Atos

Hi. I have just received another ESA50 form. I was looking at the address to return said form to,witch is Atos.So let me get this correct Atos is going to Assess my ESA50 and inform the DWP if i should get ESA,or have a Medical assessment by Atos.Surely this is a conflict of interest.

The role of Atos is to give medical advice to help DWP decision makers reach an appropriate decision on entitlement to benefit. It is then for the Decision Maker to look at all the evidence and then decide if the claimant qualifies for ESA or not.

Atos send out the ESA50s and, if required, carry out the medical assessments but the final decision lies with the Decision Maker.

That is a point I actually wondered about as well. What specifically is the 'other' evidence? To make a final decision that is.

BTD

I agree with you M W, from appearances Atos seem to independently decide to send out these forms without authorisation from DWP and then ask you for consent in that same form, for them to be allowed to have your sensitive information and return it to them for them to use as they wish .

As this must be a specific request, not a general one, I did ask Atos to provide a copy the request from DWP, but they couldn’t or wouldn’t.

I also have misgivings about the word “assessment” as that implies an element of “decision making” which is not in their remit, hence they use the word “recommendation” when it suits. .and although Atos is poorly qualified to make such recommendations the Decision Maker rarely goes against them.

The final decision made by DWP rather than the ATOS recommendation is not more than 1 or 2 percentage points, so Atos seems to hold a lot of power…. see research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_w...wca_27072010.pdf?x=1