ATOS appeals: GP's charging £130

[Laird_Scooby]

I'd gladly volunteer for the DLF but i fear my short term memory would let me down on the training front and indeed when sorting problems out. Obviously i'd have to work it round my "less bad days" too.

 

Willing to give it a go though..........

[mr_mastiff]

I'd gladly volunteer for the DLF but i fear my short term memory would let me down on the training front and indeed when sorting problems out. Obviously i'd have to work it round my "less bad days" too.

 

Willing to give it a go though..........

 

WE can all still dream that is one thing they cannot take from us.

[bedofweeds]

Going back to the Original subject, perhaps I may have a radical suggestion. Instead of paying £130.00 for the GP to provide medical evidence to ATOS why not pay the GP £300.00 to carry out the whole assessment. They would have all your medical records on hand, prescriptions, reports, Blood results etc. They through contact would have seen you at your worse/best etc. I am sure that a more accurate assessment could be made and money saved by removing ATOS from the picture. My local medical centre runs special clinics on a Saturday mornings why not assessment clinics. I am sure A large number of GP,s would be interested after all do 5 get £1500.00.

 

I am sure that in the end they would be cost effective.

 

Good idea but it wouldn't work. GP's have little if no knowledge of how sickness or a disability is assessed in line with the parameters laid down by the government They certainly wouldn't know a thing about the descriptors either.

[bedofweeds]

Was it Cambridge Jobcentre by any chance? Shared premises with the Benefit Agency i think but don't quote me on that bit.

 

No Folkestone - mind you the Jobcentre and it's inhabitants did seem to typify Folkestone to a tee! Try finding a shop there that isn't either a charity shop, cheap clothing store, Brighthouse or a bookies. Apart from the one or two 'decent' shops like Next or a family jeweller, the rest were full of chavvy discount stores Sorry to those that live there but I have to be honest!

[mr_mastiff]

Good idea but it wouldn't work. GP's have little if no knowledge of how sickness or a disability is assessed in line with the parameters laid down by the government They certainly wouldn't know a thing about the descriptors either.

 

I have more faith in the integrity of my GP than any diktat forced on the disabled by a bunch of morally corrupt politicians who would not recognise a disability unless it P***** on them. Parameters/ descriptors do not recognise the disease process or the pain and suffering of the individual. Your statements at times lead me to think that you are an ATOS plant.

[antone]

No Folkestone - mind you the Jobcentre and it's inhabitants did seem to typify Folkestone to a tee! Try finding a shop there that isn't either a charity shop, cheap clothing store, Brighthouse or a bookies. Apart from the one or two 'decent' shops like Next or a family jeweller, the rest were full of chavvy discount stores Sorry to those that live there but I have to be honest!

 

What, in particular, compels you to be honest about this when refraining from doing so would be so much more sensible?

[bedofweeds]

I have more faith in the integrity of my GP than any diktat forced on the disabled by a bunch of morally corrupt politicians who would not recognise a disability unless it P***** on them. Parameters/ descriptors do not recognise the disease process or the pain and suffering of the individual. Your statements at times lead me to think that you are an ATOS plant.

 

Parameters/ descriptors do not recognise the disease process or the pain and suffering of the individual

 

Maybe they don't but until such time as GP's are given the power to assess people to establish the level of sickness or disability, what you do have left with is the system as it stands right now.

It is far far better to understand the system and jump through the hoops for them than it is to wish for a change that will never happen.

 

Far from it I failed my first ATOS face to face assessment with a miserly 0 points. I quickly learned what I had to do to 'pass' the tests (which had nothing to do with the level of my illness/disability) I worked with the system. Then I was placed in the Support Group for the next 3 years.

 

It is no different to passing academic/professional examinations. Of course you can try to cram every bit of info in and every topic, but you still are unsure about what you will be asked to write about or how to word it.

 

Being taught how to pass an examination and what is likely to be asked of you is more practical and you are more likely to pass - you work the system to your advantage - no point in fighting it - that will get you nowhere.

[Laird_Scooby]

To be honest i don't think it matterrs that he was honest. Many parts of Cambridge won't "Allow" those "Chavy discount stores" because it would "lower the tone" of the area. The graphic description helps a non-resident identify with the lack of employment opportunities that apparently exist (as it goes i know unemployment is high in that area from a friend who lives close by) but when you juxtapose an identical sounding JC (Cambridge) with the alleged wealth of the sort of shops in one of the city centre shopping malls where shops like Hotel Chocolat proliferate it makes me wonder which is worse. At least it seems Folkestone is honest in it's outward image about the area whereas it seems to me Cambridge is covering up the unseen poverty caused by lack of employment.

[bedofweeds]

What, in particular, compels you to be honest about this when refraining from doing so would be so much more sensible?

