(It’s not satire – it’s ATOS!)
Yet more proof of the unprofessionalism of the so-called medical experts at ATOS – the company paid huge amounts of taxpayers’ money by the government to carry out tests on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions which are supposed to decide whether sick or disabled people are eligible to receive support.
A blind woman was found fit for work by an ATOS assessor after he wiggled his fingers in front of her eyes to test her sight.
The woman finally ‘won’ her case against ATOS – but not after a hard fight. You can read about it here in an article from the Manchester Evening News:
Blind woman ordered back to work wins benefits battle
What is it with this government and its obsession with paying out vast amounts of taxpayers’ money to bunches of cowboys to run public services?
ATOS, G4S, A4e, CAPITA – seems to me there’s a common theme here.
Must be a case of birds of a feather.
Or is it more a case of thick as thieves?
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Related articles by Tom Pride:
ATOS declare Richard III fit for work
ATOS to reduce ‘fit for work’ test to one question: “Are you alive?”
A4e given over 45 million of taxpayers money – to give classes on using toilet paper
Emma Harrison: “Heartless taxpayers bullied me into paying myself £8.6m of their money”
How Delboy hoodwinked ministers out of £300m – UPDATE
G4S are now teaching and looking after our children. Are we all mad?
Not satire – prisoner escaped curfew after G4S mistakenly tagged his false leg!
G4S Embassy Guards Sacked For Drinking Vodka Out Of Each Others’ Bottoms. Not satire – it’s true!
Toby Young – disabled children should be excluded from schools
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Reblogged this on Service Research and Practice News and commented:
The continuing travesty of ATOS
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Pingback: The continuing travesty of ATOS | kickingthecat
Pingback: ATOS assessor found blind woman fit for work after "wiggling his fingers" in front of her eyes | Welfare, Disability, Politics and People's Right's | Scoop.it
Wow Do these assessors have bets to see who can come up with the most obscenely idiotic return to work of the week?
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Don’t mock. They might well do.
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I used to work with blind and partially sighted young people.There was one chap who had no eyes who had developed the ability to be able to identify the approach of people on the sound of their footsteps.Believe or not,and it is as if the same logic was applied by the assessor;supposedly people with intelligence convinced themselves that he must have been able to see because he could tell who they were even though they had not said anything ;they simply refused to believe he could tell who they were.otherwise.
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Has ATOS assessed Iain Duncan Smith as being completely sane?
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in my last WCA the assessor said I was able to see more than I was letting on (I’m 100% blind) when we questioned the report i was able to embarrass the panel when they sided with the assessor. I calmly took out my prosthetics eyes and put them into my hand and reached out my hand towards them and asked politely – can you show me how to make these work so i can see more than I currently am then please” ……. it was followed by a very long 2 minute silence in the room – (if the assessor or WCA had read the doctors notes they would have been aware I wear prosthetic eyes)
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Wallace – although in one sense what happened to you is farcical, it actually makes me really angry.
What has this country come to?
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Our niece has a blind and deaf son. My daughter once wiggled her fingers in front of his eyes. Mind you she was only four at the time. Just about sums up the mental age of the ATOS assessor.
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Reblogged this on What would Clement do? and commented:
What on earth could you add to this terrible story?
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The lunatics really have taken over!
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Reblogged this on The Greater Fool.
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While it is true that the tribunal reversed the decision of the medical examiner – who by the way Mr Pride is likely to know more about this woman’s condition than you, as usual with these stories there is more to it than meets the eye. The woman involved is registered blind, and has developed a condition which is very common, and does not necessarily result in full blindness. The photograph in the article shows her eyes focused on the camera, and the article itself states that ‘she wrote’ a letter to ATOS supporting her application. The article does not indicate whether this was hand written or typed, but does imply that she completed this task herself. Of the dozen or so symptoms of retinitus pigmentosis only two or three would probably bar a person from working completely; and as both the subject of the medical and the writer of the article do not describe any symptoms we are not in a position to tell whether in fact this woman could in fact work. The medical examiner did not ‘wiggle his fingers’, according to the article he held fingers up, probably asking her to indicate how many, and my guess is that she correctly identified the number of fingers being held up. It does not seem an unreasonable thing to do. Retinitus Pigmentosis is an enormously complex and varied condition with over 49 genetic mutations; but it seems to be more common in men, but more serious in women; it also seems to more serious the later the onset. Onset can begin in early infancy; this woman who seems to be in her mid-forties records onset in 1988, and worked to 1999, implying onset at about 20. From this it would seem that she has in fact much better eye-sight than the normal prognosis for this illness would indicate.
