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In the same month, a [[Freedom of information laws by country|Freedom of Information]] request by [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] [[councillor]] and Chair of Reading Borough Council’s Access & Disabilities Working Group, Pete Ruhemann, revealed that: "28 of the 140 medical assessment centres, or 20 percent, do not provide wheelchair access," and, "[m]any, including the larger centres, are on the second or third floor".<ref name=PrivateEye1340>{{cite journal|journal=Private Eye|date=17–30 May 2013|issue=1340|page=5}}</ref> Furthermore, the "great majority do not have associated parking".<ref name=Ruhemann>{{cite web|last=Ruhemann|first=Pete|title=Disabled adaptations at Reading Medical Assessment Centre are welcome, but the national picture is dire|url=http://www.readinglabour.org.uk/news/120407.html|work=Reading & District Labour Party website|accessdate=25 May 2013}}</ref> The councillor characterised this national situation as, "a disgrace".<ref name=Ruhemann /> It has been revealed that Atos has already made an [[Settlement (litigation)|out-of-court settlement]] with one user, "for disability discrimination […] over access."<ref name=PrivateEye1340 /> Again, despite this legal outcome, Atos appears to neither have engaged in public self-criticism nor to have moved its inaccessible assessment venues to more-accessible locations.
In the same month, a [[Freedom of information laws by country|Freedom of Information]] request by [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] [[councillor]] and Chair of Reading Borough Council’s Access & Disabilities Working Group, Pete Ruhemann, revealed that: "28 of the 140 medical assessment centres, or 20 percent, do not provide wheelchair access," and, "[m]any, including the larger centres, are on the second or third floor".<ref name=PrivateEye1340>{{cite journal|journal=Private Eye|date=17–30 May 2013|issue=1340|page=5}}</ref> Furthermore, the "great majority do not have associated parking".<ref name=Ruhemann>{{cite web|last=Ruhemann|first=Pete|title=Disabled adaptations at Reading Medical Assessment Centre are welcome, but the national picture is dire|url=http://www.readinglabour.org.uk/news/120407.html|work=Reading & District Labour Party website|accessdate=25 May 2013}}</ref> The councillor characterised this national situation as, "a disgrace".<ref name=Ruhemann /> It has been revealed that Atos has already made an [[Settlement (litigation)|out-of-court settlement]] with one user, "for disability discrimination […] over access."<ref name=PrivateEye1340 /> Again, despite this legal outcome, Atos appears to neither have engaged in public self-criticism nor to have moved its inaccessible assessment venues to more-accessible locations.


In May 2013 a doctor who had resigned from Atos blew the whistle after being told to change a report about an individual, pointing out that in certain circumstances "the General Medical Council makes it clear that doctors must not change a report and risk being disciplined for unprofessional conduct if they do".<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jul/31/atos-fitness-work-test-greg-wood, Why I blew the whistle on Atos fitness-for-work test, 31/7/13</ref> He also drew attention to the widespread misinterpretation of the assessment's criteria - the legal framework of the test - on key abilities such as mobility, manual dexterity and risk.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22561006</ref>
In May 2013 a doctor who had resigned from Atos after being told to change a report about an individual blew the whistle, pointing out that in certain circumstances "the General Medical Council makes it clear that doctors must not change a report and risk being disciplined for unprofessional conduct if they do".<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jul/31/atos-fitness-work-test-greg-wood, Why I blew the whistle on Atos fitness-for-work test, 31/7/13</ref> He also drew attention to the widespread misinterpretation of the assessment's criteria - the legal framework of the test - on key abilities such as mobility, manual dexterity and risk.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22561006</ref>


