrying out a study of suitable descriptors to use for assessments for ESA. The results were supposed to be released in spring of this year, then summer, and then finally were released earlier this month. The superficial results suggest that the current descriptors are better than the alternative descriptors tested in the EBR. But there are number of provisos that indicate that the current descriptors and assessment process are still very flawed. Atos

When it’s their word against yours, medical evidence is what proves you’re not the one lying. Medical evidence is what says that you are in pain, or you are blind, or you are mentally ill. It’s what confirms that you aren’t making things up or exaggerating. It’s what tells the decision maker to believe your evidence over what the Atos assessor said, or simply to believe your evidence at all. It’s the medical evidence to counter the medical opinion of the Atos assessor. It’s t

I received a request to write about the 878 300 people who drop their ESA claims early.  The government’s line – repeated several times – is that these claims were fraudulent or cheats.  This topic has been covered multiple times by now.  Declan Gaffney produced an excellent report on this, which can be found here: http://lartsocial.org/shapps. Steve Walker also wrote about the dropped claims on his blog here: http://skwalker1964.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/govts-disability-dist

“84% of GPs say they have patients who have presented with mental health problems such as stress, anxiety or depression as a result of undergoing, or fear of undergoing, the Work Capability Assessment.  21% of GPs say they have patients who have had suicidal thoughts as a result of undergoing, or fear of undergoing, the Work Capability Assessment.”[1]  As Stephen Lloyd, MP, said, Atos is “feared and loathed probably in equal terms.”  Many find the WCA both stressful and upset

Last night Panorama (BBC2) and Dispatches (Channel 4) featured documentaries on the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), part of the process for determining who is ill enough to not be required to look for work.  The programs were well informed about the facts and largely delivered them without any misleading usage. I have been following the welfare reform bill and WCA since January.  I am aware of most of the stories surrounding the WCA, have read multiple reports of people dyi