"Reasonable Adjustments' Equality Act

mommaduck wrote: Hi, I am posting this on behalf of my mum, mommaduck to ask for further advice as she is quite poorly at the mo and tagging it on to her previous post. She is staying with me at the moment.

She has just received an appointment for a home assessment with Atos although she has not reqested one. Is this normal?

The issue is that on top of all her existing health issues and disabilities, three weeks ago she suffered a heart attack and underwent emergency surgery and was discharged to my home a week later. I am her younger daughter. My older sister is her main carer but has broken her leg so cannot drive to help mum at the moment. We are in a pickle!

Five days after mum came home, she suffered a second heart attack and after a further week in hospital she is now back with me until she is well enough to cope with help at home. Unfortunately I work full time.

Her appointment with Atos is in a weeks time and after tel dwp they say that mum has to be in her own home for the assessment.

This means that I will have to take mum home that morning and leave her comfortable in her bedroom with drinks and prepared lunch, as I do have to go into work. I will pick her back up after work.

Under normal circumstances my sister would be with her but because of her broken leg, this is not possible so mum will be alone for the assessment although my brother will pop in for an hour during the afternoon which may ir may not coincided with the assessment. It is my understanding that they turn up at any time or even not at all.

Mum doesn't mind that she will be alone, but I am worried that she won't be able to cope with a lengthy assessment and not be able to answer fully or be allowed to. On top of everything else, she does have memory problems and can,t answer quickly. I am worried that she may be intimidated or bullied by an unsympathetic assessor, if you see where I am coming from.

I suppose what I am really asking is, is it to any great disadvantage that she does not have a witness? I have taken the last of my holidays to care for her and I cannot take any more time from work without risking my job.

I appreciate any advice you may be able to give. Thanks, Vix

Hi V,

I am really sorry to hear about your Mum !!!

I did notice that she hadn't posted for a while, as she had been a regular contributor to the forum !!

Currently nearly all PIP Claimants are having to go through a face to face assessment, but generally ATOS are most reluctant to carry them out in a claimant's home due to the extra costs involved.

So the fact that they are carrying out a Home Assessment may be a positive in that they have accepted that Mum could not make the return trip to an Assessment Centre.

As it is ATOS that deal with all issue pertaining to the "Medical" assessment side of the PIP assessment process, it is ATOS that you need to contact.

Contact ATOS PIP (Top right of page)

You are allowed to re-arrange a face to face appointment once, so if this is her first appointment, there should be no problem doing that.

You are also entitled to at least 7 days notice for a new appointment confirmed in writing, and as far as I am aware ATOS can make appointments for up to 3 weeks ahead.

I have heard of the Assessment Providers carrying out assessments at "3rd Party Premises" and cannot really see why they would not be able to carry out any rearranged assessment in your home or that of another family member.

I might have posted the the information below previously for your Mum, but in case I didn't see the following:

You can read what to expect from around Page 69 of our : PIP Claims Guide. (2nd Link down the page)

The following may help further :

An insight into how the PIP Assessor fills in The PA4 Medical Report : Here.

The latest version of : The PIP Assessment Guide which was updated on 28th July 2015.

You can choose the room that it is to take place in, and the Assessor should not need to see any other rooms.

You can of course point them towards any aids/adaptations that you use, if you wish.

If the person that you speak to at ATOS is uncooperative, ask for an escalation to a Manager/Supervisor as a complaint, and if they are still being awkward, contact Mum's M.P. :

Contacting your MP

If you click on : This Link it will show you a list of all Mum's previous posts.

Please pass on my best wishes to her for a speedy recovery and please keep us updated by replying to this topic !!

Good luck !!

bro58

Hi V,

I missed this right at the end of your post :

"I suppose what I am really asking is, is it to any great disadvantage that she does not have a witness? "

Only with respect to you not being able to take notes and provide input as to Mum's situation.

Having someone present can give the Assessor more of an incentive to carry out the assessment in a professional manner.

Many members do have their assessments alone, and you will have to weigh up the pros and cons of you being present.

You can arrange to audio record the assessment but you would have to agree this with ATOS before hand and they sometimes allow the use of two cassette tape Dictaphones recording simultaneously where one tape is given to the Assessor at the end of the assessment.

See further information on this : Here

bro58

I can only say I am sorry to hear you are in this 'pickle' as you put it.
My assessment with an ATOS HCP at home went well and she was kind, polite,thorough and in no way bullied or talked over me in any way.

Honestly, if you treat them with respect,and show how ones problems, affect you and with the forms completed thoroughly that they have read b4 seeing one, all should be well.

I know some clients are on their guard so to speak b4 the assessor, and that can only rankle with both sides, calmness and politeness will work its magic and if you are all telling the truth quietly and calmly then there is no need to have ones hackles up. Easier said then done tho, I do understand.

