They say you can judge a society by the way it treats its weakest members.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/04/gp-atos-work-capability-assessment?commentpage=1
It’s getting beyond a joke. So many sad stories of genuinely ill people being told they are capable of work, atos haven’t got the foggiest.
Sorry posted 3 times for some reason.
when i went for my first atos appoinment i had to explain what ms was the supposed docter was a joke is if she didnt know what ms is when it effects so many people in the uk
These sort of stories break my heart.
I was sent the dreaded ESA form last year (to migrate from Incapacity Benefit onto ESA) and with the help of my local CAB I completed it and sent it back by 16th April last year. I waited and waited for the dreaded letter coming through the post inviting me for the ATOS Medical. Every time a brown envelope landed on the door mat my hart raced and my stress levels rose dramatically (my poor children!). It finally arrived in December but it was not an invitation for a medical it was to tell me that I had been placed in the SUPPORT GROUP of ESA!!! Now, I have to say I was relieved and delighted but I CANNOT help but feel guilty as I hear of and see so many people who are more disabled than I being told they can work! How is this? Why is it all so irregular in their assessments?
ATOS assessments seem to be so inconsistent. It’s wrong.
A happy face for me but a sad face and a confused face for al those not so fortunate.
Echo XXXX
I had a lump in my throat on reading this. The ATOS situation is inhumane and insane.
I wish things were better for people and I wonder how many more suicides there’ll be before someone listens?
K
xx
It is simply awful. I’m dreading getting the letter too, so much so that as soon as i hear the post being delivered, i start to feel physically sick and my heart starts pounding. I have no medical support from anyone, none of them believe me when i tell them how ill I feel, so i know I don’t have a hope in hells chance of being put in the support group. So I know that i will end up homeless and starving at some point, i wish it wasn’t like this. I wish there was someone who could speak up for us and make the government listen to us. Why should we be treated like crimminals when we have done nothing wrong? It isn’t our fault that we are ill and disabled, so why sould we be treated like it is? xxx
The thing is this lot dont even pretend to care. As far as they are concerned there are two groups - the undeserving poor and the undeserving poor. As far as I can see they have no empathy and little understanding of the realities of everyday life for so many.
Exactly, we’ve reverted to Victorian values of deserving and undeserving poor.
Unfortunately whilst our Victorian ancestors at least divided the poor into two groups, however hypocritically, this Bullingdon shower of sh&te see anyone ‘poor’ as undeserving by default.
And as is always done to marginalised groups, the poor, including those on benefits due to disability, are being targetted and portrayed as scroungers and a ‘threat’ to the good folk of the jolly olde UK…