Crippen's Cartoon: Atos - the facts.

Crippen’s cartoon:Atos the facts Posted: 26 Aug 2011 06:32 PM PDT Cameron is handing over sacks of money to a frenchman wearing a black  beret and with a string of onions around his neck. On the wall behind  the frenchman is a large sign that says ‘Atos’. Cameron is saying: “So  to speed up the process, we’ll get you to do the appeals as well!” From Crippens blog

Fightback Against Atos Censorship! Posted: 26 Aug 2011 07:25 AM PDT Cross posted from benefitclaimantsfightback The Carer Watch forums forced offline by Atos Origin are still not back  despite Atos claiming to be willing to negotiate. It now appears that  Atos are refusing to even state which posts on the site, a  volunteer-run online meeting place for disabled people and their carers,  they have deemed to be ‘libellous’. This is the third website run by disabled activists and supporters  which has been closed down by legal threats from IT company  Atos Origin, despite no evidence that they have ever sought any  redress via a court order.  In previous cases Atos have objected  to parodies of their company logo (legal in many countries and a  grey area in UK law) as well as the phrase ‘atos kills’ and the name  of the Atos Register of Shame website (now back!). In this latest development Atos have closed Carer Watch without  even specifying which content they found libellous.  This is a  worrying precedent and should concern all who use the internet  as an alternative source of news.  It now seems as if any website  even vaguely critical of Atos can face having their site taken offline

after legal threats to their server/hosting company. This vicious attack is an attempt to silence disabled people from talking  about their experiences of Atos’ disability assessments, which have led  to thousands of sick and disabled people being wrongly stripped of vital  benefits.  This is all happening against the backdrop of a major Atos  Corporation rebrand.  Atos have a new logo, revamped website, new  facebook pages and appear to have adopted a more aggressive  approach to promoting themselves online.  As they ironically will be  managing IT systems for the paralympic games it is little wonder they  want to hide the true face of their company – an organisation that

has harrassed and bullied disabled people into suicide. How to help Since Atos seem so precious about their logo then online activists have  been helping with their rebranding by suggesting a more honest corporate  identity (see pics attached).  If you have a blog, website or facebook  page please republish the images, or come up with your own, in solidarity  with the websites already closed.  It is vital that every time Atos try to

silence us we shout louder.  The internet is good at that kind of thing. Atos’ new facebook page can be found  at: http://www.facebook.com/Atos?sk=wall comments aren’t staying  up long, but there is a list of alternative Atos facebook pages to join on  the left. Please tweet and retweet about this story, using the hashtags #atos  #atoskills #atosblog Atos can be contacted on 020 7830 4444, ask for James Loughrey. Finally please support and promote the next National Day of Action Against Atos on the 30th September.   Organise locally or join us in London outside the BMJ Recruitment

Fair at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

Questionnaires and quandaries . . .

I've spent the last week or so, but particularly yesterday and today, lying racked in pain, despite the slow-release Morphine, and the double doses of Solpodol. 


Why?


Because, apart from the fact that we've had nothing but rain, drizzle, and that awful, dank-but-warm weather we in Britain, laughingly, call summer, I'm having a relapse in my health, due to having to fill in yet another questionnaire!


I've always made it a point to be as positive as I can about my various health problems, despite being bed-bound 22 hours out of 24 (I worked it out that it takes me roughly two hours in each 24 to walk, aided by my hubby and a pair of elbow crutches, the few steps to the bathroom and back again - and that's without having a shower etc. Oh, to be able to shower properly again!), but I have to confess that today was just one of those days that I couldn't find a positive thought to cling on to.


There have been a lot of stresses for me this last 6-8 weeks. The biggest one, was the ESA50 form my hubby received from ATOS which, because of his own health problems, he was unable to cope with. This meant that it fell to me to fill in the dreaded questionnaire, with all its totally irrelevant questions, none of which was truly applicable for our situation!


Our situation can't be that unique, can it? I would imagine that there are many couples out there where hubby is the official carer for his wife, but has also got his own health problems? Surely there is?


But nowhere on this form was there any question relevant to this - so hubby had to be creative in his answers, to make it clear to TPTB, that, despite his own pain and limitations, he is also the registered sole care of myself.


To do this, I also had to explain some of my own health background which, after being awarded HRC & HRM DLA, indefinitely, a few years ago, is now in an even worse state, with more problems joining the long list with each year that passes. I did not enjoy having to list everything I could remember - especially with my short-term memory being one of the things now affected!


