Atos underfire from NHA party & PCS union

Ahead of tomorrow's national day of action against Atos, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union calls for the demeaning work capability tests to be scrapped. The union says support to help sick and disabled people find work if they can should be brought back in-house. It adds that the tests currently carried out by Atos on behalf of the government are designed solely to cut entitlements and have no place in our social security system.

The union is supporting the national day of action on Wednesday organised by disability campaign groups Disabled People Against the Cuts and Black Triangle. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It is a scandal that the likes of Atos are profiting from this government's cold and calculating assault on sick and disabled people. The demeaning tests should be scrapped and the work to provide the kind of professional and caring support that disabled people need and deserve should be brought back in-house."

The National Health Action Party has also critical of Atos and is backing calls for doctors to be properly consulted over ATOS assessments. Dr Louise Irvine, the National Health Action Party's prospective MEP for London, says the DWP must take proper account of the clinical assessment of doctors:

“The current method of Work Capacity Assessment run by ATOS is inhumane , not fit for purpose and should be scrapped and replaced by a system that truly supports people with long term health problems to get back into suitable employment when their health permits, or enables them to claim appropriate benefits to which they are entitled. GPs should be asked to provide information about their patients to support their claims and such information should be taken seriously. This used to happen and was stopped under the new Work Capacity Assessment system. It’s important that the information that GPs have about their patients should be made available to help patients making claims.”

NHA Party co-leader Dr Richard Taylor said: "ATOS – a nightmare. I had correspondence with the then relevant minister during the last parliament and obtained a promise that ATOS would ensure that available medical evidence from the client’s GP or consultant would always be taken into account in assessments for fitness. I was concerned because i'd had plenty of examples where this was readily available and yet had never even been looked at. I can remember patients awaiting cardiac surgery who had been pronounced as fit because ATOS had not bothered to find even this out. So it's imperative that existing medical evidence must be taken into account".

Kate Green MP, Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Minister, commenting on the Work Capability Assessment contract and Atos, said: "It is becoming increasingly clear that disabled people are being badly let down by Atos which is why Labour has called on the Government to sack them with immediate effect. But it is also clear that problems with the Work Capability Assessment go much deeper. We need fundamental reform of the assessment process so that disabled people have confidence that the system is fair and to ensure they receive the help they need to enter work when they can."

The Government say they are Taking action to improve the Work Capability Assessment contract

As part of the ongoing process of improving the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is to bring in additional providers to carry out assessments, Minister for Employment Mark Hoban announced today. This change in approach for contracting providers to carry out the assessments to be delivered on a regional basis is likely to be fully operational from summer 2014 and will provide extra capacity to help tackle waiting times.

The Minister also announced that he has already directed Atos Healthcare to put in place a quality improvement plan following a DWP audit which identified an unacceptable reduction in the quality of written reports produced following assessments. Measures include retraining and re-evaluating all Atos healthcare professionals, with those not meeting the required standard continuing to have all of their work audited until they do, or have their approval to carry out assessments withdrawn by the department.

The reports provided by Atos form only a part of the WCA process, which has a number of checks and balances built in to the system, and a ‘C’ grade report does not mean the assessment was wrong. Claimants whose report following their assessment has not met the DWP’s quality standard have been no more likely to be found fit for work, or to appeal against their decision than other claimants.

Mark Hoban, Minister for Employment, said: “I am committed to ensuring the Work Capability Assessment process is as fair and accurate as possible, with the right checks and balances to ensure the right decision is reached. Where our audits identify any drop in quality, we act decisively to ensure providers meet our exacting quality standards. Since 2010 we have made considerable improvements to the system we inherited from the previous government. However, it’s vital we continue to improve the service to claimants, which is why we are introducing new providers to increase capacity.”

The DWP has also engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to provide independent advice in relation to strengthening quality assurance processes across all its health and disability assessments. Atos Healthcare have also brought in a third party to assess the quality of their audit and make recommendations for improvements.

The WCA process has a number of checks and balances built in to ensure the right decision is reached. These include:

• DWP Decision Makers making the final decision on claimants’ benefit entitlement. Decision Makers can – and do – reach different decisions to those recommended to them by the assessments when all the supporting information is taken into account.
• Claimants who disagree with the outcome of their WCA can provide more medical evidence and ask the DWP to reconsider the decision.
• A claimant who disagrees with their decision can also appeal to an independent tribunal, and before any appeal the original decision is looked at again by another DWP Decision Maker.

The DWP say they also remain committed to annual independent reviews of the WCA - from which over 50 recommendations have been, or are being, implemented - to ensure the WCA is as fair and as accurate as possible. The fourth independent review of the WCA is currently being undertaken by Dr Paul Litchfield, a respected Senior Occupational Physician.

Responding for Labour, the Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, Liam Byrne said: "This is a direct consequence of three years appalling contract management by Iain Duncan Smith. He has quite simply let Atos spin out of control and the taxpayer and vulnerable people are picking up the pieces. There are now profound questions about Atos' role going forward. We will study this statement in detail, but it is now vital the Government rebuilds a system that's fit for purpose."