Re; Atos sending appointments 90 minutes away.

I posted a few weeks ago how Atos tried to send my granddaughter to an appointment a good 2 hours away in Sheffield when there are a dozen nearer centres. (can't seem to find my original post)

Last week, she got an appointment for my grandson, at the same centre, in Sheffield!

When she rang Atos to complain, she was told that it is DWP policy to refer claimants to a centre 90 minutes away, and there is nothing they can do about it. When stating that unless they changed the appointment to a local centre, she would involve her MP, so reluctantly they changed it.

I said that she needs to make a complaint to Atos as well as her MP, but first, she needs to phone DWP and complain to a manager, not the person who answers the phone.

She took my advice and did this. The DWP were apparently furious and stated to her that 'claimants must be sent to the nearest centre to their home, and failing that, the next nearest centre'. The 90 minute rule is the 'extreme', not the norm.

They then insisted that she makes a 'formal complaint' to Atos, via their complaint procedure and not to just phone them and complain, which she is doing.

I have advised her that although she has complained via phone to DWP, to follow this up with a letter, and cc this into the letter to her MP..although I don't expect it to change how Atos deal out their appoints one jot, unfortunately..

Got it off my chest now..still waiting for my appointment..gee, wonder if it is going to be Sheffield? :

Well done Mommaduck!!

It's very easy, when you're unwell and worried to just give in to the bullying tactics of Atos etc. If more people had the strength to complain, maybe (just maybe) things would change.

I think the idea of contacting your MP is also excellent; unless they are made aware of the indignity and harm that these assessments - especially the ones that involve travelling long distances - can cause, then it will be assumed that all is going well.

As for the DWP being 'furious' - well I would have thought that by now they would have realised that all is NOT well, and changes need to be made to the way assessments and appointments are being made. Whatever.

Do let us know where your assessment is arranged for. And what you do if it IS in Sheffield!!

Good luck.

Will do Shelam,

Just read my post and it is not clear that my daughter in law had the problem with two of my grandchildren. They changed my granddaughters appointment to 10 mins down the road, 2 miles away, and my grandsons to 4 miles away, about 20 mins or so..

I can only assume that they are sending Sheffield claimants to Stockport and Manchester!!

Hi Md,

Yes, well done !!

Shelam is spot-on !!

Assessment Providers (AP's) such as ATOS, Capita and Maximus think that they can ride roughshod over claimants, and rely on the claimant being vulnerable, frightened and ill-informed !!!

All that these companies are interested in is their bottom line profit margins, and have little or no concern for the claimant, their needs and limitations !!

To these AP's it is simply a case of "Production Line Assessments" where the claimant is the commodity from which they make their money !!

I won't comment on my opinion of the majority of these "Health Care Professionals" (HCP) ( What care do they provide ? ) or "Health Professionals", (HP) who carry out the assessments, (I dare not ) suffice to say I simply call them "Assessors" !!

In a lot of cases, the claimant struggles to comply with attending an Assessment Centre, only to have the fact that they managed to do so used against them !!.

Talk about being set up to fail !!

These "people" that you speak to on the phone are generally no more than "Customer Service Advisers" similar to someone that you would speak to in a Utility Provider's Call Centre if you called them.

I would always advise that you escalate to a complaint to a manager,and that you formally complain in writing by e-mail !!

Putting it in writing creates a paper trail !!

If you are going to talk to them on the phone, try and record the conversation,and always involve your M.P. if they won't budge :

Contacting your MP

The last thing that these companies want is complaints to M.P.'s and potential problem, they like the claimant to roll-over and comply, it makes life easy for Them !!

"It is the squeaky (noisy) hinge that gets oiled" not the silent one !!

Anyway, this is not like me at all ! so, " rant" over, but it really does annoy me !!!

As it is the weekend, here are some previous related posts regarding this issue which you might find interesting :

Here , Here , Here , Here and Here.

Of course, all the above is only "my personal opinion" !!!!!

bro58