Finally received medical report from Atos medical

Even though I knew from the result found'fit for work'that there was obviously something very wrong in the medical report, I was still shocked and appalled to read what was put in it.She is a registered nurse, but cant find anything that says she has specialised in neurologial problems and looking at the clinical opinions and findings. she is actually disagreeing and dismissing diagnosis from Neurosurgeons,MRI scans Consultants. One part states noticeable problems remaining seated, and then says sat throughout interveiw without needing to get up. She has clearly turned hypothetical questions into facts which are very untrue.I have been extremly down,tearful and useless and over a stone in weight since I found out the decision, but since reading this report I now feel really angry. How can a nurse non specialist in neorology + chronic pain be allowed to examine someone and be able to give the wrong impression and judgement about someone's illness? This report is full of [EDIT] and total lack of understanding about the illnesses that I have.

Hi Sandra it just seems to be the case. I know i photocopied mine and worked through it jotting down notes on everything I could remember that I said during the assessment. I appealled with the help of my GP and his referrel to the GP outreach CAB team. I also read through some of the appeal guides on this website. I wish I had used this website from the beginning of my claim and appeal. The whole process of appeal to hearing was exhausting and distressing and took 9 months before my appeal case was heard and unfortunatly affected all my symptoms. So it is important to get all the help and support you can. You could also write to your local MP to complain re Atos. But the main thing for now is to look at the time scale if yu wish to appeal, which is not very long, so try not to get angry, easier said than done, but try to take a matter of fact approach as if you are helping a loved one or closest friend and focus your energy on cross-reference the information that is incorrect. Remeber you can always compalin about Atos at a latter date, the most important thing now is what to do next and if you are going to appeal the decision. Read the guides on here which are really helpful.
Best of luck
Meg

sandra wrote:

Even though I knew from the result found'fit for work'that there was obviously something very wrong in the medical report, I was still shocked and appalled to read what was put in it.She is a registered nurse, but cant find anything that says she has specialised in neurologial problems and looking at the clinical opinions and findings. she is actually disagreeing and dismissing diagnosis from Neurosurgeons,MRI scans Consultants. One part states noticeable problems remaining seated, and then says sat throughout interveiw without needing to get up. She has clearly turned hypothetical questions into facts which are very untrue.I have been extremly down,tearful and useless and over a stone in weight since I found out the decision, but since reading this report I now feel really angry. How can a nurse non specialist in neorology + chronic pain be allowed to examine someone and be able to give the wrong impression and judgement about someone's illness? This report is full of [EDIT] and total lack of understanding about the illnesses that I have.

Hi S,

Sorry to hear of this, try not to get too distressed.

Unfortunately this will not be the first time that an ATOS HCP ignores evidence from a Consultant or such like.

See this extract from The WCA Handbook, page 41 :


"2.7.2 The Role of the Atos Healthcare HCP
The Atos Healthcare HCP will provide advice to the Decision Maker using all their skills as a Disability Analyst. They will review all the evidence on file and provide advice on likely functional implications of any medical evidence provided.

The HCP must take into account that the primary role of the GP or hospital doctor is to diagnose and treat any medical conditions that the patient/claimant presents to them. Any information or medical report that the doctor provides to the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to disability benefits is a purely secondary activity to his therapeutic role.

A clinician does not routinely consider the functional restrictions or disabling effects of the medical conditions that they treat. They must take into consideration that the clinician may have no specific training in assessing disabilities in their medical education, and may have considerable difficulty in giving an accurate assessment or forming an opinion in relation to the functional restrictions experienced by their patient.

In addition clinicians usually have, at best, very limited knowledge of entitlement criteria to ESA through the WCA."

Which can be accessed from here :

ESA Guides

See the ATOS website here :

www.atoshealthcare.com/claimants/our_healthcare_professionals

I was under the impression that the assessing ATOS HCP had to be a doctor where Neurological problems where involved.

You may wish to complain regarding the quality of the Med Report, you can do this by e-mailing :customer-relations@atoshealthcare.com

Or writing to :

Customer Relations
Wing G,
Government Buildings,
Lawnswood,
Leeds
LS16 5PU

You may wish to query whether it should have been a doctor or not, as I am not completely sure.

You can do a check on the Nurse, here :

www.nmc-uk.org/Search-the-register/

bro58

Thanks, I checked out the nurse and she is state registered and it says 'adult'.
I cant find out if the problem is nuerological that it should have been a doctor who does the examination.
Does anyone know if thats correct or not

There are some problems that have to be seen by doctors, rather than other HCP's. However, I am not sure whether the details are in the public domain.

sandra wrote:

Thanks, I checked out the nurse and she is state registered and it says 'adult'.
I cant find out if the problem is nuerological that it should have been a doctor who does the examination.
Does anyone know if thats correct or not

After scanning through the WCA Handbook I noticed this extract at the top of page 65 :

"It may also be appropriate for further neurological examination to be carried out by registered medical practitioners in some cases to assess such areas as cerebellar function or other more complex neurological conditions such as spinal injury."

Not exactly definitive, and we must remember that The WCA Handbook is only guidance and not law. You may wish to check through it yourself.

Failing that, ask your M.P. to find out for you.

Contacting your MP

bro58