On 22 July 2013, the widespread criticism of Work Capability Assessments was vindicated by the Department of Work and Pensions announcing that it had directed Atos to put in place a performance improvement plan and it would be bringing in new contracting providers to carry out assessments. This followed a DWP audit which found that around 41% of reports produced by Atos following an assessment were graded C in a quality scale A-C.<ref>https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hoban-taking-action-to-improve-the-work-capability-assessment</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jul/22/disabled-benefits-claimants-test-atos | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Patrick | last=Wintour | title=Disabled benefits claimants test: Atos reports found 'unacceptably poor' | date=22 July 2013}}</ref>
On 22 July 2013, the widespread criticism of Work Capability Assessments was vindicated by the Department of Work and Pensions announcing that it had directed Atos to put in place a performance improvement plan and it would be bringing in new contracting providers to carry out assessments. This followed a DWP audit which found that around 41% of reports produced by Atos following an assessment were graded C in a quality scale A-C.<ref>https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hoban-taking-action-to-improve-the-work-capability-assessment</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jul/22/disabled-benefits-claimants-test-atos | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Patrick | last=Wintour | title=Disabled benefits claimants test: Atos reports found 'unacceptably poor' | date=22 July 2013}}</ref>

Revision as of 11:30, 15 August 2014

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is test used by the Department of Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom to determine the entitlement of disabled welfare claimants to Employment and Support Allowance. These assessments are conducted by Atos Healthcare, the health division of the UK branch of the multinational company Atos. The test is controversial and has been criticised for the high proportion of those tested being found 'fit for work'.

Background

Up to 1995 medical entitlement to Invalidity Benefit was established by a claimant's own General practitioner. In 1995 that benefit was replaced with Incapacity Benefit and the Department of Social Security began commissioning its own medical assessments of claimants using the new Personal Capability Assessment (PCA). In 2007 The Welfare Reform Act 2007[1] replaced Incapacity Benefit with Employment and Support Allowance and the PCA was replaced with the Work Capability Assessment. The aim was to ensure that the medicals assessments carried out to determine eligibility for the benefit would be more stringent. Nevertheless, the WCA programme did not gather significant pace, nor widespread national news, until after its role was expanded to reassess the 2.5 million people already receiving Incapacity Benefit by the incoming Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010/11. The coalition government held up the WCA as one of its primary driving forces to get people "off benefits and in to work". As verified in the Financial Times, Atos healthcare division "conduct[s] disability assessments for people claiming a range of disability benefits including Employment Support Allowance, Personal Independence Payment,[2] Incapacity Benefit, and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit."[3][4] Atos assessors, who are doctors, nurses or physiotherapists, use a computer-based points system and a semi-structured interview technique in an attempt to gauge the impact of the disability on the person's daily life. Then there may be a short physical examination. These assessments have been criticised for their repetitive impersonal style and their outcomes.[5] In May 2013 UK Statistics Authority challenged Grant Shapps' claim that 878,300 benefit claimants dropped their claims rather than be assessed by Atos. Andrew Dilnot, chairman of UKSA, found that the figure appears to "conflate" new and old claims.[6] Therefore, Shapps has no evidence to back up his claim and the evidence provided shows that he is wrong.[7]

Pushback

In 2013 a Public Accounts Committee made up of MPs and chaired by Margaret Hodge, revealed that in 2011/12 Atos was paid 112.4m to carry out 738,000 assessments. 38% of appeals against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were successful. The Committee declared the Work Capability Assessments resulted in too many wrong decisions being overturned. Whilst Atos are paid to make the assessments, it is the government who pays for the tribunal appeals, with £500 million being the cost to the taxpayer for these appeals.[8] "The Department's got to get a grip of this contract", concluded Margaret Hodge,[9] saying "We saw no evidence that the Department was applying sufficient rigour or challenge to Atos given the vulnerability of many of its clients, the size of the contracts and its role as a near monopoly supplier. We are concerned that the profitability of the contract may be disproportionate to the limited risks which the contractor bears."[10]

At a meeting in June 2012 British Medical Association doctors voted that the Work Capability Assessment should be ended ‘with immediate effect and be replaced with a rigorous and safe system that does not cause unavoidable harm to some of the weakest and vulnerable in society’.[11] The vote has not been acknowledged by Atos or by the UK Government, although it was reported rather widely in the media at the time.

