ATOS

[spanners]

finally had my assesment on friday 27th, the doc found even more things wrong with me  just got to wait n, see what the officeal reports says now.

the whole set up is a feckin mess i had 4 appointments before i acctually got to see the doctor,,

[oldmetalhead82]

WHAT A CROCK OF SH1T,  you can probably tell that i lost my appeal, but it really is what i said. After 25mins of being asked about my medical conditions, it all boiled down to, "you can walk above a certain distance so you are fit for work! It doesent seem to matter that  i have constant pain in my knees/legs/feet and fingers, and the more i use them the pain increaces , plus 2 other conditions that make life difficult for me. Its the same reason for refusall as when i applied for DLA, do they all use the same bloody reference book.



Oh well should have expected this crap i suppose.
Best of luck Mike.

[Plasticpig]

Sorry to hear that.

I really don't know what to say, other than that they have the cards stacked against disabled people from the start.

[oldmetalhead82]

No i did'nt know what to say either, i was gutted and left in silence after they told me their decision.

[kapri]

Sorry to hear that .As I posted earlier it is the 'mobility' criteria  that they use to get you back to work. If you can park yourself dribbling at a work station in your MANUAL wheelchair then you are 'fit to work'.  Simply criminal    If I took the painkillers I need to be able to sit in a wheelchair all day I'd certainly be dribbling , though that doesn't matter ,it is the getting to that work station by yourself is all that matters .


I have a very long and boring health history and have recently discovered it's down to a disease I have had since birth that no one ever picked up on. Long list of ailments to go with it but it looks like it was probably my shagged left wrist ( bone necrosis )that got me on the support group not that I'm capable of full time work due to the other problems (just  like yourself).

[oldmetalhead82]

Still feeling hacked off about this, i just can't get my head around the fact that they can say someone is fit to work because they can walk a short distance, especially when the person (as in my case) has to use a walking stick and stop for a rest quite often, and to boot they ignore all the other ailments that person suffers with, no wonder there have been suicides!

[Plasticpig]

Apparently there have been people with cancer, and only a few months to live, who have been told to find work.

Would'nt it be great if they could find work for all the people who they think are fit enough to find employment, let alone the ones who are desperate for a job and cannot get one because there is nothing about, or if there is, some illegal is doing it for £2.50 an hour. Then there are all the lazy tw*ts who cant even be bothered.

Why pick on the folks who are the worst off?

[poprodder]

Why pick on the folks who are the worst off?

because thats how this government works.

[kapri]

Apparently there have been people with cancer, and only a few months to live, who have been told to find work.

Would'nt it be great if they could find work for all the people who they think are fit enough to find employment, let alone the ones who are desperate for a job and cannot get one because there is nothing about, or if there is, some illegal is doing it for £2.50 an hour. Then there are all the lazy tw*ts who cant even be bothered.

Why pick on the folks who are the worst off?

That ID true, along with peopel with Parkinsons ,MS etc all because they don't get enough points due to this wheelchair use crap.

I'd have had far more respect for teh Governemnt if they'd have simply  said " Yup, we know you're ill but we simply can't afford it anymore so we are cutting your benefits " ,not that it's right but at least more truthful.. I simply hate the way that they have demonised the disabled to get public opinion behind them.

Most now believe that evryone on Disability are disco-dancing skivvers with a spare house in Spain paid for by 'their taxes'.

I'd swap my benefits for my health back anyday.

[tbone]

Most now believe that evryone on Disability are disco-dancing skivvers with a spare house in Spain paid for by 'their taxes'

Of which there are many! But not all. I could show you 4 or 5 within a few hundred yards of where I live.
Unfortunately, as with most things in life,  in order to catch the guilty, some innocents will suffer.
If people were to 'out' these sherkers instead of admire them, more help could be given to those that genuinely require it.
Personally I believe that all benefits should be subject to sricter control, yes, I know not all will agree with me.

[morrag]

Well, I certainly support that view, Mr. T as then maybe the genuine disabled could enjoy a better lifestyle and income, a "knee jerk" reaction it might be, but to see a young woman in a tracksuit, running from her parked car with a disabled sticker on it,as we have all witnessed, I'm sure, or at least the equivalent off, does nowt for the sympathy vote, really!I know only too well the dangers of "out of context" votes and opinions, however that's how the world at large tend to see things! sad but true...........but, I hope things work out, Morrag

[oldmetalhead82]

I'd swap my benefits for my health back anyday.

Me too Mr Kapri, me too.

[Plasticpig]

When I wrote the above I was hoping that you blokes that are hurting didnt think I was spouting off. I don't have much wrong with me apart from shagged knees, but have been through all this with my mrs, who has had to go to two of these tribunals in the last ten years.

It has made me so angry to see what she, and others have been going through. And what is worse is that it all boils down to money in the end.
The government is paying some frog firm (atos) 180 million a year to provide these assessments, and then it has cost more to pay back what is owed after appeal.

[nabsim]

ATOS isn't just about if you are fit to work or not though is it. I was awarded Mobility allowance for life back in 78 after losing a leg, smashing pelvis and a few other things. I was back at work 11 months after the accident and apart from almost 4 years when I was made redundant in 2000 and put myself in education on my credit card (big mistake) have always worked.

Some time back Mobility got lumped into DLA which I still got and in fact after they sent me a questionnaire a couple of years back they actually gave me a bit more on top (care component?). This will now change into PIP and I will have to attend the same ATOS thing at some point in the next couple of years.

I was originally awarded Mobility allowance to either get a car or put towards transport costs and to put me on a level footing as able bodied folk. It was Mobility that has allowed me to keep working since my accident.

So you see it isn't going to have much effect on the so called scroungers from what I have seen so far. They are smart and/or hard faced enough to con the people doing the interviews and still get their money.

I also agree that there are too many people getting benefits they aren't entitled to but it is those people that should have it stopped not the ones who need it. Unfortunately that is unlikely to happen.

This isn't a rant for any particular viewpoint, just putting across another side that I don't think has been mentioned

[Plasticpig]

Nabs.

I do agree that there should be a test to sort out those who are faking, but  it should be a fair, un-biased one which takes into account peoples medically proven disabilities, instead of ignoring them which they do now.

Last year I read that only 0.5 % of people claiming are actually faking. Can they say that about bankers and MP's?