...according to this parliamentary answer to the Countess of Mar on this ME Association news item:
Has anyone managed to get a doctor's assessment when dealing with Atos, rather than some random person? If so, how?
My last assessment a few years ago was with a doctor, who not only recommended me for the highest-rate DLA for several years without review but phoned me after the interview to ask if I had considered getting a wheelchair because it might help me! Lovely guy. Total luck of the draw, though. I think I'm due for a review next year.
Parliamentary Question, WHO classification and Atos medical assessments, 14 November 2011
by Tony Britton on November 15, 2011
The Countess of Mar tabled a Written Question asking the Government why, in view of the fact that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is classified by the World Health Organisations mandatory International Categorisation of Diseases as a neurological disease, and that the Governments contract with Atos Healthcare requires a qualified doctor to assess employment and support allowance claimants for CFS/ME, the Department for Work and Pensions stated, in response to a Freedom of Information request of 23 March 2011, that any healthcare professional can undertake such assessments.
In a Written Answer on 14 November 2011, Lord Freud (Minister for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions), replied:
The Governments contract with Atos Healthcare requires that doctors are used to assess claimants with conditions that are likely to have complex central nervous system examination findings.
The majority of claimants with CFS/ME do not exhibit such signs and therefore CFS/ME is not on the list of conditions that are required to be assessed by a doctor. However, if a claimant with CFS/ME has neurological signs, they will be passed to a healthcare professional with the requisite expertise.
by Tony Britton on November 15, 2011
The Countess of Mar tabled a Written Question asking the Government why, in view of the fact that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is classified by the World Health Organisations mandatory International Categorisation of Diseases as a neurological disease, and that the Governments contract with Atos Healthcare requires a qualified doctor to assess employment and support allowance claimants for CFS/ME, the Department for Work and Pensions stated, in response to a Freedom of Information request of 23 March 2011, that any healthcare professional can undertake such assessments.
In a Written Answer on 14 November 2011, Lord Freud (Minister for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions), replied:
The Governments contract with Atos Healthcare requires that doctors are used to assess claimants with conditions that are likely to have complex central nervous system examination findings.
The majority of claimants with CFS/ME do not exhibit such signs and therefore CFS/ME is not on the list of conditions that are required to be assessed by a doctor. However, if a claimant with CFS/ME has neurological signs, they will be passed to a healthcare professional with the requisite expertise.
Has anyone managed to get a doctor's assessment when dealing with Atos, rather than some random person? If so, how?
My last assessment a few years ago was with a doctor, who not only recommended me for the highest-rate DLA for several years without review but phoned me after the interview to ask if I had considered getting a wheelchair because it might help me! Lovely guy. Total luck of the draw, though. I think I'm due for a review next year.