News

Atos healthcare are missing targets for carrying out medical assessments for employment and support allowance by a huge margin, employment secretary Chris Grayling has revealed in a written parliamentary answer.

The average clearance time for assessments under the contract between Atos and the DWP is supposed to be 35 days. Between November 2011 and May 2012 it actually took Atos an average of 62.8 days to carry out assessments, which is around 80% longer than specified.

Atos allegedly suffer financial penalties as a result, though what these are is not revealed.

But for claimants it means that the majority are unlikely to have completed their assessment phase within the specified 13 weeks unless they returned their ESA50 form very quickly indeed. The financial penalty for claimants for Atos’​ failure to meet targets is not receiving their additional component until the assessment is finally completed.

Grayling’​s written answer is available here.