Shock at ATOS assessment - Help?

[Pealady]

Hi, Ill make this short and sweet but I had my 'MEDICAL' assessment yesterday at ATOS and im so shocked with what it was like. I suffer from mental health issues and have been in the throws of this for around 10 years and have just been granted ESA to support me alongside my long awaited therapy which will last 12 months plus.

 

 

I was asked to attend an assessment and did so and was abs nervous etc about going but I did and went through what i can only describe as an interrogation. In all my years under mental health care I have never been second guessed about my symptoms, made to talk about why i am ill (this has to be done delicately for someone with my condition), had my answers questioned on my feelings and when I tried to describe my emotions (again not wise for someone like me) I asked for reassurance if she understood and her answer was 'kind of'. Even in my therapy or during going through the system under mental health care have i ever been probed and questioned and worn out by this interrogation style, almost made to feel like a criminal in some ways.

 

 

I dont think I was heard....how can I condense 10 years into 45 mins anyway?

All this and they expect YOU to get evidence aswell??

 

 

The reason I am posting this is because i cannot see someone with a worse condition than myself coping with this atall...it has left me very anxious and low but i have a good support network others DONT.

How can I effectively complain about this so it stops?? should I write to my local MP?

Thanks for listening.

 

PL

Edited February 6, 2015 by citizenB

[house3]

Hello pealady ,sorry to hear about your awful treatment from atos. I too went through hell with them, i felt physically and mentally drained ! at the end of the day ,these people do not care.!

[wildrover00]

Dear Pealady thank you for your advice, having received knee injuries during my time in the army and suffering from PTSD from gunshot wounds to the head, I understand how you feel as I have had this condition for 35 years as when applying for a war pensionI found myself in the same situation with two medical assessments by so-called doctors for eachof my injuries, so I am aware of how they treat people.

I now find myself in a situation due to PSTD on long-term sick from my employee as I am, government officer I have now had to complete a medical questionnaire in order to receive ESA benefit as I am currently on half salary and then zero salary as from July, so I'm assuming that I will be asked to attend an assessment, even though my condition is being dealt with by combat stress, it is probably the best bet that the ATOS Dr will confirm that I have earache and stop allowance.

It is comforting to know that only the only one out there? , As you say, ATOS have a bad reputation, if they can declare people dying with terminal cancer fit to work, two months before they die then the government seriously needs to get rid of this company.

 

All the best to you

[northernbloke]

I don't know how fair it is to blame ATOS themselves, I suppose they are working to parameters set by government. A lot comes down to the individual interviewers though. Several years ago my wife had an ATOS asssessment and "they" turned her down for benefit even though she , with mental issues, could obviously not work. The interviewer that time was quite brusque. She had another assessment in January and it could not have been more different. This time the interviewer had much more empathy and my wife has full rate DLA.