What you need to know about Atos assessments

Courageous Scottish nurse Joyce Drummond, who made a heartfelt apology to Atos assessment victims, has submitted evidence to the Scottish Parliament Select Committee on Welfare Reform.

Joyce forwarded some of her notes to me, containing this information about Atos assessments. I have edited where needed, organised the notes and added some information to the text. I’ve included the contents from Joyce’s notes in full.

“I knew nothing about Atos when I joined, and left as soon as I realised that there was no way to fight from the inside. I carried out Incapacity Benefit assessments, these were the forerunner to Employment Support Allowance  (ESA) assessments. I stated at my interview for the job that I believed in social inclusion and social justice.

I went for 4 weeks training in England. The training did not prepare me for what I was expected to do in real life.

The forms that are completed prior to assessment, I have recently found out, are  opened by Royal Mail Staff. They are then sent for “scrutiny” where nurses decide whether or not a face to face assessment is required. I was not involved in this and do not know what criteria are used.  

 It is made clear throughout training and working that we are not nurses- we are disability analysts. Also, we do not carry out ‘medical assessments’ – we carry out ‘functional assessments’. We did not even need a diagnosis to carry out assessments. I had reservations around consent, as we were expected to assess patients – sorry, we didn’t have patients, we had ‘claimants’ - who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or other substances. 

We were also consistently told that we did not make benefit decisions. The final decision was made by a DWP decision maker with no medical qualification. If our assessment was overturned at appeal we never knew about it. There was no accountability for assessments overruled.”

Assessment starts on the day of your appointment with the Health Care Professional (HCP) reading the form you completed when you applied for benefit. Remember that every single question you are asked is designed to justify ending your claim for ESA and passing you as “fit for work”. That is what Atos are contracted to do by the Government.This is not a genuine assessment, but rather, an opportunity for the DWP to take away the financial support that you are entitled to.

Things that are noted at this stage are:

• Did you complete the form yourself
• Is the handwriting legible
• Are the contents coherent

These observations are already used in assessing your hand function, your cognitive state and concentration.

Further observations made:

• Do the things you have written add up
• Does your medication support your diagnosis
• What tests you have had to confirm diagnosis. For example a diagnosis of sciatica is not accepted unless diagnosed by MRI scan
• Do you have supporting medical evidence from your GP or consultants. If you do, it shows that you are able to organise getting this information

“This is also a hidden cost to the NHS. I believe that if ATOS request information there is a charge levied by GP’s. However claimants are expected to source medical evidence themselves. It uses valuable NHS time for medical staff to write supporting statements. 

There were no hidden cameras, at least in Glasgow, to watch people arriving for assessment or sitting in waiting room. This may not be true in other areas.”

When the HCP has read your form they input some data into the computer system. The assessment properly begins when they call your name in the waiting room.

At this point the HCP assesses:

• Did you hear your name being called
• Did you rise from your chair unaided, did the chair have arms or not
• Were you accompanied – assessing your ability to go out alone
• Were you reading a paper while waiting – assessing your concentration
• Did you walk to the assessment room unaided, did you use any aids correctly. Did you navigate any obstacles safely – assessing sight

The HCP will shake your hand on introduction – assessing your handshake, noting if are you trembling, sweating – signs of anxiety. The HCP carefully scrutinises everything you do and say. The HCP will often ask on way to waiting room:

• How long you’ve been waiting – assessing ability to sit, physically, and appraising your mental state
• How did you get here today – assessing ability to drive or use public transport

Formal assessment begins by listing medical conditions/complaints. For each complaint you will be asked:

• How long have you had it, have you seen a specialist
• Have you had any tests, what treatments have you had
• What’s your current treatment. Have you had any other specialist input e.g. physiotherapy, CPN

The HCP will use lack of specialist input/ hospital admissions to justify assessing your condition as less severe. Medications will be listed and it will be noted if they prescribed or bought. Dates will be checked on boxes to assess compliance with dosage and treatment regime. Any allergies or side-effects should be noted.