 

I was asked which Jobcentre it was. I then offered my opinion about how Folkestone in general, when you look at it, does in fact typify what I saw in the Jobcentre.

 

Or I could have said that the Jobcentre in Folkestone was a window view of what to expect in Folkestone itself.

 

I would add that the area council - Shepway - has one of the lowest if not the lowest housing allowances in England. Something I find extremely worrying given that it covers the area of Dover and Folkestone in the South East. There is a considerable amount of deprivation, high unemployment and very poor quality housing stock to rent at an affordable price.

Edited September 5, 2013 by bedofweeds

[antone]

I was asked which Jobcentre it was. I then offered my opinion about how Folkestone in general, when you look at it, does in fact typify what I saw in the Jobcentre.

 

Or I could have said that the Jobcentre in Folkestone was a window view of what to expect in Folkestone itself.

 

Alright. Because what this thread really needed was a discussion about the social ills of coastal Kent.

[mr_mastiff]

Parameters/ descriptors do not recognise the disease process or the pain and suffering of the individual

 

Maybe they don't but until such time as GP's are given the power to assess people to establish the level of sickness or disability, what you do have left with is the system as it stands right now.

It is far far better to understand the system and jump through the hoops for them than it is to wish for a change that will never happen.

 

Far from it I failed my first ATOS face to face assessment with a miserly 0 points. I quickly learned what I had to do to 'pass' the tests (which had nothing to do with the level of my illness/disability) I worked with the system. Then I was placed in the Support Group for the ne

 

It is no different to passing academic/professional examinations. Of course you can try to cram every bit of info in and every topic, but you still are unsure about what you will be asked to write about or how to word it.

 

Being taught how to pass an examination and what is likely to be asked of you is more practical and you are more likely to pass - you work the system to your advantage - no point in fighting it - that will get you nowhere.

 

Your reply just illustrates how dishonest the system is. A true medical examination must look at both the subjective and objective information. relying on subjective information or what you call working the system shows an absolutely abysmal regard to the ethics and practice of medicine, in fact it rewards the lair and punishes the honest. There are many examples of people who want change succeeding. Your talk of working the system just proves how morally corrupt the people of this land have become. An acceptance of this system shows a contemptuous disregard for the rights of others and robs the nation of its dignity.

Edited September 5, 2013 by mr_mastiff
spelling

[bedofweeds]

Your reply just illustrates how dishonest the system is. A true medical examination must look at both the subjective and objective information. relying on subjective information or what you call working the system shows an absolutely abysmal regard to the ethics and practice of medicine, in fact it rewards the lair and punishes the honest. There are many examples of people who want change succeeding. Your talk of working the system just proves how morally corrupt the people of this land have become. An acceptance of this system shows a contemptuous disregard for the rights of others and robs the nation of its dignity.

 

No it's not. The government (Labour) set up the system. Everybody has to work with the system. Like everything in life, you have to get to know how the system works to work with it.

 

All you are doing is spouting that you don't like the system, you want it to change, so why should you work with the system.

 

We have it, we work it. No different to what the DWP do every day. They find ways that can deny you what the system offers, so it is totally correct for you to find ways to get the system to work for you - as long as everything is legal and within the regulations.

[antone]

No it's not. The government (Labour) set up the system. Everybody has to work with the system. Like everything in life, you have to get to know how the system works to work with it.

 

All you are doing is spouting that you don't like the system, you want it to change, so why should you work with the system.

 

We have it, we work it. No different to what the DWP do every day. They find ways that can deny you what the system offers, so it is totally correct for you to find ways to get the system to work for you - as long as everything is legal and within the regulations.

 

You're correct, of course, but since we (at least notionally) live in a democracy, I don't see why we should fault people who wish to advocate for a change in the system.

[mr_mastiff]

No it's not. The government (Labour) set up the system. Everybody has to work with the system. Like everything in life, you have to get to know how the system works to work with it.

 

All you are doing is spouting that you don't like the system, you want it to change, so why should you work with the system.

 

We have it, we work it. No different to what the DWP do every day. They find ways that can deny you what the system offers, so it is totally correct for you to find ways to get the system to work for you - as long as everything is legal and within the regulations.

 

I know labour set up the system. The area I live in run the trials and I was one of the first to complete a W.C.A. I scored 15 in both physical and mental abilities. The assessment was highly competent. Since then the system as become a shambles. With successive changes to both guidelines and the quality of people who carry out the assessments. In its original form it could have worked. I agree that you have to work within the system as it stands. However, a growing number of people within society actively seek to make change. By writing to MP,s getting the media involved pointing out the inadequacies etc. I know I have the capability like you to work the system but my conscience drives me to try and help others that cannot.