So.. Just how did I get a journalist in to a office of ATOS ??
Well, in February 2011 as I was "looking for work", due to my disability, I was put on to ESA (employment and support allowance). After the grace period of 3 months, I was asked, or should I say "invited" by ATOS, the company who do Medical Assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
(note: who are ATOS ? here's a link )
Here's what ATOS say about "what they do for the DW&P and for people (like me) with disability's" :
Atos Healthcare provides independent medical advice to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). We conduct disability assessments for people claiming a range of disability benefits including Employment Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.
Each year Atos Healthcare process over 1.2 million referrals for medical advice completing over 800,000 face-to-face medical assessments within our nationwide network of over 140 medical examination centres.
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So I received a big long form to fill in, answering questions such as:
Scope:
(taken from page 88 of the WCA Handbook , from the DW&P website here )
This function covers any involuntary loss or alteration of consciousness resulting in significantly disrupted awareness or concentration . In the context of disability assessments, the most likely causes of episodes of “lost consciousness” are: occurring during the hours when the claimant is normally awake and which prevents the claimant from safely continuing with any activity. Such events occurring when the claimant is normally asleep should not be taken into consideration. The descriptors relate to the frequency with which such episodes of lost or altered consciousness occur. The working group reviewing the descriptors considered that seizures occurring on less than a monthly basis are unlikely to significantly impact on an individual’s ability to work. It should be noted that the descriptors indicate that awareness must be significantly disrupted. This means the nature of the episodes and their effects on function must be explored to see if they fulfil the criterion of the descriptor.
Generalised seizures (previously referred to as grand mal, tonic clonic and
myoclonic seizures.
Seizures which are secondary to impairment of cerebral circulation (e.g. as
a result of cardiac dysrhythmias).
Cardiac arrhythmia.
"Altered consciousness" implies that, although the person is not fully
unconscious, there is a definite clouding of mental faculties resulting in loss of
control of thoughts and actions. The causes most likely to be encountered are:
Partial seizures which may simple or complex partial (previously known as
Temporal Lobe epilepsy) or
Absence seizures which may be typical (petit mal) or atypical
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So I sent off the form, and received a reply from the local ATOS office asking me to "attend a Medical Assessment" in two weeks time.
Now.. as I'm a freelance experienced journalist, I contacted The Guardian, to see if they would like to come and attend the assessment with me?
They said "YES !".
And so we planned to meet up at the ATOS office on the day of the assessment.
----------------
The day came, and we met up prior to the "medical assessment". Beforehand we went through some of the questions that the nurse would ask me - these questions start on page 52 of the WCA Handbook published by the Department for Work and Pensions. You can download a copy here as is available under the FOI (freedom of information act).
I won't go in to too much detail about the full Medical Assessment here - but, it took just 45 minutes to do. 45 minutes for a 1-1 medical isn't long enough to gather the "correct information" or try to make a diagnosis of the disability.
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After the assessment meeting, we grabbed a cuppa tea, and talked more about what took place - and what should be written in the article.
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The article was published in The Guardian on Monday 25th July, 2011
BENEFITS ASSESSMENT FIRM CAUSING 'FEAR AND LOATHING' AMONG CLAIMANTS, SAYS MP
You can read the article online, click this link >> The Guardian's website <<
Here's the part that focused on my "Medical Assessment" from the article :
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Let me thank Amelia from The Guardian, for writing and reporting about my story in the paper.
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I will be adding more to this post soon, with... What happened next to me... and What happened to me on The Work programme, and why it was pointless.
--------
(note: who are ATOS ? here's a link )
Here's what ATOS say about "what they do for the DW&P and for people (like me) with disability's" :
Atos Healthcare provides independent medical advice to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). We conduct disability assessments for people claiming a range of disability benefits including Employment Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit.
Each year Atos Healthcare process over 1.2 million referrals for medical advice completing over 800,000 face-to-face medical assessments within our nationwide network of over 140 medical examination centres.