MPs didn't debate Atos Healthcare in relation to the Work Capability Assessment in Westminster Hall until 4 September 2012.[12] Since then, there has been considerable pressure applied to Iain Duncan Smith, the minister for the DWP, by many including Michael Meacher[13] and Tom Greatrex[14][15] who have campaigned for the reform of the fitness to work assessment. Greatrex has also written to the Prime Minister to demand an investigation of allegations made by a former Atos assessor that Work Capability Assessments are biased against the claimant.[16]

The Work Capability Assessment has been criticized in the media,[17][18] in Parliament,[19] by the Church,[20] by the medical profession,[21] and by protest groups[22][23][24] regarding its disability programmes.

On 22 May 2013, a landmark decision by the courts in a judicial review brought by two individuals with mental health problems ruled that the Work Capability Assessments were not fit for purpose, and that they substantially disadvantage people with mental health conditions.[25] Despite the ruling's self-evident importance, the decision had a similar lack of real-world effect as it did not halt or even slow down the Work Capability Assessment process; Atos seems to have ignored the judgement and its implications.

In the same month, a Freedom of Information request by Reading councillor and Chair of Reading Borough Council’s Access & Disabilities Working Group, Pete Ruhemann, revealed that: "28 of the 140 medical assessment centres, or 20 percent, do not provide wheelchair access," and, "[m]any, including the larger centres, are on the second or third floor".[26] Furthermore, the "great majority do not have associated parking".[27] The councillor characterised this national situation as, "a disgrace".[27] It has been revealed that Atos has already made an out-of-court settlement with one user, "for disability discrimination […] over access."[26] Again, despite this legal outcome, Atos appears to neither have engaged in public self-criticism nor to have moved its inaccessible assessment venues to more-accessible locations.

In May 2013 a doctor who had resigned from Atos after being told to change a report about an individual blew the whistle, pointing out that in certain circumstances "the General Medical Council makes it clear that doctors must not change a report and risk being disciplined for unprofessional conduct if they do".[28] He also drew attention to the widespread misinterpretation of the assessment's criteria - the legal framework of the test - on key abilities such as mobility, manual dexterity and risk.[29]

On 22 July 2013, the widespread criticism of Work Capability Assessments was vindicated by the Department of Work and Pensions announcing that it had directed Atos to put in place a performance improvement plan and it would be bringing in new contracting providers to carry out assessments. This followed a DWP audit which found that around 41% of reports produced by Atos following an assessment were graded C in a quality scale A-C.[30][31]


Figures

A government study published in 2012 found that one-half of the people identified as "fit for work" by the Work Capability Assessment in the UK, remained unemployed and without income.[32][33]

In 2012, 43 complaints against Atos doctors and nurses were being investigated by the General Medical Council or Nursing and Midwifery Council.[4] Criticism has been directed at Atos over the ability of its staff to deal with complex mental health problems and conditions whose symptoms vary with time.[34] In August 2012, Atos Healthcare claimed they had appointed 60 Mental Function Champions to provide additional training.[4]

Dangerous conclusions and deaths

Government statistics reveal that between January 2010 and January 2011, 10,600 sick and disabled people died within six weeks of being assessed.[35] Government statistics also revealed that of those who had been put into the 'Work Related Activity Group' (which prepares claimants for future work), 1300 died within 6 weeks.[36] Critics of ATOS allege that the number of deaths is far greater. In mid-January 2012, there was a significant scandal as media were alerted to the fact that the WCA had found a man in a coma to be 'fit for work'.[37]

Work Capability Assessments have found patients with brain damage,[38] terminal cancer, severe multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's Disease to be fit for work.[39] On 24 April 2013, a woman who was a double heart and lung transplant patient died in her hospital bed only days after she was told, after a Work Capability Assessment, that her allowance was being stopped and that she was fit for work.[40][41]

In August 2011, twelve doctors working for Atos as disability assessors were placed under investigation by the General Medical Council because of allegations of misconduct in relation to their duty of care to patients.[42]