Now she was ‘told’ to give up work in 1999, we are not told by who; but in the period 1991 to 2001 the Major and Blair goverments were criticised by the BBC and other economic authorities for shifting people over from unemployment benefits to disability benefits; the Major goverment to prevent unemployment figures reaching 3 million, the Blair goverment for attempting to accelerate the reduction in unemployment figures to below 2 million before the 2001 election. The cause of the current problems with disability benefits is that for a long time it suited goverment to manipulate the employment figures, resulting in a lot of ‘borderline ‘ cases being taken out of the job market. If people look elsewhere on this site they will find my analysis of Callum’s list, and they will find contrary to the propaganda pumped out on this site that a lot of people died while waiting for benefit decisions under Labour, and that in fact the system currently opperating, including the medical format was set up under Labour. The companies you dislike including ATOS were given contracts by the last Labour goverment, which are still in force. The most infamous of them Capita was awarded the CRB contract after its owner lent a million quid to the Labour Party to help win the 2001 election.
Now what do those who do not like the present system propose – well you can find it on Callum’s list. How dare I or anyone who pay taxes ask questions of those who claim benefits. We do not apparently have the right to do this – if you look at, I think it was the Formby case on Callum’s List, you will see that what is proposed is that the claimant claims they have a disability, and the state, ie the taxpayer simply pays up. I am happy for Labour to run with this at the next election.
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bookwormbc – the ATOS assessor ignored the woman’s registered blind certificate, her GP’s assessment as well as several experts – all of whom would know more about her condition than someone meeting her for the first time and wiggling their fingers in her face.
I’ve never understood the strange logic that because Labour did it when it was in power, it’s alright for the present government to do it too.
Bizarre.
Your other comments about writing letters and focusing on the camera show you know even less about blindness than I do.
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My point is that having a disability does not prevent a person from working – I have worked with one totally blind manager, and one social worker who probably had one of the many versions that come under this heading of this ladies disease. Both were registered blind. Disabled people argue that they are not disabled, except in so far as society disables them. If a person’s disability does not impeed them from working, or if they can succesfully work with the aid of the Department of Work and Pensions, and this includes a wide range of equipment and adaptions then I do not see why they should not work. To take up one of your favourite subjects, if Oscer Pistorius was a British Citizen; who can run faster than me, and I suspect you, who has or maybe had multiple million dollar/pound contracts being the second highest earning sportsman in the world; who has normal language, mental and other physical skills, why should a retired woman, living on a small but taxed private pension; why should a family earning say £25,000 a year, why should an old lady living in a £2 million pound flat in Westminster, but only receiving state pension and small private pension on the death of her husband pay for him to receive disability benefits. The issue of disability benefits is not transparent and obvious, and certainly the matter of assessing this and many other conditions is not.
The point about Labour is that you pretend that this is a problem has only come into existance since June 2010, and it has not. Black Rainbow, essentially a front for the Unite Trade Union was founded following the death of a Scotish ‘artist’ in early 2010, who allegedly should have been receiving disabilty benefits; it might be reasonable to ask what happened to his money; but it is very sad that it considers that only deaths that happen after June 2010 are worthwhile mentioning, the people who died before seem to be of little account. As you know I have disected the information on each of these alleged deaths and very few of them can be attributed to specific issues over benefits, and some of the worst happened under Labour. Are you denying that all of the current contracts, including the ATOS contract were enacted by the Labour Party?
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bookwormbc – you (and many others) seem to think a policy’s merit depends on which party introduced it.
When you inform me that it was Labour which first introduced ATOS, what do you think I’m going to say? Ooh, sorry you’re right, Labour introduced ATOS – so I’ve changed my mind, it must be alright then?
I couldn’t give a monkey’s cock which party introduced a policy – if it’s wrong it’s wrong.
Your other straw man is thinking anyone who is against the DWP/ATOS testing regime thinks disabled people can’t work. Of course someone who is disabled could work – given the right job. But how can pretending a blind person can see when they can’t and taking their benefits away from them as a result going to help them find work?
Like I say – strange logic indeed.