• A brief note is made of how you feel each condition affects your life
• A brief social history will be taken – who you live with, if have you stairs in your house or steps outside your house
• Employment history taken – asking when you last worked, what you work entailed, reason for leaving employment

Your typical Day – this is the part of the assessment where how you function on a day to day basis is used to justify the HCP decisions. Anything you say here is what is most likely to be used to justify you failing your assessment and being passed as “fit for work”. Along side this, the HCP records their observations.

Starting with your sleep pattern, questions are asked around your ability to function. This will include:

• Lower limb problems – ability to mobilise to shops, around the house, drive, use public transport, dress, shower
• Upper limb – ability to wash, dress, cook, shop, complete ESA form
• Vision – did you manage to navigate safely to assessment room
• Hearing – did you hear your name being called in waiting room
• Speech – could the HCP understand you at assessment
• Continence – do you describe incontinence NOT CONTROLLED by pads, medication. Do you mention its effects on your life when describing your typical day
• Consciousness – Do you suffer seizures – with loss of continence, possible injury, witnessed, or uncontrolled diabetes
• HCP observations include – how far did you walk to examination room, did you remove your coat independently, did you handle medications without difficulty, did you bend to pick up your handbag

Formal examination consists of simple movements to assess limited function. Things the HCP also looks at:

• Are you well presented, hair done, wearing make-up, eyebrows waxed
• Do you have any pets – this can be linked with ability to bend to feed and walk
• Do you look after someone else – as a parent or carer- if you do, this will be taken as evidence of functioning
• Any training, voluntary work, socialising – this will be used as evidence of functioning

This is not a comprehensive list, but it gives you an idea of how seemingly innocent questions are used to justify HCP decisions to pass you as “fit for work.”

Mental Health:

• Learning tasks – Can you use a phone, computer, washing machine
• Hazards – Can you safely make tea, if claiming accident, there must have been some emergency services involvement, e.g. fire service. Near miss accidents do not count

Personal Actions:

• Can you wash, dress, gather evidence for assessment
• Do you manage bills

Further observations made by the HCP – appearance and presentation:

• Coping with assessment interview – any abnormal thoughts, hallucinations, confusion
• Coping with change – ability to attend assessment, attend GP or hospital appointments, shopping and socialising

More HCP observations:

• Appearance, eye contact, rapport, any signs/symptoms that are abnormal mood/thoughts/perceptions. Any suicidal thoughts
• Coping with social engagement/appropriateness of behaviour – any inappropriate behaviour must have involved police to be considered significant
• Ability to attend assessment, engage with assessor, behave appropriately

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, merely some examples.

Further information: 

At present to qualify for ESA you need to score 15 points, unless the Exceptional Circumstances Regulations apply to you. The 15 points can be a combination of scores from physical and mental health descriptors.

To qualify for the Support Group you must score 15 points in one section. As long as you are claiming income-based ESA then your award can be renewed at each assessment, if you gain 15 points.

You may also qualify without meeting the 15 points criterion, even if you don’t score any points, because of Exceptional Circumstances (Regulation 25 and Regulation 31 – see link at the foot of article) if there would be a substantial risk to your mental or physical health if you were found not to have limited capability for work. Regulation 25 is about exceptional circumstances for being assessed as having limited capability for work (WRAG) , and Regulation 31 is about  being assessed as having limited capability for work-related activity (Support Group).

Special cases – exemptions from assessment include those people having: terminal illness, intravenous chemotherapy treatment and danger to self or others if found fit to work.

Contribution-based ESA lasts for 1 year only, unless you are in the support group. After 1 year in the work-related activity group, you may only get income-based ESA if your household income is below a certain threshold. It makes no difference how long you have previously paid National Insurance.

“For clarity, as far as I know in the real world, doctors carry out medical assessments, nurses carry out nursing assessments and physios carry out physiotherapy assessments. In the world of Atos, each of these separate professions are employed as disability analysts, carrying out functional assessments.

Nurses are employable for these posts if they have been qualified for at least 3 years, are registered to practice with the NMC, and have basic computer skills.
My interview consisted of-

• Face to face interview with medical director and nurse team leader.
• A written paper assessing a scenario, in my case someone with back pain
• A 10 minute basic computer test