Does ATOS losing contract mean.....
Stegan
Posts: 5,039 Forum Member
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Since the government are admitting there had been 'quality failures' with ATOS, does this mean that people assessed by ATOS and found not to have limited capability for work will now have possible grounds for either being re-assessed or that it will strengthen any appeals against WCA outcomes?
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I am surprised there has been an admission of "quality failures", as that has the potential to open up all sorts of legal issues for Atos and the DWP from people who believe they have been wrongly assessed, but still lost their appeal.
But then again, with the changes in the qualification rules for Legal Aid most of them wont be able to afford to take any action anyway.
sorry caps lock on.
Exactly. He must have dirt on someone higher up than him - it's the only rational explanation that such a complete failure can remain employed.
Very true for the most part, but Atos themselves have also failed claimants too. It was Atos that promised so many centres around the country, but opened much less than they promised. It was Atos that promised all centres would be accessible, and then leased many premises that were unsuitable for some disabled claimants to even get access to properly. It was Atos that promised they would hire fully qualified professionals, but then proceeded to have a lot of their assessments carried out by barely qualified staff with no experience of the disabilities they were supposed to be assessing.
But equally it was up to IDS and his department to make sure Atos carried out the assessments properly, stuck to their promises that won them the contract and ensure the assessments were carried out properly and fairly, and he and his department has yet again failed in that regard.
IDS blames everyone else for the failings of him and his department constantly, nothing is ever his or their fault.
And if they do lose a court case, or receive a ruling against them, he simply attempts to change the rules or even the law in his favour instead of doing the changes necessary to improve things.
The biggest failings with this process is simply that the issues involved are far more complex than can ever be covered by a simple tick box exercise and a points system, as almost every case is different.
Funnily enough there have been rumours around for a couple of years, even mentioned once or twice in the press, that he may have a hold over Cameron and/or others.
Of course those are just rumours, and I doubt we'll ever find out the truth but there is certainly something keeping him in the job. Other ministers have been sacked for far less.
ATOS have not lost any contracts !!
They want an early exit from their Work Capability Assessment contract, basically because they are so far behind.
They have been awarded the Contract for the new PIP Assessments, amongst other contract renewals that they have been given despite their record of complete failure with any government contracts they have held.
However, it is not just ATOS that are being critisized, the DWP who are overseen by our beloved Iain Duncan Smith has been quoted as "All their programmes are on the verge of meltdown" by Margaret Hodge the chairperson of the Commons Public Spending Watchdog.
Atos have also started to change the name of some of their other divisions, to distance themselves from the whole sorry mess of disability assessments and the bad publicity.
I would think they will continue as normal until a new company takes over, but we'll need to wait and see really.
But as long as Cameron and his Eton chums (and their friends in the media like the Daily Heil) continue to demonise everyone that they regard as sub-human scum that is not going to change.
I think that your starting problem is that you are assuing that the politians consider the unemployed/disabled/benefit claimants to be human - they don't. You have only got to look on youtube at various videos with politicians talking to people and they can't get away from them soon enough as if we smell or our povety might be catching. David Cameron stated in pm question time this week that he would not consider a mansion tax as people should not pay tax on their house, but he quite happily brought in the bedroom tax. A tax wherein in if I work I can have a 2 bed property but if unemployed I get charged extra rent? And why do people on benefits have to now pay council tax? When you are awarded benefit, you get a letter stating that this is the minimum amount that you can live on but in the last 2 years you now have to pay rent and council tax out of it. This is grand scale discrimination and there should be a case at the ECHR.
I wouldn't put it past him, he is a slimy little bastard and has arse-cheeked his way to where he is now.
Well said.
If anything, ATOS withdrew before they were forced to by the government. ATOS are partly responsible for the suicides of numerous people due to their so called 'medical assessments' and they have the sheer audacity to claim they are the injured party? You couldn't make it up.
But all of these people are lazy, lying, scrounging bastards so their deaths do not matter.
Atos are partly to blame, but the biggest blame goes to IDS and the DWP as they designed the WCA not atos, atos were only doing the test that the DWP disigned, its the test that is flawed, who ever takes over the contract will have the same problems. Atos do WCA for the private sector with no problems, because they use a differant test
That sounds like a direct quote from Ian Duncan Smith or David Cameron.
Absolutely. ATOS, IDS and the DWP in collusion. The problem they are having is that a high proportion of WCA decisions are being overturned on appeal. This is proving that the process is badly flawed, hence the exit of ATOS.
Unless the WCA changes nothing else does in real terms, For now, Atos will continue to carry out the WCA on behalf of the government until the new provider is in place. This will probably take 6-12 months. Employment law means the staff currently working for Atos will be transferred to the new provider, most likely to be Capita, G4S or Serco as only very big companies are able to manage these contracts nationally. So it will be the same people asking the same assessment questions as before, but they will work for a different company.
It's what they really believe in private. >:(