References

  1. ^ "Welfare Reform Act 2007". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  2. ^ Financial Times. 'Under-Fire Atos Begins Disability Tests'. Retrieved 11 May 2013
  3. ^ McCue, Andy (16 March 2005). "Atos Origin wins £500m government BPO deal". silicon.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Lakhani, Nina (29 August 2012). "Paralympic sponsor engulfed by disability tests row". The Independent (London). Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Bungling Atos Rake in £500million of taxpayers' cash from botched fitness-to-work tests". Daily Record. 10 May 2013
  6. ^ BBC News, 30 May 2013
  7. ^ Huffington Post. "878,300 aren't cheating benefits". Stef Benstead
  8. ^ The Express. "£500 million bill for appeal battles over benefits" 19 May 2013
  9. ^ BBC News. MPs criticise disability benefits tests. 8 February 2013
  10. ^ Parliament UK. Public Accounts Committee. Report on the Department for Work and Pensions: Contract management of medical services
  11. ^ Scrap Work Capability Assessment. News from the BMA Annual representative meeting
  12. ^ Westminster Hall debate on Atos Healthcare, Parliament UK, retrieved 30 September 2012
  13. ^ Huffington Post. 16 March 2013
  14. ^ Daily Record. 10 May 2013
  15. ^ BBC News interview on Atos allegations. 17 May 2013
  16. ^ Serious Allegations against Atos should be investigated. Atos Victims Group. May 2013
  17. ^ The Shadow State: the "dehumanizing, degrading" treatment of disabled people. New Statesman. 23 January 2013.
  18. ^ All about Atos. Daily Record. 7 February 2013
  19. ^ Amelia Gentleman (15 January 2013). "Atos comes under attack in emotional Commons debate | Society | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  20. ^ Archbishop Tartaglia joins chorus of protests against Atos assessments which 'trample on human dignity'
  21. ^ This brutal new system': a GP's take on Atos and work capability assessments. The Guardian
  22. ^ Fine Atos when it fails. 38 Degrees
  23. ^ Atos protest groups: Disability rights groups target firm. BBC News
  24. ^ 'War on Welfare' petition tops 5,000 in less than 48 hours
  25. ^ Amelia Gentleman. The Guardian. "Fitness-for-work tests unfair on people with mental health problems, court says" 22 May 2013
  26. ^ a b Private Eye (1340): 5. 17–30 May 2013. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. ^ a b Ruhemann, Pete. "Disabled adaptations at Reading Medical Assessment Centre are welcome, but the national picture is dire". Reading & District Labour Party website. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  28. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jul/31/atos-fitness-work-test-greg-wood, Why I blew the whistle on Atos fitness-for-work test, 31/7/13
  29. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22561006
  30. ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hoban-taking-action-to-improve-the-work-capability-assessment
  31. ^ Wintour, Patrick (22 July 2013). "Disabled benefits claimants test: Atos reports found 'unacceptably poor'". The Guardian. London.
  32. ^ "Atos Scandal: Benefits bosses admit over half of people ruled fit to work ended up destitute". The Daily Record. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  33. ^ Atos assessor 'forced to judge disabled fit for work', The Independent, retrieved 30 September 2012
  34. ^ BMJ 2011;342:d1155
  35. ^ DWP Statistics. Incapacity Benefit: Deaths of Recipients. 9 July 2012
  36. ^ Gentleman, Amelia (17 January 2013). "Atos comes under attack in emotional Commons debate". The Guardian. London.
  37. ^ http://libcom.org/news/man-coma-loses-benefits-hes-classified-fit-work-19012012
  38. ^ Masters, Sam (24 March 2013). "Brain-damaged amputee fit for work, says Atos". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  39. ^ Amelia Gentleman (22 February 2011). "New Disability Test is a Complete Mess". London: Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  40. ^ Daily Mirror. "Linda Wootton: Double heart and lung transplant dies nine days after she has benefit stopped". 26 May 2013
  41. ^ BBC News. "Atos Assessments: Widower claims system 'unfair'". 30 May 2013
  42. ^ Daniel Boffey, policy editor (13 August 2011). "Atos doctors could be struck off". London: Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2012. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
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