DPAC have just published this very important information on their website
High Court rules Work Capability Assessment arguably unlawful
The High Court has today granted permission to two disabled people to bring a claim for judicial review against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to challenge the operation of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
WCAs are face to face interviews carried out by healthcare professionals (HCPs) employed by Atos Healthcare (a private contractor), to assess disabled people’s entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (a sickness benefit that has replaced the old Incapacity Benefit). Each existing recipient of Incapacity Benefit is now being assessed for eligibility for ESA, at the rate of some 11,000 people per week. WCAs have been the subject of serious criticism by all relevant stakeholders in civil society including doctors and NGOs working on behalf of disabled people.
The present case concerns some of the problems with the system as experienced by people with mental health problems. Although medically trained, Atos HCPs typically have very limited knowledge of mental health. The interviews are often hurried, and rely on applicants to explain the limitations on their ability to work.
This is a serious problem for people with mental health conditions who lack insight into their conditions, whose conditions fluctuate in seriousness, or who cannot easily talk about their disability. Such people are placed at a substantial disadvantage in navigating the system. Even if they appreciate the need to get expert medical evidence for themselves, they are often less able to navigate the system successfully and to obtain the medical report that they need. The Equality Act 2010 requires the DWP to make reasonable adjustments to avoid such disadvantage.
The reasonable adjustment to the process that the claimants seek is for medical evidence to be sought by the Atos HCP and the DWP at the very outset of the claim. This would ensure that very sick people for whom having to go through a WCA would be extremely distressing are exempted from the process, and for those that do attend a WCA, the assessment of fitness to work takes place in the correct medical context, so that dangers associated with forcing people back to work are correctly identified.
At present, the DWP do not routinely ask for expert medical report from an applicant’s community-based doctor. The judge has held that it is arguable that this failure is a breach of the duty to make reasonable adjustments, and is therefore unlawful.
In granting permission to apply for judicial review, the judge stated:
“I consider that it is reasonably arguable that the reasonable adjustments required by the [Equality Act 2010] include the early obtaining of independent medical evidence where the documents submitted with the claim show that the claimant suffers from mental health problems and that this has not been done, or at least not done on a sufficiently widespread basis”.
The claimants, known as MM and DM, were granted anonymity by the court. Their solicitor, Ravi Low-Beer of the Public Law Project said:
“The present system results in many thousands of unnecessary appeals at great public expense, with a high success rate. What is not counted is the cost in human misery for those people who should never have had to go through the appeals process in the first place. This could be avoided if doctors were involved in the assessments at the outset. The Government’s policy of by-passing doctors is inefficient, unfair, and inhumane. We gain heart from the court’s finding that as a matter of law, it is arguable that something has to change.”
For further information contact Ravi Low-Beer on r.lowbeer@publiclawproject.org.uk/0845 543 5944
or Adrian Lukes on
a.lukes@publiclawproject.org.uk/0845 543 5946.
Public Law Project (PLP)
PLP is an independent, national legal charity which aims to improve access to justice for those whose access is restricted by poverty, discrimination or other similar barriers. To fulfil its objectives PLP undertakes research, policy initiatives, casework and training across the range of public law remedies.
For more information on our work, events and publications: www.publiclawproject.org.uk
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yes it all helps but there are still more out there that still need help and perhaps been better if they all went forward as one but its good someone can find fault with this killer of the sick and disabled atos jeff3
Thank God ! some good news at last !
Yes, indeed! I wish the powers of Citizen Arrest would extend themselves to Rt hon. Grayling, though.
hear hear…what’s more if mp’s dont care they will at the next election
i wish these brave people all the luck in the world…it’s time to turn the tables on this scum with all the blood on their hands.if they send for me again i’ll give them a time they wont forget i know my rights and i will use them…THE FIGHT GOES ON…regards sandra.
YES! Tremendous news and what a great achievement for MHRN. Congratulations and huge thanks to you all. You’ve really cheered me up with this. Maybe some justice at last.
I have decided to apply for a judical review too. This Manslaughter has to stop and someone bought to justice. I am also emailing the BMA regarding my treatment. I suggest as many as possible apply themselves. ATOS are acting illegal and panorama and Dispatches has proved its deliberate.
