cancelled medical, systems went down

Hi, im back, well i went for my medical today at 10.30am, unfortunately due to a one way system and relying on a lift i was late, only by 10mins i might add. when i arrived i was told they may not be able to see me as the system was down and i could go home now and they would re call me and benefits would not be effected or i could waitbut he was trying his best to get me to go home as he informrd me their may be a big waiting time and i may not get seen as they may not get the systems back up. Knowing I couldnt go through the stress and pain again i chose to wait. I had only just sat down when someone came over and said ' due to you being late we wont see you, we will call you for another medica'. I asked her if i could wait as i felt I couldnt go through this again, she said no. please advize on my rights etc. you may want to re read my previous threads as i didnt send my origional evidence as i forgot and then my dad took very ill so decided to take them along with me to medical. Should i send a letter to dss and to medical and forward them on and explain my distress and events etc. thank you. debi

debsy wrote:

Hi, im back, well i went for my medical today at 10.30am, unfortunately due to a one way system and relying on a lift i was late, only by 10mins i might add. when i arrived i was told they may not be able to see me as the system was down and i could go home now and they would re call me and benefits would not be effected or i could waitbut he was trying his best to get me to go home as he informrd me their may be a big waiting time and i may not get seen as they may not get the systems back up. Knowing I couldnt go through the stress and pain again i chose to wait. I had only just sat down when someone came over and said ' due to you being late we wont see you, we will call you for another medica'. I asked her if i could wait as i felt I couldnt go through this again, she said no. please advize on my rights etc. you may want to re read my previous threads as i didnt send my origional evidence as i forgot and then my dad took very ill so decided to take them along with me to medical. Should i send a letter to dss and to medical and forward them on and explain my distress and events etc. thank you. debi

Hi D,

You could post copy of the evidence that you have to the DWP DM, and ATOS.

You may wish to complain using this e-mail link :

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Or the contact details on their website, here :

www.atoshealthcare.com/index.php?option=...ion&id=14&Itemid=288

bro58

Hi Bro, do you think this will now go against me for being late for medical, what a mess. what annoys me is I was only 10mins and they were grateful due to their system breaking down, they were up the wall and sending people home. debi

debsy wrote:

Hi Bro, do you think this will now go against me for being late for medical, what a mess. what annoys me is I was only 10mins and they were grateful due to their system breaking down, they were up the wall and sending people home. debi

Hi D,

It would seem from what you say that they still would not have seen you, even if you had been 10 minutes early, as their systems were down anyway.

bro58

Just to add to what Bro said, it isn't for Atos to determine whether failure to attend a medical would go against you, it's the DWP decision maker, and they would have to consider whether your failure to attend was reasonable. That's to say, they can't just say "You were ten minutes late so no benefit." So even if Atos said that being ten minutes late amounted to not attending, you could still argue your case with the DM.

However, do take on board what Bro said before worrying about this, I just wanted to reassure you that all's not lost when you're late for a medical if you've got a good reason.

thank you, this has reassured me a bit more, she did say she would send another appointment out so i geuss its ok, i was reluctant to get there 2 early as i couldnt sit around for long so tried to leave it near the appt time, also couldnt park near. i feel they were glad i was late due to their system, its just so very stressful and i actually want to work or try to work a few hours if i can but cant walk far and have to keep sitting and standing etc and more fearful of me losing my DLA 4 getting about. i would love to work a couple of mornings but feel they will say well if you can do a couple of hours then you won get dla, not sure if i could but would love to try, then you get in to a place were you feel im best not trying just incase, as if i found i couldnt and was in too much pain i would be stuck and would set me back again. deb