Can you tell me how long it takes from submitting an ESA50 to being called up by ATOS?

I sent the ESA50 form in 6 weeks ago and haven’t been called up yet. How long do they make you wait? What are they doing in the meantime? Pat

they are making you stress as much as possible hoping you will turn around and come off esa, thats why they do it, they took about 5 weeks before they put me out my misery for the torture that is the assessment

haha thanks, im still waiting for the dreaded forest to come thumping through my door to wait and see if they send me for yet another assessment, the last assessment was on the first week of january this year, ithink they think im gona get cured or stop claiming esa, if they dump me in the wrag group again im appealing, even the job club place told me theres nothing they can do to help me and that i should be on the support group anyway not the wrag group

Can hear you worry and stress through your post Pat. This assessment process is awful. Why can’t they see what this stress does to us and how much worse it makes us. Really hope it works out, if they do the right thing for you hun it will.

Good luck x

It took around 3 months for them to contact me, and then they put me in the work related category! This was not due to my new symptoms though, so take heart. This was due to two failed back surgeries, which left me in constant pain, unable to function a lot of the time, numb legs, left leg pain.etc etc… On the plus side, because I was supposed to have been seen in the September, and your money does go up by almost £30 per week after you go to atos, I got £577 in back pay, which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately, I am not in the means tested category, I am in the contributions based, so my money stops in June. This again is a worry, because with the new symptoms which are being currently diagnosed as MS, I am suffering with either my back or fatigue and vertigo one after the other resulting in my quality of life stopping me getting out to work. I would live a little job, but my inconsistency of health and well being, means I am unemployable at the moment. The atos interview is just a matter of course and a complete waste of time, but I will keep my fingers crossed that they see you need to go into ill health related category. Sam x

Explanatory notes for General Practitioners
ESA Regulations 29 and 35 ~ Exceptional Circumstances
Regulation 29 (if found ‘fit for work’)
(1) A claimant who does not have limited capability for work as determined in accordance with the limited capability for work assessment is to be treated as having limited capability for work if paragraph (2) applies to the claimant.
(2) This paragraph applies if -
(a) the claimant is suffering from a life threatening disease in relation to which -
(i) there is medical evidence that the disease is uncontrollable, or uncontrolled, by a recognised therapeutic procedure; and
(ii) in the case of a disease that is uncontrolled, there is a reasonable cause for it not to be controlled by a recognised therapeutic procedure;
or (b) the claimant suffers from some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement and, by reasons of such disease or disablement, there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person if the claimant were found not to have limited capability for work.

Regulation 35
Claimants to be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity (WRAG)
(1) A claimant is to be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity if -
(a) the claimant is terminally ill;
(b) the claimant is -
(i) receiving treatment by way of intravenous, intraperitoneal or intrathecal chemotherapy; or
(ii) recovering from that treatment and the Secretary of State is satisfied that the claimant should be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity; or
(c) in the case of a woman, she is pregnant and there is a serious risk of damage to her health or to the health of her unborn child if she does not refrain from work-related activity.
Or - (2) A claimant who does not have limited capability for work-related activity as determined in accordance with regulation 34(1) is to be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity if -
(a) the claimant suffers from some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement; and
(b) by reasons of such disease or disablement, there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person if the claimant were found not to have limited capability for work-related activity.

Legal advice on interpretation of the regulations
The Black Triangle Campaign has consulted with Senior Counsel regarding the statutory interpretation of these regulations.
“Substantial” or “Serious” Risk
Regulation 29 (2) (b) and Regulation 35 (2) (a) & (b)
These terms both apply to the word ‘risk’ and not to a patient’s ‘disease’ or ‘disablement’ (illness/es or impairment/s).
Therefore, the question before the General Practitioner is:
“If, as a result of the DWP/Atos Work Capability Assessment, your patient was found either ‘fit for work’ or to possess ‘limited capability for work’ (and placed in the Work-Related Activity Group) is it more likely than not that harm would result?”

Counsel has advised the exemptions must be applied to all cases where harm is likely.
Counsel further explained that, as the first duty of any doctor is to “do no harm”, in relation to any question regarding whether or not the ‘harm’ caused would be sufficiently ‘serious’ - all that is required of the doctor is to make a simple clinical judgment as to whether or not harm would occur.
To recap: Any harm is itself sufficiently ‘serious’ or ‘substantial’ to warrant applying Regulations 29 or 35 in the correct statutory interpretation of this law because both words apply only to the word ‘risk’ and not to ‘harm’.
With regard to the degree of harm, it need only be “more likely than not” that harm to the patient would result from being found either ‘fit for work’ or having ‘limited capability for work’ (WRAG).

Hope this info will be useful for others to be aware if your GP will substantiate your medical concerns then an ATOS Assessment will be unnecessary.

Hi pat, My GP was contacted and sent in a report. Sam xxx

Hi Pat If you can get your GP to send a letter to DWP then the ESA 50 form is irrelevent and need not be completed. On facebook there is a group called Black triangle disability campaign who have created a template letter that you can give to your GP which explains to them exactly what they need to do as well. I wish I had found this info prior to having to go through the appeal and asessment process. If more people were aware of this it would save a lot of stress and anxiety. Best Wishes Deb

So there are people who have not had to complete the ESA 50? I would imagine it would take a conscientious GP to supply the report though.