I want to say a huge thankyou to the Gaurdian and the BMA , We have to get rid of IDS before more die.
I will keep you posted.
I have already been in touch with the legal team, who have accepted my research portfolio.
Remember that there is a new Early Day Motion gaining signatures against the WCA as used by Atos: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/295 – encourage all MPs to sign it…
If successful, this may well be the start of the legal fight back against this gvt funded medical tyranny.
all totally relevant points and it does seem like good news – I can honestly hardly believe there is some for the disabled these days.
Isn’t this the most disgraceful political scandal for decades?
The current ‘coalition’ and the last ‘new labour’ DWP ministers have conspired with their ATOS private sector friends to prevent GP’s supporting their own patients.
Their deliberate intention was to steam roller ill people into work, and reducing their weekly benefits from IB of £100 to JSA of £70 approx, using ATOS as some supposed independent arbiter.
This sham system is both corrupt and illegal. Corrupt because their director friends trouser the profit related bonuses paid by ATOS and illegal because social security legislation requires, in effect, the benefit of the doubt to go to the claimant – not ATOS every time.
As regards the position of those with mental health conditions involved in this hideous process, additional facts the Judge has to consider include:
- How can people with significant mental illness effectively follow the mandatory requirements of the ESA/JSA regime? E.g. will they remember to turn up for endless meetings? Are they aware of what will happen if they can’t show proof of their job searches?
- Who can they turn to for suitable advice when CAB, social services and welfare rights funding is being slashed?
But most importantly of all:-
Which politicians are going to be held responsible for the 100′s of suicides of these too ill and scared to fight this obscene system?
Say it like it is these people are murderers, they knew it would happen and they carried on regardless.
Remember the dead and fight like hell for the living.
In Unity.
HOLD ON Mikhail….
Believe it or not, Atos are not the enemy here – this is business and they are simply doing what their contract requires them to do as directed by UNUM Insurance, who’ve been guiding UK welfare reforms since 1994. Atos are just the tool by which this gvt enforce medical tyranny and it’s the DWP & not Atos who are accountable, especially Prof Harrington, who insists that totally unqualified basic grade and untrained DWP administrators can make decisions based on medical opinion that, by their own admission, they can’t understand. Hence they continue to award benefit based exclusively on the Atos test results. The entire system is bogus, imported from a corupt US corporate insurance giant as the UK sold out to big business. http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosveterans.html#reports for more info.
My veiw before this ATOS scam was that you attend the medical , that means a proper medical , if you are ill then Doctors know and you had nothing to worry about.
ATOS has wrecked my confidence in the DWP and even the BMA have called for an imediate end to these cruel unlawful practices. I aplaud those who took a judical reveiw and feel that someone has to pay for those who have sadly died.
This is Manslaughter at the very least. The DWP has a union yet seems to support these evil people . Little do the DWP and DLA realise that ATOS will soon take their jobs and they will experience life on the Dole. Will we sypathise with them , course we wont.
Well I beg to differ Mo.
Multinational american/french health companies only want to make profits for their shareholders. They have no place in our health system at all.
Blame Blair for starting this shite.
You make a number of inaccuracies in your blaming of DWP staff for a system in which they are minor players and have little flexibility in what they can do.
They are not allowed to speak in their own defence as they would be sacked if they did.
Only their union can speak for them so check out http://www.pcs.org.uk -look at the DWP group pages and see what they really think of it all…
Peace.
Very Interesting.
They aren’t in our health system….. They are in our welfare system.
Blaire did NOT start it, he simply introduced the WCA and the rest followed. This was all planned by Thatcher back in 92, Aylward brought in Unum in ’94 with agreement by all parties, and Blair brought in the WCA to be assessed by Atos, as instructed by Unum.Of course Atos are there to feed their shareholders but, like it or not, they don’t make the decisions regarding our welfare, they simply conduct a discredited computer assessment.
