atos phone harrassment re medical

can someone please advise, my husband had a phone call today from the atos number in andover, but because he is bed ridden was unable to answer the phone,so when I came in I did a redial ( thats how we knew who had called).

rude person on phone said my husband had to give consent for me to speak on his behalf,I took the phone to my husband (in bed) he gave consent then everything kicked off eg not co-operative with me, threatened that if my husband did not go to the next medical he would be struck off.

my husband has not ignored medicals, gp wrote saying a home visit had to be done, the local atos office sent out letter after letter telling him to come for another medical, and each time we did not ignore their letters, I phoned and explained, they told us these letters were computer generated and to ignore them as they had made a note that he could not attend.

Low and behold we then got another letter saying he had ignored all the appt letters and they were closing his claim down. I phoned and was able to quote all the dates/times and names of the 3 people who had told us on the phone to ignore any appt letter we got,as it was going to tribunal. They wouldnt accept this, so I put it in writing. Which is what has generated this phone call from andover today.

The man on the phone said this :I dont make the decisions,I just phoned to tell you (meaning my husband) if you do not attend the next medical they will close you down as atos does not have to do a home visit, if the customer cannot get in for the appt then the customer has to allow the claim to be closed and then appeal. I said it is already going to tribunal as at the first medical none of the medical evidence given was mentioned - only a few bits ( not recording the facts or the full picture etc)and we sent it all in ourselves at great cost toprove it. He then went on to say it was not his problem and even if a gp has written to atos - atos do not have to act on it, if they do not want to do a home visit they do not have to and if you do not attend the medical appt your case is closed.

I now have a husband in tears, not enough to survive cancer, had testicles removed, side effect from chemo, no bladder and bowel control, degenerated back where paralasis will eventually happen, and gallbladder problems preventing only tiny amounts of food, he is wasting away, the stress is sending him mad with tinitus to the point I am struggling to stop him wanting to contact the utanasia clinic in switerland, he is on loads of drugs and morphine and they are now out to pick on him on the phone.

They are ignoring the fact incontinence products are delivered as he has day and night problems, cannot wash clean himself or dress himself not even wipe his bottom covered in diarea etc.This is pityfull to watch, the emotions I am going through are hell,I cant help him if they ignore the evidence,all I can do is care for him, and I have just had a part hyterectomy and am not supposed to even lift him to clean him, but I have to because I love him and wont allow him to lie in poo.

Basically the closing words were, atos do not have to do a home visit if they say he has to attend an atos building for a medical he has to. When I said he is in a wheelchair and the building does not allow wheelchair access anyway, the man said, you will have to deal with that issue yourself because you have to attend the medical.

By now I was not so polite, I said, so he has to attend then, and crawl up the steps while in agony, covered in diarea and urine ? the answer was : if that is what it takes - yes- home visits are rarely done.

I am horrified by what you and your husband have had to endure at the hands of atos. My only advice is to contact your local mp and explain what has happened. I also suggest contacting your local newspaper or local radio station see if they are interested. I would also think about contacting the guardian they seem to be very interested in stories about Atos. I send you and your husband virtual hugs and will be praying for you both.
Jenny

An absolutely disgraceful way to treat any person let alone a claimant.

You may wish to seriously consider making a formal complaint to Atos Healthcare (I use this word very loosely), by left-clicking on 'claimants' and following the instructions on their website HERE.

Firstly I'm so sorry to hear what you're having to go through medically, let alone having this terrible company tear into you and your husband in this appalling manner.

If I were you I'd do as already suggested. Write/go to your local MP and complain like hell. Write to the local newspapers as well as a few of the main ones. Attention has to drawn to cases like yours and something done about it.

Home visits are rare, but not as rare as I think they'd have you believe as I've seen people on this forum say that they have arranged one without the kind of terrible rudeness meted out to the 'customer' (god I loath that word) such as yourselves.

Make a stink about it. Silence over such maters is the way this government lets private companies get away with such awful practices.

Please let us know on here how you get on.

Hi Lisa

I'm really sorry to hear about the stress and strain of the phonecall. I had a not dissimilar time on the phone with ATOS over the visit time of a home medical. Unbelievably unreasonable and irrational. My suggestion is to speak to the Atos complaints department: the lady I spoke to was lovely, over-ruled the frontline contact centre, got it all sorted, and even called me back to make sure it was all OK. In the short term this might pre-empt them from closing your claim.

In the longer term, as Crazydiamond suggests, a written complaint would be in order if you can manage it.

regards
Rainbowlight

Hi Lisa,

I was shocked to read about your experience. Some good suggestions made in this thread and hope they help.

Best of luck, hope it is sorted out soon.