ATOS Face to Face Assessment

As previously mention I have paralysis in two limbs.

Could I ask the HCP if they are qualified in the field of paralysis to enable them to carry out the assessment?


Regards.

The HCP does not need to be 'qualified in the field of paralysis' in order to carry out this assessment. They only need to have completed the general ATOS 'training'.

WeDesign wrote:

As previously mention I have paralysis in two limbs.

Could I ask the HCP if they are qualified in the field of paralysis to enable them to carry out the assessment?


Regards.

As Mrs HB has stated the HCP doesn't have to be qualified in the field of paralysis to do an assessment, but I'd expect to be a doctor.

However, if their assessment wasn't what you expected, you have the right to submit your own assessment carried out by a qualified doctor in the field of paralysis. This would be a Consultant Neurologist.

If your HCP assessment resulted in you not qualifying ( not that I'm saying it will, since I don't have access to your case files) then iin my opinion it would be worth paying for an assessment by a Neurologist, as if you went to appeal, such a report would carry more weight than that of a HCP who was only a GP.

WeDesign wrote:

What are the main or real gains of having your assessment recorded?

There are two different sorts of answer to that question. Gordon has given you the first sort, where the most important bits seem to be:

1. A recording might be evidence at a tribunal - if you want to show that the Atos HCP did not make a proper record of your assessment.
2. A recording might be evidence for a complaint against Atos about the competence or behaviour of the HCP during the assessment
I would add these:


3. If you get back an unsatisfactory result, then you can play back the recording to yourself to see whether your own "performance" contributed to this result. It could help you on a subsequent claim or in a tribunal hearing.
4. If you involve professional help, they might find the recording (or better still a transcript of the recording) a help.

All of these are situations where a recording might help.

I believe that there is one clear benefit to a recording regardless of the outcome of the assessment. The HCP knows that a recording is being made - this must cut down on the gratuitous rudeness and the misleading remarks reported by some members. It is also less likely that they will make accidental or wilful misrepresentations of the assessment. This should also increase the likelihood of the correct outcome.

I believe this last is the greatest benefit and justifies the extra hassle of getting a recording, even if it never has to be used again.

Gordon wrote:

carruthers
Don't forget that a substantial amount of the assessment report, and by implication many of the "assumptions", are produced by the LiMA software, so I am not convinced it will make a significant difference.

Secondly, I remember the first assessment that was recorded on behalf of a B&W member, some two years ago, I'm reasonably certain that they were found Fit for Work and placed into the Support Group on appeal. The fact that they were being recorded, if it wasn't the first recorded medical, it was one of the first three, didn't seem to have any effect on the accuracy of the "doctors" comments

Gordon

As to LiMA, I agree that its assumptions are a major part of the assessment structures and I have my own particular beefs about that.

However, the report into the Newcastle pilot noted:

Overall the auditors felts that the recording provided a good vehicle for the identification of soft skill issues with HCPs. The amount of free text increased and soft skills improved during the pilot.

( Official Report on Newcastle Pilot p14)

The issue of the amount of "free text" entered in LiMA is important, because it makes for a less mechanical and (I'm beginning to dislike this word, but haven't time to make a better one) nuanced report. The more free text there is, the less LiMA can drive the conclusions down pre-determined rails.

The issue of "soft skills" was one highlighted by Harrington and it does make a difference - HCPs who won't make eye contact and just bark "Sit!" at you are a common complaint.

Clearly this won't work for everyone. Some people just behave worse when they're being recorded - as a quick trawl of YouTube will demonstrate. Maybe that doctor fell into that group, or maybe he felt that he had been bullied by a "patient" into doing something he didn't want to do.

Making recording a routine might help with that.

Incidentally, HCPs also reported that they felt that a recording would help when claimants became unreasonable, hostile or even violent and that it might protect them from "vexatious" complaints. Not the B&W subscribers would fall into that category, of course.