You are totally incorrect re the DWP. They are not minor players at all. Decision Makers are NOT supposed to rubber stamp Atos assessments. They are supposed to consider all medical input, of which the Atos assessment is just one part. They don’t because they can’t. UNQUALIFIED DWP Decision Makers decide our fate when considering medical evidence that they can’t comprehend, by their own admission, the DWP have failed to implement the Harrington recommendations across the board, hence 97% of all decisions are still simply rubber stamping the bogus Atos tick test results,the Lima software is compromised and unfit for purpose, and the HCPs are not being consulted by the Decision Makers, as per Harrington’s recommendations.
Complaining that businesses are working to make a profit is rather besides the point as that is a given. IF the Atos assessment was fair and acurate, and the DWP funded qualified medical administrators to follow through, there wouldn’t be any disagreement. I wouldn’t have a problem with Atos shareholders getting rich from our assessments if the assessments were acurate and the DWP Decision Makers came to the correct conclusions when considering all medical evidence and not just the Atos assessment.
If you are familiar with the Lima software, you’ll know that the questions are deliberately limited and the possible answers are restricted. The software test itself is bogus, was designed by Unum – the most discredited corporate insurance giant in the world – and is designed to remove claimants from welfare benefit. It’s working well.
Don’t blame blair for starting it?
He shaped the entire landscape. new labour corporate cronyism is what got us into this mess!
Also why is profit a ‘given’? Some of us, indeed a growing minority reject this concept at all as it has no place in either health or social security systems.
If you study what happens beyond our blinkered ‘Team GB’ shores you will see countries like Brazil, which has over-taken us in economic terms, giving money to the poor WITHOUT any conditionality. How does that sit with our system?
I’m getting bored with your obsession regarding DWP decision makers and their wilful ignorance. Don’t blame low level civil servants who aren’t trained to do sod all but churn out cases to meet arbitrary targets …or get sacked.
Your ire should be directed at the political class and the daily mail readers/voters who only see ATOS when its logo appears on ‘Team GB’ kit…
If your getting bored with what people are saying on this website you have the freedom not to read the stuff posted?
Oh dear I seemed to have ruffled a few feathers.
Sorry that I’m not allowed to be critical of a regular’s opinion, that wasn’t stated anywhere. Maybe admin should consider if they want ‘free speech’?
Why say your bored with something then continue to read it and comment? It just seems very strange to me.
I love free speech, so please don’t throw that old rubbish at me.
Suggest you ignore him admin.
He’ll shut up sooner or later when no-one reacts to his input.
Suggest he does 2 years of research and gets much better informed:
http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosveterans.html#documents
What you have, Mo is more than ‘a regular’s opinion’ I’d say
I thank you for clarifying that which seems so deliberatly convoluted in service of obfuscation.
That’s a positive input.
Divide and conquer that’s probably the governments tack at present lets just stick to the basic argument that Atos are allowed to get away with this flawed immoral test overseen by Smith and Grayling whom ought to be found guilty of culpable neglect and deserve no part within our society – if human the pair of bastards will be needing a psychiatrist shortly – but they wont need benefits to live on their ill-gotton pensions will surfice
Thanks Manus.
I’m moving on much more than ‘culpable neglect’ Nigel, I’m moving on gvt funded corporate manslaughter.
Check out: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18366574&page=9
Unum now claim they were not involved with UK welfare reforms…. Ho, ho, ho. How much is it costing them to have the web monitored? I think they’re running scared…
I can appreciate the general anger against DWP Atos the government Unum ,but it seems we are now fighting on so many fronts because of government stealth that we are going round in circles ,if we all put our energy into a united front against one common goal we would get a better result ,the only difficulty is which one ,and the only one I can come up with is this government the main architect of several interlinked plans concerning the welfare system ,bring them down and the next one would think twice .Hopefully when the Levinson inquiry is over the press might be more supportive
It would also be a good idea to start an E petition up as so many MP’s are running scared not one has backed a proposed bill to address this issue
Nigel my old friend,I have some sad news for you.
so many MPS are not running scared,They just don’t care.
Never have never will.
Get used to it.
the persons doctor or phychiatrist have all the details needed for atos, its confirmation from the qualified doctors they should get and no form filling by the person its disgusting and immoral.
