Atos - appealing retirement

[Guest Another Spartacus]

I am appealing Ill Health Retirement at the moment with the help of my union rep:| At a recent meeting with my rep and manager I was promised a home medical from occy health (Atos) as I am too ill to attend an Atos centre 25 miles from my home.

 

I have now been contacted to say that my employers cannot afford the 'bespoke' service as this costs £800 and I have been advised to have the telephone consultation or they can provide a taxi to the Atos centre.

 

Without going into too finer point I also suffer from IBS along with many major chronic conditions which is why I am unable to use the taxi service to the Atos centre or drive there myself for fear of repercusions:oops:

 

To be blunt I feel I have been pushed by management and union into accepting the telephone assesment.

 

Does anyone know how much the Atos 'bespoke' service is? Surely it can't cost that much for an Atos doctor to travel 50 mile round trip for at the most a one hour consultation.

 

Many thanks for any replies

[Guest Another Spartacus]

Forgot to mention that I am appealing to have immediate pension so this consultation is very important, how can an Atosh Doctor conduct a thorough examination over the phone????

[Emmzzi]

they aren't going to examine you, they are going to ask questions and probably get a report from your own doctor. Do get a report from your own doctor too! Ask if he thinks you will be able to do any kind of work in the next 12 months, or ever again.

[SWLABR9]

You should try to get your doctor acquainted with the relevant 'exceptional circumstances' legislation. It's;

Exceptional circumstances

29.—(1) A claimant who does not have limited capability for work as determined in accordance with the limited capability for work assessment is to be treated as having limited capability for work if paragraph (2) applies to the claimant.

(2) This paragraph applies if—

(a)the claimant is suffering from a life threatening disease in relation to which—

(i)there is medical evidence that the disease is uncontrollable, or uncontrolled, by a recognised therapeutic procedure; and

(ii)in the case of a disease that is uncontrolled, there is a reasonable cause for it not to be controlled by a recognised therapeutic procedure; or

(b)the claimant suffers from some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement and, by reasons of such disease or disablement, there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person if the claimant were found not to have limited capability for work.

 

So you can fail the test completely but still pass under the exceptional circumstances conditions if you meet the criteria and you can get someone in medical authority to understand what you need and supply a statement to that effect. So if your doc thinks working would be dangerous for you because it's going to affect you adversely they should absolutely say so and why. I think Atos will still ignore this because, as I say, they're unaccountable till someone manages to crack it, but (in my entirely amateur and layman-type view ) it should certainly sway things in your favour at a tribunal. That's for the WRAG, by the way, if your doc said work-related activity was dangerous for you to do, for your own sake or that of others, you'd expect to be in the support group.

[Emmzzi]

This is for IHR not WRAG. The tests are not the same. Many doctors object strongly to being "coached" and will just tell the truth!!

[Guest Another Spartacus]

Thanks for your replies so far. Just to clarify further.

 

I have been 'paid out' by my former employer. Tier 1

 

I am appealing this decision in favour of immediate pension Tier 2, so I feel that it is very importnat that I have an 'at home face to face consultation' then Atos will advise on tier 1 or 2. It's cheaper for the business to just pay me off rather than offer immediate pension

 

I have had numerous telephone assesments from Atos over the past 3 years as my employer use them for occy health providers so am very aware of LIMA

 

I feel that I am being sh****d by management and union for a quick resolution to my appeal and I want to argue the fact with them that they are not prepared to pay Atos for a face to face consultation as they say it is too expensive.

 

So does anyone know how much Atos charge corperate bodies for a home assesment please

[Emmzzi]

it will vary by company (bulk discount) and is commercially sensitive so not in the public domain. £800 for a drive, assess, drive, type up report, answer questions on report, seems feasible to me.

 

If you are appealling - it is your responsibility to prove the original decision was wrong. You, not the company, need to provide new evidence. What does your on doctor say? What's the prognosis?

[SWLABR9]

Sorry, IHR?

[Emmzzi]

Ill Health Retiral. Totally different (and not universal) standard of measures.