Anyhoo, as I also have problems with my hands, due to Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, I have a laptop with a voice-recognition software programme, that I use most of the time now, as my hands just don't want to work properly. With it, I was able to dictate my hubby's replies to each question (though not the various side-remarks he made at the sheer stupidity of some of the questions. Lol)


All-in-all, it took us four weeks to answer the 17 questions, along with their sub-questions, plus all the 'what's and wherefores', that occurred even before the questioning began. These were four weeks of sheer dogged work for us both, along with the pain and stress this caused, as we had to face up to our limitations time and time again with the way the questions were phrased, and we knew that, if we didn't answer each one as fully as possible, then it would be sure to be ignored, with a negative result ensuing. 


As I could only dictate for short periods of time - normally about 10-15 minutes before my voice gave out and, as it takes hours upon hours to train my software to another voice, I hadn't got around to trying to show hubby how to use the software - that's also assuming that he could do so, or even would be able to stay still for long enough to do so.


So, four weeks, and 23 x A4, closely typed pages, on Word, meant that we had answered every question to the most finite of explanations of my hubby's health problems, and how that interacts with my own!


We had got the medical evidence needed from our Doctor, and so we attached it, and the 23 pages, to the questionnaire - and then I realised that the envelope provided just wasn't big enough to fit it all in. So hubby found one of the A4 envelopes I'd bought by mistake from eBay some months back, and we did a final check that all the I's were dotted, and the T's crossed, and put everything inside the envelope. We taped the post-paid, addressed envelope to the front then, when a friend called around to see us, we gave him the envelope, plus an extra pound for the added postage, and breathed a sigh of relief, for the first time since that brown envelope had been pushed through the letter-box!


We know that this will be just the beginning of our problems, so the sighs of relief were only half-hearted. 


With everything in the news telling us the way that the long-term ill and disabled are being treated, especially by the company in charge of deciding whether their lives are worth living or not, we don't have much hope of a fair judgement of our situation, so we can only look forward to many, many months of fighting for any negative decision to be looked at again and, if there is any justice left in the world, for any negative decision to be overturned in our favour. 


In the meantime, we now have to look forward to our money, possibly, being cut to the bare bones, until we can prove that my hubby couldn't under any reality get a job and look after me 24/7 - and that's not even counting in his own health issues!


But we're not holding our breath, as this is, apparently, a long-drawn-out process, designed by somebody who seems to enjoy humiliating those unable to defend themselves.


Whatever happened to the British sense of fair play, where a person was innocent until proven guilty?

Pensioners and disabled to lose half-price coach travel in sneaky Tory-led cutbacks . . .

DPAC

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Pensioners and disabled to lose half-price coach travel in sneaky Tory-led cutbacks Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:53 AM PDT Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle said: “The Government has made great play of keeping concessionary passes. Yet thousands who use them as their only means of going on holiday or seeing relatives will have this option taken away. “Ministers don’t seem to get that coaches are a vital link for pensioners and disabled people and that losing their concessionary travel could greatly reduce their quality of life.” She accused the Government of cutting too far, too fast and pointed out that funds for local buses had seen an overall reduction of £572million. She added: “Many pensioners with free bus passes will no longer have a bus to use them on.” Andrew Cleaves, managing director of National Express coaches, said the move “appeared to run counter” to David Cameron’s pre-election promises. On the hustings last year the Tory PM insisted: “Labour are trying to frighten old people by saying we’ll take away bus passes, or winter fuel payments. Well I can tell you we’re going to keep those things.” Read more at The Mirror DPAC was also sent this letter from Andrew Cleaves to a supporter: As somebody who has used the Government’s half price coach ticket scheme, we want to give you some important information. The scheme currently provides up to half price travel for over 60 year olds and disabled people through Government funding. The Government has announced that this funding will end on 31 October 2011 as part of its spending cuts programme. While we are looking to introduce a replacement scheme, without the government funding it is not possible to make discounts as high and the cost of travel will increase for you. We have written to the Government to ask that they reconsider this decision. We have also written to a number of MPs to raise our concerns. Many MPs have told us they agree and have written to ministers at the Department for Transport to ask them whether they have considered the potential impact on eligible passengers’ ability to travel. From your letters and emails, we know that many of you rely on the half price fares. Some have also expressed concern that without it, they may not be able to travel. If you share these concerns, perhaps you could write to, or email, your local MP to encourage them to raise your concern with the Department for Transport. If you wish to write to your local MP we have included a letter template that you may want to use, simply add your details, print and send. Download Letter Here >>> We will be in touch soon with more information on how you can take advantage of the half price travel scheme before it ends. Yours Sincerely, Andrew Cleaves Managing Director – National Express, Coach Do write as we feel that public transport should be kept viable for older and disabled people who would be even more isolated and unable to get out of their homes.