BROKEN BRITAIN UNDER TORIES
GOVERNMENT POPULACE CONTROL THROUGH MONEY
Successive Government overall policies are carried on from one Parliament to the next whomever is in Power .What have Governments been striving to curtail in the last 30 or more years with all party agreement ,the NHS ,population increase ,alcohol abuse ,smoking and workers wages . They have steadily tried to alter the UK’s culture by the introduction of different forms of control .Budgeting Hospitals and Doctors so rather than caring for the patients they are more caring about costs .They introduced the Poll Tax (later Council Tax) new Licensing Laws ,the Smoking Ban ,the Minimum Wage ,the Liverpool Care Pathway ,Benefit sanctions .But what method used would sort all those areas at once – the Welfare Reform Bill .You may think things are bad in 2012 but wait until 2013 when everything is in place .It started with ATOS a total blanket assessment for all to start everyone at base level .The Benefit Sanctions stripping more rights away from the public .The curb on child credit should curb the increase in the population coupled with the Liverpool Care Pathway .Payment by Benefit Card which will block purchases on non essential items ,cigarettes and alcohol .The Bedroom Tax forcing people on low incomes to move home .Working people being forced to take overtime or another part time job or be sanctioned as well as losing out on Working Tax Credits .This is an agenda as a whole and pieces of the package will not be defeated the whole agenda needs to be addressed ,this whole process has spelt it out exactly how it is ,they have used and abused us to get where they are now we are of little use as workers because they know there is no work through their own making .Remember at the next Election their all as bad ,the country can run without any Majority we are better off letting it become an all party coalition – let them argue amongst themselves .
http://www.brokenbritainundertories.com
It more-or-less is an all party, party, politically and otherwise: Atos is merely a sub-contractor, there to legitimise the score by creating a record sheet – initiated by questionaire – that they call a ‘Medical File’ for each one of us, in short order to narrow the DWP remit, with a negative bias called, ironically: HEALTH CARE! They may have to broaden it back again now, with the outcome of this judicial review, granted.
Because it’s a scam that amounts to nothing more than a cynical means of laundering any previous bone-fide Medical Records of the dirty linen that could, and would, crudely block any filters in the due process of the WCA.
My son has recently been assessed by ATOS and received zero points. He is partially sighted, has dementia and peripheral neuropathy. Hs also only 1 third of his balance left. Following the result he was traumatised and as his carer it took weeks for me to calm him down. However I requested a reasessment and included his medical and neurooogist reports and he immediatley had his benfits reinstated.
The ATOS report was full of contradictions and in fact if the report had been properly done he would have recveived the 15 points required for a fail. What worried me is that there are many
disabled people out there who have no one to go through all the reports for them and therefore will just accept the decision. If I was a little younger I would set something up to help those people.
Conclusion: fully agree that ATOS ahould have access to medical reports before assessment. I have to add that Job Centre Plus were really helpful and reversed the decision.
You are doing a great job
Gill Swan
As a means of proving the absurdity of these WCAs I quote what the DWP states:
“The healthcare professional (Atos Healthcare Nurse) does not necessarily have to see a person perform a function in order to reach an opinion of the capability to perform that function. For example, an opinion on walking ability can be formed by assessing such factors as joint movements etc”.
So a severely disabled person unable to stand and/or walk, yet able to bend a leg, is considered as able to stand and/or walk. This is totally absurd and unjust, and it is therefore correct that the High Court has considered there to be sufficient evidence to prove the methodology employed by Atos Healthcare on behalf of this Govt to be seriously flawed in Law. This proves how shamefully this Govt have chosen to treat disabled people in the UK. Our basic human rights are being denied.
Atos is an auxilliary front, an affront to decency; an inverse laundry re the most intimate personal effects for the DWP to selectively sniff at when one’s clean [honest in accuracy] account by questionaire gets flushed out of their collective back door, soiled to taste, seasoned to suit their most top-down requirements in dealing with [ie, Atos medical files], as of some facade of fairness, in their ever-narrowed remit, as newly minted units-of-probability. And please forgive me the scatalogical associations – but it’s crap!