Altho, it would be better if your mum had someone there with her, be it a friend or a paid carer in the room, just to make your mum feel safe, then that is a great back up.
The later option may well be the best if you are unable to take time off from work, altho by law your employer should allow you time off with pay for an immediate member of the family having a crisis, like this is.
Do not let your employer fob you of with rubbish and threaten you cos that is against the employment law.
Get to know your facts and where you stand both for yourself and your mum.
Good luck

I'm sorry to hear that Mommaduck has been so poorly Please pass on my best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

Dear all and mods.

Thank you for your good wishes during a rather difficult time, health wise for me. I am now starting to feel more like my old self.

Just an update regarding my Atos assessment 2 months ago.

The Atos lady arrived within minutes of my appointment time. When she became aware that I was alone and not very well she was extremely concerned for my wellbeing and offered to return at a later date. She said had Atos been made aware of my circumstances at the time, they would have gone to my daughters, I should not have been moved to my home address. Anyway..to the assessment.

The assessor was extremely professional, kind and caring. She stated that she had read my application form, and it was apparent that she had.

She came with a list of questions just to clarify each descriptor and said she would attempt to be as brief as possible..which she was.

In no way did I feel I was not being listened to, or tricked into giving inappropriate answers. In fact, I thought that she was attempting to help me answer correctly in as much as rather than saying 'you can do that, can't you', she was actually telling me..you can't do that, can you? You are going to find that difficult, aren't you? SORRY, I CAN'T GET THE ITALICS OFF.

She did not ask me to do any physical movements, but she had obvioulsy observed me 'walking'..(that's a laugh) as I had to let her in. My dexterity etc., (this was all in the assessment report)

She did not ask if I had a phone, mobile, computer etc.

She did not ask me to do any backward counting, or maths, or spell words backwards.

She did ask if I had any more information/paperwork for her, which I had, which she took with her as they were copies, and the paperwork for which I did not have a copy she asked that my daughter copy it and send it to the DWP, for which she gave me an envelope.

She did admire my decor and bed linen, however and said that I seemed to live on a very nice street.

More than once during the assessment she asked if she could help in any way or get me a drink of water. She was concerned at how long I would be on my own before a family member arrived and stated that my son was due any time.

Before she left she asked again if she could get me some water or make me a cup of tea. She refused to let me get up to let her out and insisted I stay seated. She let herself out and closed my gates.

All I can say from my experience is that it was not the ordeal that I was dreading. Was I just lucky with the assigned assessor, I don't know.

When I got the assessment report it was extremely thorough and absolutely correct. There was nothing written down that had not been discussed, and nothing missing out. In fact, she had added a few more difficulties that I had not put on the PIP application. She gave me more points than I gave myself.

Got my brown envelope exactly 8 weeks later and the DWP agreed entirely with her report down to the last point; result..enhanced care and mobility 'ongoing', as she stated that my condition will never improve but is likely to deteriorate.

That's my story but I would just like to add, even though it relates to my grandson:

He had the most awful assessment at a centre: to be brief, he was very unwell and having a 'diabetic hyper', with sugars of 28. The assessor would not stop the assessment and kept telling him that he could do this and he could do that and refused to let my daughter in law speak for him. He was unable to answer coherently and just kept saying yes as he was confused.

She had not read his application form as 'she didn't have the time'. Refused to take the extra information that was presented so his mum said I am not leaving until you do, so the assessor went out to the photocopier and started loudly disrespecting my daughter in law in reception in front of waiting claimants. She was making fun of her and laughing about her with the reception staff. Which my daughter in law heard.

My daughter in law, is not someone to be fobbed off, then went herself into reception and retaliated by stating to the waiting clients that 'if you think that they had read your forms, think again, and don't even bother offering further information as they won't take it'. She then told the assessor to 'stop laughing at me', and I am going to report you!

As well as having unstable diabetes, he is severely dyslexic and other problems. The assessor stated that the assessment was purely for his diabetes and if he had other disabilities and health issues he needed to fill in a SEPARATE PIP for for each condition, which is ridiculous as well as not true!!!!

Well you can guess the outcome: HIs High rate DLA care cancelled and no award. He did not receive the mobility component.

I advised her to make a formal complaint to Atos, her MP and the DWP and also ask for a copy of his assessment, which she did.

The DWP were appalled and asked if she would like another assessment done which she declined until she had seen the result of that one.

When she got the assessment it was all a pack of lies and he had 2 points.

I suggested she did a mandatory reconsideration and to follow the guidelines on Benefits and Work, which she did: Result::: DWP have now given him standard on both care (8 points) and mobility (10)..so it just goes to show, even though it is probably rarer than hens teeth, that a decision can get overturned on a MR. :

Thanks to all at Benefit and Works from a grateful Nanna and Grandson. We could not have done it without you.xxxxxxx