---------------------
So I received a big long form to fill in, answering questions such as:
Scope:
(taken from page 88 of the WCA Handbook , from the DW&P website here )
This function covers any involuntary loss or alteration of consciousness resulting in significantly disrupted awareness or concentration . In the context of disability assessments, the most likely causes of episodes of “lost consciousness” are: occurring during the hours when the claimant is normally awake and which prevents the claimant from safely continuing with any activity. Such events occurring when the claimant is normally asleep should not be taken into consideration. The descriptors relate to the frequency with which such episodes of lost or altered consciousness occur. The working group reviewing the descriptors considered that seizures occurring on less than a monthly basis are unlikely to significantly impact on an individual’s ability to work. It should be noted that the descriptors indicate that awareness must be significantly disrupted. This means the nature of the episodes and their effects on function must be explored to see if they fulfil the criterion of the descriptor.
Generalised seizures (previously referred to as grand mal, tonic clonic and
myoclonic seizures.
Seizures which are secondary to impairment of cerebral circulation (e.g. as
a result of cardiac dysrhythmias).
Cardiac arrhythmia.
"Altered consciousness" implies that, although the person is not fully
unconscious, there is a definite clouding of mental faculties resulting in loss of
control of thoughts and actions. The causes most likely to be encountered are:
Partial seizures which may simple or complex partial (previously known as
Temporal Lobe epilepsy) or
Absence seizures which may be typical (petit mal) or atypical
----------------
So I sent off the form, and received a reply from the local ATOS office asking me to "attend a Medical Assessment" in two weeks time.
Now.. as I'm a freelance experienced journalist, I contacted The Guardian, to see if they would like to come and attend the assessment with me?
They said "YES !".
And so we planned to meet up at the ATOS office on the day of the assessment.
----------------
The day came, and we met up prior to the "medical assessment". Beforehand we went through some of the questions that the nurse would ask me - these questions start on page 52 of the WCA Handbook published by the Department for Work and Pensions. You can download a copy here as is available under the FOI (freedom of information act).
I won't go in to too much detail about the full Medical Assessment here - but, it took just 45 minutes to do. 45 minutes for a 1-1 medical isn't long enough to gather the "correct information" or try to make a diagnosis of the disability.
---------------
After the assessment meeting, we grabbed a cuppa tea, and talked more about what took place - and what should be written in the article.
---------------
The article was published in The Guardian on Monday 25th July, 2011
BENEFITS ASSESSMENT FIRM CAUSING 'FEAR AND LOATHING' AMONG CLAIMANTS, SAYS MP
You can read the article online, click this link >> The Guardian's website <<
Here's the part that focused on my "Medical Assessment" from the article :
Questions and answers: taking the test
A Guardian reader agreed to be accompanied to his recent work capability assessment. He has epilepsy and Asperger's syndrome and has been suffering from anxiety. He lost his job last year because of his ill health.
He was assessed by a nurse, who greeted him kindly and tried to reassure him about the process. The assessment started with an informal chat, and she asked how he had made his way to the assessment centre, clarifying whether it had taken more than half an hour. This was not just small talk, because the answers help build up a picture of potential fitness for work. The nurse asked questions about his diagnosis, but was also interested in his daily life.
"Do you go shopping?" "What happens if you have a fit when you're shopping?" "How long do you need to recover from it?"
"Do you do the cleaning at home?" she asked. "Do you do the cooking?" " Do you worry that you might leave the cooker on?" "Do you have pets?" "Do you have friends?" "Do you meet friends in cafes?" "Do you get the newspapers every day?"
Ability to cook and care for pets shows evidence of general competence, but claimants often find this roundabout form of evidence-building confusing.
She typed answers into the computer as she spoke, inputting his replies into the LiMA (logic integrated medical assessment) computer programme that processes the responses and helps translate the replies into a score between 0 and 15, with 15 being the point at which sickness benefit is recommended. She apologised for the noise of the keyboard being tapped, and for the fact that she had to take contemporaneous notes. After criticism about assessors looking at the computer rather than at the claimant, staff have been told to improve their eye contact.
After a while, the tone of the interview became much more business-like, the sympathetic murmurings stopped and the questions became more rapid. "Do you cry?" she asked, trying to gauge the seriousness of his anxiety. "Do you feel that life is not worth living?" "Do you feel that you can't on?" The replies (no) were typed in swiftly.
Two weeks later, the claimant was informed two weeks later that he was temporarily eligible for employment and support allowance, but would need to take part in "work-related activity" sessions.
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Let me thank Amelia from The Guardian, for writing and reporting about my story in the paper.
-------
I will be adding more to this post soon, with... What happened next to me... and What happened to me on The Work programme, and why it was pointless.
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MORE BAD NEWS FROM ME TO COME... STAY TUNED !
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