ATOS moves to shut down criticism . . .

Atos moves to shut down criticism Posted: 22 Aug 2011 03:21 AM PDT Atos are the French IT outsourcing company who’s Atos Healthcare arm have been running Work Capability Assessment for the Department of Work and Pensions. Lots of people are unhappy about Employment Support Allowance, about the assessments, and about the way that Atos run them. There have been protests outside Atos offices using slogans such as “ATOS kills” to express their feelings. Lots of people have explained why they are unhappy with Atos in blogs, on social networks, and in support forums. It seems that Atos don’t like this. They have started issuing legal threats, and they have succeeded in shutting down some of their opposition. Various websites and forums have spoken out against ATOS and collected personal stories about them. After ATOS first received a take down request in May 2011. Atos lawyers recently threatened legal action against Paul Smith who runs the “Atos Register of Shame” website, accusing him of libel and claiming that ”This is a direct attack on Atos and the name of the website in and of itself is implying that Atos carries on its business in a manner which is shameful.” You can see a take-down letter from Atos here.  http://issuu.com/atosvictims/docs/legal_letter_from_atos?mode=a_p They have also shut down a support forum for carers, CarerWatch, by contacting their server host directly and having it taken down. This has removed a vital support network from many carers, presumably because of private discussions about Atos in members only parts of the forum. Apparently people are not even allowed to talk about Atos now, despite needing to do so to support each other when going through tests administered by Atos. Following this action against them, CarerWatch have published their reply to Atos, which I reproduce here. (I hope they won’t mind.) 21st Aug 2011 FAO  – ATOS Legal Department CarerWatch is an internet forum for sick and disabled people and their unpaid family carers. This is a private forum and only members are allowed to make/read posts. We understand from the organisation that hosts our forum that they received a letter from your solicitors threatening to sue us for libel. The provider immediately closed our site down. We have many members who are very fragile and the sudden disappearance of a support group has caused a lot of distress and fear. Some are ringing us in tears. We cannot get in contact with all of them though as we have lost their contact details through the closure. All this distress could have been avoided if you had had the courtesy to contact us first and tell us what had been posted on our site that you considered libellous. Obviously if any post was possibly libellous we would have removed it and all this distress could have been avoided. We imagine this distress is unintended and hope you will work with us in looking at the problem and finding a solution. Please note that this letter, and any reply received from yourselves, will be posted on our website. It is the only means left to us to reach some members and keep them updated. It is vital we have our forum up and running again to reach those that are isolated. Frances On behalf of CarerWatch members Obviously, I don’t want my website taken down. I have been careful to state only known facts here. These are the facts that I know. Atos Healthcare carries out Work Capability Assessments for the DWP. The contract is worth approximately £100 million per year. There has been a sharp rise in people found fit for work There has been a sharp rise in people appealing that decision 40% of those that appeal, win, rising to 70% with legal representation. Although the decision over “fit to work” lies with the DWP,a government review found that the DWP are institutionally incapable of overriding the Atos Health Care Professionals. The Atos recommendation is, in effect, the decision. Atos employ Health Care Professionals to carry out the assessments. HCPs are a mix of doctors, physiotherapists and nurses. Only people with certain problems will definitely see doctors. Atos use their own Lima computer system to record the patient’s answers. Lima has been widely criticised. The HCP fills in Lima by choosing keywords and statements from a list and then justifying them. An Atos recruiter said “We don’t call them patients . . . We call them claimants.” Twelve Atos doctors are under investigation by the GMC over allegations of improper conduct. Two Atos employees are under investigation after referring to patients as “parasites” and “down and outs”. In the end, although there is much to criticise with the way that Atos carry out ESA WCAs, they may really only be doing what the government expects of them. The descriptors that are used to make the decision of whether a person is fit for work or not are set out in the by the government. (See The Employment and Support Allowance (Limited Capability for Work and Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity) (Amendment) Regulations 2011) I personally question whether Atos accurately records if a patient fits the descriptors or not, and their ability to do so given the way that Lima Works or the staff that are used. Even if they do make an accurate record in line with the government’s descriptors, it is questionable whether the descriptors are an accurate description of being fit for work or not. Even then, it seems that decision makers at the DWP are “institutionally incapable” of taking into account all of the relevant information for the case as they are supposed to, instead simply rubber stamping the recommendation made by Atos. It would seem that the appeals tribunals are making a fairer judgement on this issue than Atos or the DWP.