[SWLABR9]

I thank you for explaining but I think you're getting confused. Maybe I didn't explain it right. If your doc says were you to be made to do work or work-related activities it could be dangerous to you or to others because of your health problems, then that seems to get you passed on the 'exceptional circumstances' condition. I've heard this sometime ago and examples keep cropping up. There's one on the B&W forum now, an osteoporotic woman has gone straight into the SG on the say-so of her doctor on the basis of her vulnerability, her liability to break bones.

[Emmzzi]

I have retired people on ill health. It's part of my job. I'm not getting at all confused thank you!

 

Support group and WRAG are to do with benefits entitlement. This query is to do with company pension. Different money, different payer, different tests.

 

ATOS do plenty of work not related to benefits payments.

[SWLABR9]

Ah, me muddling my threads up then! Apologies

[transient]

I used to work for ATOS and yes £800 sounds about right

[Guest Another Spartacus]

Well, I had to agree to telephone assesment and lucky old me has been informed by the darling Atos doctor that Nooooooooooo pension for me. Quite predictable eh?

 

Buggah!

 

Thanks for all your replies, I'm sure I will be frequenting the DWP/ESA threads pretty soon:!:

[hensteeth]

Before I decided to leave the Civil Service I had a meeting with this guy at the University paid for by the government in order to establish my ability to continue to work. It took a whole Saturday morning - 3 1/2 hours.

 

Dr Tony Williams MA.MB.BChir.MMedSci.DTM&H.FFOM

Consultant Occupational Physician

University of Kent

 

The report was excellent. It contained 4 pages of detailed comments, resulting in the final part that if I wanted to, I should be discharged from duty on the grounds of (ii) the inability to carry out any work of any nature be it within the government or private industry. It is agreed that Mr****** can no longer be said to employable in any capacity for the foreseeable future.

 

That report was dated Novemeber 2009. ATOS assessed me for my ESA claim in January 2010 and received nil points telling me that I am fit for work.

 

Now who's report should carry the greatest weight? ATOS's of course! Mind you things did change rapidly when they got hold of that report as well as some medical evidence that was sent in with the appeal - they moved me into the Support Group for 3 years!!

 

They never did admit that they got it wrong. ATOS still insisted that their report was more valid than mine, but the DWP seemed to disagree!

 

I'm now waiting for the Tribunal over my wief's Attendance Allowance claim. Then I will send them the extensive report that was given to her by her GP which came from the Consultant. It tells of a lady that can't bend, can't walk more than 10 metres, can't lift anything, has little use of her hands and is in constant pain. That this exists day and night.

 

No doubt their Medical Services Dept (ATOS) will see sense eventually but doubt that they will accept that they were wrong - again!!

Edited August 4, 2012 by hensteeth

[IdaInFife]

AS

 

I have separated the threads and renamed this one atos appealing retirement and the other Atos assessment to keep the two separate.

[Guest Another Spartacus]

As I suspected, union rep and managemnt seem to be in cahoots.

 

Area manager wanted a meeting which was to be held at my former place of work. Because of my chronic disabilities I declined and advised both my union rep and management that a home visit would be much better for me. I emailed them both on two separate occasions to confirm how my disabilities would be affected if I should be forced to attend.

 

Now bare in mind that Occy health (ATOSSERS) have medically retired me without a face to face assessment for goodness sake but these people still want a face to face with me.

 

Neither one got back to me so two days before the arranged meeting I emailed my union rep once more that I would not be attending and for her to notify management.

 

No reply from rep untill the day of the arranged meeting 15 minutes before is was to start for goodness sake, she left a message on my answerphone that it was in my own interest to attend and that I just might get tier 2 if I did attend the meeting.

 

Obviously I did not attend the meeting and after a couple of emails too and frow between me and union rep (I prefer to leave a paper trail) she has now copied in the area manager on my last email which was strictly for the union rep and not for the eyes of management.

 

The final email was to request my union rep to take my case to the next level which involves my former employer having to employ an independent medical specialist to assess me for my disabilities and how they affect me.

 

She has as much said that she is not qualified to take it to appeal, that I should just wait a couple of years till I'm 55 and then get my pension and that she has past me on to someone else in the union.

 

I am livid, what am I still paying my union subs for when this rep has done absolutely nothing to help.

 

What should I do now, does anyone here have any experience of appealing ill health retirement please.