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I just want to address a couple of points raised. you say she is looking at the camera. just because your blind doesn’t mean yur eyes do not move or react to sound. even prosthetic eyes move natrally these days due to the new shape. if someone is takling picture saying “i am here” the person will naturally react to sound and “look” in that direction. also another point raised is where you say she wrote a letter. I have been blind for years but I still say I read a book, I watched a film etc.. i refuse to change how i speak or say things because it is not factually correct.
also do not compare one blind person to another. everyones blind skills vary. while some may be very independent and competent in doing things without sightless doesnt mean others will be the same. alot of people with sight loss also have underlying problems related to their sight loss. agoraphobia is common or in my case social agoraphobia because it is a very different world out there when you cannot see. while a sighted person can handle ging down a crowded street no problem, without sight it is very scary and confusing as you are jostled, bumping into people who do not understand and the 360 degree noise can be very disorientating.
I hope some of what i have said helps to understand a bit to why she may not be able to work.
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Wallace, yes assessing if someone is fit to work is a very difficult process. It has to be done in person and not on the basis of medical feedback, unless that medical fedback is based on direct observation by someone trained to assess a person’s ability to work, and what help they may need to work. Mr Pride who is pretty hostile to ATOS claims that this is an open and shut case – in my view it probably is not. In my original response i pointed out there are a number of symptoms about this condition which would make it very difficult for this lady to work, not least that in some cases it is linked to serious heart problems. Yes this lady may have been responding to sound, but the finger waving was almost certainly the assessor asking her how many fingers were being held up, and my guess is she did give the right answers. We are not told how long the assessment took, but the idea that you would get a better picture of this womans abilities by not meeting with her, but relying on written reports from her GP is dubious.
While there are many conditions which are not obvious, deafness for instance, their implications for everyday life can best be understood by a face to face assessment.I have talked to friends who undertook ATOS assessments, and they consider they were respectfully and decently treated, but of course they received the answer they wanted from both the face to face assessment and the follow up review. I have only seen two instances of extreme rudness in ATOS assessments, one is further up the line in this post, and the other is on the DPAC website, where the non-disabled partner of a woman with a disability behaved both rudely and in a paranoid way throughout the assessment; he was obstructing the assessment process, and then proudly recorded his actions on line.
I do not personally believe that many people who go to such assessments are anything else than ill or disabled, and in my view the assessment has to guard against two things; those who are able to work but for a variety of reasons, not least past goverment policy, have been encouraged not to do so; and those who are not fit to work, but are desperate to do so. At least two people on Callum’s list had greatly understated their health problems because they wanted to return to work. It benefits no one, not potential employees and certainly not employers for people not fit to work to return to the work force.
Two final points – there are comments upon this feed about the ATOS assessors having not read the file before assessment. In my experience very few NHS doctors read my file or those of any client of mine before medical appointments; including significant observations made in pregnancy. In the case of my doctor’s surgery the doctor no longer has access to all my records, because they have been ‘archived’ on the computor system. I doubt that all the medical mistakes being made are by ATOS assessors.
Oddly in Germany this lady might actually be working, as for at least some of the numerous variants of this disability there are retinal implants, which have been licensed in Germany since 2011 and in the USA this very month. The treatment is not yet available in this country as far as I can tell either in the NHS or private sector.
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No ihad was farcical the one before that was very polite and curtious so i have no firm belief with ATOS. Of course only the bad stories make the press as they are more read worthy than the assessments that go smoothly as they need to sell papers.
now I know i am going to be attacked for this next comment but i am making it based on personal observation. i have come across quite a few disabled people who feel they do not or should not be expected to work. I am fully blind with various other problems regarding heart lung and only one arm but i retrained to become an accountant (yes i am blind but doesn’t stop me using a computer or using my brain) when i was injured I looked at what i could do and aimed for work within my disability abilities. but along the way i was attacked more from disabled people for wanting to work rather than encouraged. having a disability is seen by a portion of disabled as a green card not to even try to work and will find excuse after excuse. yes there are alot who genuinely will never be able to work but it works both ways. I have come across people with just a fraction of a disability that i have but feel they have a right no never be challenged to work.
whilst i think alot of the cuts being implemented by the government are totally unfair I also feel alot use their disability for the sympathy card to not do anything
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bookwormbc how’s the new job at ATOS? Obviously you make some valid points, but please, enough is enough, these people have a history of incompetence and I do speak from personal experience, it’s about time we stopped making excuses for these and all other government funded leaches.
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I’m convinced ATOS employees are being given bonuses for how many ppl they say are fit to work. At the very least, they MUST be working to targets…….or are they just told to say EVERYONE is fit to work?
