Does anyone care how they make us feel?

[tinafromeast]

On ESA since November. Medical last month. On Thursday I received the expected phone call telling me I had 'failed' the medical. It was a very pleasant guy who told me and admitted that most of his phone calls were to tell people that their money would be stopped. I felt sorry for him, but still quite optimistic and asked him to send me an appeal form.

 

Today the decision papers arrived. seeing in black and white that I'd scored '0' points has really hit me hard:|. The day I had my medical I was having a very bad day both physically and mentally, yet I'm apparently 100% fit.

 

I'm being tested for MS at the moment, as I have chronic pain. I also have had depression and anxiety for years. I worked in a job that I hated, that became increasingly difficult to do, for 9 years. Just after I left this job my marriage ended. I was not well enough to claim JSA.

 

So, back to my title. Do these decision makers and doctors carrying out the medical, ever consider the impact that these letters have? I'm feeling like a pathetic, lying, loser today.

 

Hope you don't mind me ranting. I'm not angry, just sad.

 

The sun is out, so I shall drag my miserable self and aching body outside.

 

Thanks for reading and I wish all of us going through this crap at the moment, some peace of mind x

[Nystagmite]

All they care about is saving as much money as possible. By the time you count the cost (money & time) of tribunals, etc. they're not really saving money.

[jadeybags]

All they care about is saving as much money as possible. By the time you count the cost (money & time) of tribunals, etc. they're not really saving money.

 

^ this

 

You rant as much as you like Tina. The world sucks at the moment, big time doesn't it. I hope things change for you soon for the better xx

[sj01]

I hope you find the strength to carry on and appeal the decision.

My medical was a complete farce too.

When I got the results I actually thought they had sent some one elses report by mistake as it differed so much from the actual facts.

Gather as much medical info from your doctors as possible and go to tribunal.

The DWP actually wrote to my GP and told them I had been found fit for work so not to give any more sick notes, lucky for me my doctor was on my side.

He was the one who knew my condition, not an Atos doctor who only saw me for 15 minutes.

Appeal quickly because then you get the benefit money and housing benefit reinstated.

Good Luck.

[ErikaPNP]

Do they care? I suppose that depends on the type of person. In my dealings, I've come across a few DM's who seem totally blase to it and who give me the impression that the claimant is just another number from a pile of cases to clear. They make no effort to explain anything, have to be prodded to do it and who reluctantly sigh "We'll send out an appeal pack". Then again I've come across a few DM's who will go to great lengths to explain the decision and the appeals process to claimants, who actively encourage the claimant to appeal with further evidence, who really seem to care and realise that this isn't just a "case" on their desk, it's a person.

[tinafromeast]

Thanks for all of your replies x

I've left it until tomorrow now, hoping I'll wake up ready for a fight:|

[ErikaPNP]

It's very disheartening when you get the letter. Sleep on it, then in the morning, have a look at Honeybee's tribunal stickly, and get ready to get that appeal in!

[ptol]

Chin up, you are nearly there. Remember the ATOS assessment, if applied to a partly decomposed corpse would score 0 points as well, and you still have a pulse

 

put your appeal in, and then, whilst waiting for your appeal, (that you will attend in person won't you) consider lobbying your MP to ask ATOS on your behalf for them to issue you your euthanasia kit. see this thread for details Don't worry, I'm sure you won't actually get the kit, never mind actually use it, but it will help get the point across to the people that make the decisions in parliament.

 

kind regards

[tinafromeast]

Thanks again everyone, don't feel so alone over this now. And 'ptol'........first time I've laughed today

[Yet_Another_Atos_Victim]

There's an online petition to Sack Atos at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/...ealthcare.html which you are welcome to sign and tell your friends about

 

Best Wishes, Yet_Another_Atos_Victim

[antone]

 

So, back to my title. Do these decision makers and doctors carrying out the medical, ever consider the impact that these letters have? I'm feeling like a pathetic, lying, loser today.

 

 

I wasn't a DM or a doctor, just an ESA processor, but Erika has it more or less right. Informing people that they had failed medicals (or that there was some other problem with their claim) was the least enjoyable part of the job; a job that, for the most part, I enjoyed doing and was good at. Some DMs are more apt to consider the customers as people, others seem to have developed a feeling that so much illness, distress and abject misery crosses their desk on a daily basis that the only way to deal with it is to become hardened and indifferent. That attitude saddens me, though I suppose it may be some sort of defence mechanism. And equally, some of them are possibly just bad people - most workplaces have a smattering of employees who are crass, insensitive and indifferent by nature.

 

It is a difficult job to do in its way. Not technically - I would say that most reasonably intelligent people who are somewhat analytical in nature would be capable of doing it. It's difficult because, for me at least, it involved juggling compassion for individuals against consideration for the interests of taxpayers who are, after all, funding the whole thing and are not being unreasonable in expecting us to protect them from shysters and crooks. Processors and DMs therefore have this dual responsibility. Don't get me wrong: I didn't see all that much blatant fraud and I had the sense that most customers were genuine, but fraud certainly exists and it's not all of the type that makes newspaper headlines.

 

So the basic answer to the question is that some do consider the impact on customers, some seem to take pleasure in denying claims, and plenty simply read the guidance and apply the law to every claim without really considering the effects of that law to be their problem. They have their own rent to pay, their own families to feed and, in many cases, not much more disposable income than customers. I tried to be the first type; others would need to judge how well I succeeded.

[tinafromeast]

I wasn't a DM or a doctor, just an ESA processor, but Erika has it more or less right. Informing people that they had failed medicals (or that there was some other problem with their claim) was the least enjoyable part of the job; a job that, for the most part, I enjoyed doing and was good at. Some DMs are more apt to consider the customers as people, others seem to have developed a feeling that so much illness, distress and abject misery crosses their desk on a daily basis that the only way to deal with it is to become hardened and indifferent. That attitude saddens me, though I suppose it may be some sort of defence mechanism. And equally, some of them are possibly just bad people - most workplaces have a smattering of employees who are crass, insensitive and indifferent by nature.

 

It is a difficult job to do in its way. Not technically - I would say that most reasonably intelligent people who are somewhat analytical in nature would be capable of doing it. It's difficult because, for me at least, it involved juggling compassion for individuals against consideration for the interests of taxpayers who are, after all, funding the whole thing and are not being unreasonable in expecting us to protect them from shysters and crooks. Processors and DMs therefore have this dual responsibility. Don't get me wrong: I didn't see all that much blatant fraud and I had the sense that most customers were genuine, but fraud certainly exists and it's not all of the type that makes newspaper headlines.

 

So the basic answer to the question is that some do consider the impact on customers, some seem to take pleasure in denying claims, and plenty simply read the guidance and apply the law to every claim without really considering the effects of that law to be their problem. They have their own rent to pay, their own families to feed and, in many cases, not much more disposable income than customers. I tried to be the first type; others would need to judge how well I succeeded.

 

Well I was lucky with the gentleman on the telephone who rang to tell me my ESA had been stopped. He was lovely.

 

I was really referring to the people that can read an ESA form spelling out how physical pain is with me 24 hours a day, then examine me and see this is true. Look into my eyes and see the mental pain too & still reccommend that I score '0' points.

 

Glad that you were "the first type":-)

 

Take care

Tina