Atos medicals.....

[Quixotic]

Hey everyone, just to leave a link with you guys of something I didn't know and just found, apparently ATOS send a mini questionnaire to your doctor before you go to the assessment, not sure if it's already posted on here about it but I didn't know of this and to be honest, I wish I did because I don't feel personally that my doctor would be able to answer this questionnare in depth because doctors that i've seen are very un-interested in details, they generally just want to see the medical side and give the medication then throw you out the door, so make sure if you're going to for an ATOS assessment that your doctor knows fully how things are for you on a daily basis, especially for the questions asked in that questionnare.

 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/esa113-interactive.pdf

[Quixotic]

Not sure why I put medicals as the headline when it's really far from it...

 

Also i'm not sure if it's atos or dwp that send one, I just came across it and thought oh! that's ...something I didn't know! please feel free to delete though if it's not true, I do think it's important for doctors to know in detail how your illness affects your everyday life though, just incase you need to go through the appeals process.

[24233513afw]

Watching with great interest, would be great if somebody could confirm if above posting #1 is true or not.

Cheers

AFW

[RaeUK]

I can only give my own personal experience which may not be representative. I've claimed ESA twice in succession and am waiting for my second tribunal date. To my knowledge my GP hasn't had one of these forms either time. She's very conversant with my capabilities and also the problems I'm having claiming ESA. We have discussed at length the lack of DWP/ATOS communication with GP's and their apparent disdain for a GP to actually know the capabilities of their patients. Neither has a copy been included in either DWP 'tribunal pack' of documents.

Rae.

[SueP1944]

Isn't this the ESA113 form? From what I know and have had letters from the DWP about this with regards to my husband's problems, they very rarely send these out.

I wanted to know why my husband didn't have one sent out. I was told that the ATOS assessment is more reliable than what a GP could say!

 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/esa113-interactive.pdf

[ErikaPNP]

Watching with great interest, would be great if somebody could confirm if above posting #1 is true or not.

Cheers

AFW

 

Yes, it's true. And yes, that is the very form which is issued to the GP.

[nolegion]

Anybody know what the ‘trigger point’ in the ‘system’ is to get this ‘form 113’ sent out?

 

I went through miseries for months on behalf of my suddenly and severely incapacitated sister last year, and it appears that this form was the turning point in getting things properly attended to.

 

A grim farce all the same. The GP didn’t know how to answer the handful of questions because she hadn’t seen my sister for a long time (hospitalised). So the GP rang me (next of kin) and I told her what Atos had been ignoring from me directly; the GP filled in the form, more or less verbatim a la nolegion, and Atos stopped corresponding with my sister’s doormat requiring attendance at medicals which, my sister, alas, will never be, remotely, well enough ever to attend.

 

Months of insulting misery all the same , and I would much like to know how to advise others to get to this conclusion quicker.

[SueP1944]

Anybody know what the ‘trigger point’ in the ‘system’ is to get this ‘form 113’ sent out?

 

I went through miseries for months on behalf of my suddenly and severely incapacitated sister last year, and it appears that this form was the turning point in getting things properly attended to.

 

A grim farce all the same. The GP didn’t know how to answer the handful of questions because she hadn’t seen my sister for a long time (hospitalised). So the GP rang me (next of kin) and I told her what Atos had been ignoring from me directly; the GP filled in the form, more or less verbatim a la nolegion, and Atos stopped corresponding with my sister’s doormat requiring attendance at medicals which, my sister, alas, will never be, remotely, well enough ever to attend.

 

Months of insulting misery all the same , and I would much like to know how to advise others to get to this conclusion quicker.

 

What you are told and what actually happens is generally miles apart. The ESA113 is supposed to be sent out when the Decision Maker is looking to allow ESA based only on the ESA50, but needs a little more confirmatory evidence.

Whether that happens is another matter. The DWP readilly admit that they would prefer an ATOS report over a GP report any day.

 

I have noticed that the ESA113 has now been changed to reflect the new descriptors that came into force in March this year. The old style ESA113, was more condition and illness related. The new one is asking the GP to comment more on the patients ability to perform the various tasks. How the GP will know that is another matter.

I see this as a very subtle way of getting the GP to look at your inability to do any work especially when the MED3 (sick note) is completed. It is asking the GP to view his/her patient through similar eyes that ATOS do. This I presume is suggesting that the GP take more care when issuing MED3's out in future, and not issue them willy nilly for everyone that has a bad back, a headache, a strained muscle and of the course a bout of flu!

[nolegion]

I follow that, SueP1994, and many thanks for your clear and helpful comments.

 

I don’t want to clutter a thread, to which others may have focused contributions to make as well, by further expressing here much more of my fury at how my sister and her family were treated about this; but I think it fair to conclude that from the state one should mostly expect contempt for the seriously ill. Fight on.

[Quixotic]

I'll ask my doctor next time I have to go if one was requested for me. I'm still waiting on my decision after going to the assessment lastweek..