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Breaking News..ATOS quits contract
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Fit-to-work tests: Atos quits contract
Breaking news
Atos is to quit its contract to assess whether benefits claimants are fit to work, the government has announced.
The firm had previously said it would carry on with the assessments until a new company could be put in place........http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26766345
Breaking news
Atos is to quit its contract to assess whether benefits claimants are fit to work, the government has announced.
The firm had previously said it would carry on with the assessments until a new company could be put in place........http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26766345
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A public service organisation would not be allowed to quit and leave the system in the lurch
NHS Direct did exactly that with the NHS111 service - in 9 separate areas.
I'm not sure it is that clear cut, afaik WCA relates to ESA which is not wholly a sickness benefit and is also a benefit paid to the disabled who may be assessed through WCA.
Yeah, more the bad margins and bad publicity.
Those staff they're worried about will be TUPED across to whoever takes over and do the same job, facing the same threats
Also a classic example of why it's ill advised for ANY political party to announce it's intentions too early before an election,
Labour announced that they would freeze energy prices an announcement that 'generated' a huge amount of support and had the energy companies terrified and the Tories rattled,
Labour and it's supporters were immediately told that freezing energy prices was impossible and that it would lead to us all sitting in the dark within days and the collapse of civilisation as we know it soon after, Labour were making promises they 'knew they couldn't keep' and were just going for 'popular policies with no intentions of seeing them through because they knew full well that such a thing can't be done and it's an indication of how unfit they are to govern'
Fast forwards a few months and we have one energy supplier announcing a price freeze, (I expect others to follow) and an inquiry into price fixing by the energy companies,
Labour anounce it's intention to sack the unfit for purpose (and despised by the vast majority of genuine and decent people who have had the misfortune to have to deal with them) but defended by the Tories and the majority of their supporters, Atos,
and today Atos announce that they are 'doing a runner' before Labour have the chance to call them to book,
Seriously, is anyone who has dealt with them surprised that they a running away?
What's next I wonder? an announcement to scrap, or an inquiry into the spare room fine?
Labour should 'zip it' until the election campaign otherwise they will have nowt left as the Tories will continue to either steal, or pull the rug out from under every intention they announce.
WCA - Failed
UC - Failed
Etc
Agree 100%,. And 1 day after this report http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/atos-woman-killed-herself-after-3290378 And yesterday more shocking statistics emerged from the report, which had sought the views of 70 psychiatrists on how the assessments were affecting patients.
It revealed 13 per cent of the doctors had at least one patient who had attempted suicide as a result of the assessment process, while 35 per cent had patients admitted to hospital.
Some 96 per cent of psychiatrists said they had at least one patient who was distressed after an assessment, while 85 per cent said it had led to patients needing more frequent appointments, and 65 per cent had patients needing stronger medication.
Dr Donald Lyons, the commission’s chief executive, said the findings indicated the current assessment process was “flawed” and “unreliable”.
And totally failing to mention again in February the government stated the decline in its services was getting worse. ATOS Really do hate the "client" don't they. Death Threats to its staff my arse what about the people who have committed suicide after an encounter with those Muppets.
Was NHS Direct a genuine public sector organisation, or one of these quasi agency things that is held at arms length and who's staff aren't genuine public sector employees ?
I was thinking if staff had been employed directly by the Works & Pensions Dept, the scheme couldn't just have been dropped
Look at most disabled people.. chances are they will be claiming DLA yeah?
(Disability Living Allowance)
DLA is changing to PIP, with physical assessments to determine if a person is entitled.. just like with ESA
Who's doing the assessments? Atos
It's in the article
http://news.sky.com/story/1233019/atos-quits-fitness-to-work-tests-contract
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Atos will continue to deliver the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments in different regions of the UK and the Work Capability Assessments in Northern Ireland.
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Good luck with that one
If this was labour Mail/sun/Express would be screaming on Front page
"welfare meltdown, hardworking families paying for the mistakes in the DWP"
Because its this Government it barely gets a mention. IDS wanted so achieve so much
in 5 years it was never going to happen.
Universal Credit and Scrapping DLA for PIP. Add into the mix the complete balls up labour made of ESA, the only Recommendation of Lord Fraud's they took. Amazing what a low profile he is taking recently with everything going wrong isn't it. When the disabled lady confronted him some years ago saying the reforms were going to harm the weakest in society if done wrong and he assured her everything would be fine.
They knew two years ago ESA was in trouble the backlogs were forming and they just kept changing people over. Until they accept its simply unworkable to keep calling Genuinely long term Sick and disabled back over and over the same thing will happen again no matter who is running the system.