I know a lady who went from Income Support to ESA WITHOUT having an ATOS assessment at all – and here’s how she did it:
!) Insisted that because she’s housebound + can’t possibly attend an assessment, they would have to send the assessor to her home. (They have less control over who is present in the room at your own home).
2) Told them that because of something that had happened to her in the past it MUST be a woman – “DO NOT SEND A MAN, I will not let a strange man into my house – you’ll trigger a massive panic attack”. (This is now a nuisance to them)
3) Informed them right there, on the ATOS form that she required them to record the assessment (as per the govts guidelines) and that she would be recording it herself.
THEY KNOW YOU’LL WIN YOUR APPEAL IF YOU CAN SHOW FROM A RECORDING THAT THEY IGNORED THINGS YOU TOLD THEM!
They didn’t even bother to assess her at all but put her straight onto ESA.
You MUST make it as difficult as possible for them and you MUST make sure that they know that you know your rights and are planning to appeal if they find against you and that you will have the evidence to do so.
Like all bullies, ATOS run away when challenged……
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bookwormbc – tout?
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Wallace I agree with Tom, good on you .
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wallace that was brilliant im glad you got back at them good for you,they just havent a clue they get paid to get you off the disability its shocking
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Hear Hear
He seems like a Govt sponswered ‘plant’ to me ranting on about little old ladies and there pensions
conveiniently forgetting Trillions of pounds given to Bankers, Trillions of pounds recently found to be offshored by the uber wealthy and non-tax paying companies.
13 trillian tax free loophole in Holland for yahoo & Dell tax avoiders for instance.
The tories latest Banker/City subsidy over 3 yrs
– 140 Billion £££ given away(even to foreigners) -whilst focusing your attention on attacking the poor
8 Billion tax giveaway to the uber rich, whilst the rest are forced into Argentinian-style austerity
The ‘AUTONOMOUS’ CITY oF LONDON outed as the greatest offshoring/laundering facility in the WORLD
– NO WONDER THE UBER-WEALTHY ‘SPONGERS’ SUPPORT THE CITY AT ANY COST (TO THE REST OF UK POPULATION.)
They hate your guts anyway – get over it.
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I have recently been awarded dla at the lowest level possible based on a assessment for ESA nearly two years ago despite the fact I provided doctors evidence and from my councillor. It took six days from posting the form to getting a decision and I was told I am not entitled to the higher rate although nearly everything they gave reasons for not awarding me a higher rate conflicted with the evidence I provided. Example they told me I was not at risk of falling despite the fact I fell down the stairs three times in the space of two weeks and I now do not go up or downstairs without help from my partner. I have had to appeal the decision and had to wait a month for an appointment with welfare rights (who suprisingly have had thier budget cut how convenient) . This meant I was out of the time allowed for appeal so had to send another letter to explain why. I suffer with arthritis,sleep apnea,fibro myalgia and complex post traumatic stress disorder. Until two years ago I had worked all my life from age 15. I am now 40 I have always paid tax and national insurance without question. And worked through panic attacks and pain until I just could not cope with it anymore. I now have to fight to get help. I don’t care who’s fault it is whether it’s the dwp or atos but at the end of the day the government says it pays to work but only if you don’t become ill of course.
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I read somewhere that a man in coma had his benefits cancelled because he failed to turn up for an interview. To be honest this smacks of fabrication as there MUST be some safeguards in place to prevent employment demands being placed on the comatose.
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I’m fully sighted (apart from myopia), and I can sometimes tell who familiar people are simply by the sound of their footsteps. So I agree it’s not really a stretch of the imagination to believe a blind person can do that if you consider the fact that they use their other senses more as a result of lacking sight.
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I think ATOS get abused about the results of tests when it is not always ATOS fault, in recent years i have attended several of these tests and on the first one after just over a week i received a phone call from DWP telling me that i was now in the support group and that they would not want to see me for at least 2 years then two weeks later i received a letter again from DWP telling me i was in the work group and had to start looking for work (I had been out of work due to disability for over 10 years before this) i phoned them (DWP) and asked what was going on and explained what had happened and was told they will look into it two more weeks go by and i receive another phone call telling me they had made a mistake and my case had been looked at by two different people and that was why i had two different results (even though they both worked from the same ATOS report) and i was still in the support group. and i expect that many others are just the same as i was that ATOS stated i was not able to work but someone at DWP had decided they know better and everyone should be working.
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