Have you been a victim of the Atos assessment process

[tivoli]

Was given certificate by GP for 7 day phased return to work, although I was willing, RM wouldn't allow me to return until I had had telephone assessment from ATOS. Phone call received on 7th day, I told them it was pointless and went back to work the next day. Ridiculous.

[BELIAL]

You gotta admire the brass neck of it. Some american owned company can actually make a profit out out of you being too sick to work

[easter bunny]

You gotta admire the brass neck of it. Some american owned company can actually make a profit out out of you being too sick to work

ATOS is French....

[BELIAL]

You gotta admire the brass neck of it. Some american owned company can actually make a profit out out of you being too sick to work

ATOS is French....

Dig deeper

[mazza111]

April, that's shocking hon!!

As many of you know I have had my IHR due to arthritis in both knees, and knees dislocating. So thought it would be easier to find a nice desk job (haha Not really viable as knees lock up when sitting too long too). Don't know if that's now going to be possible. Last Friday, the day before going on holiday (fkin typical) my knee gave way when I was getting out of bath and managed to put my shoulder out, dislocated and popped back in, exactly what happens with my knees, so it now seems that I have the same problem with my shoulders, although not diagnosed at the time, now have a nice wee sliver of bone floating around in there. Now, do I chance claiming ESA or stick to being on JSA? Do I want to go down the road of dealing with ATOS again or do I keep bluffing and applying for jobs that I know I have no chance of getting?

Although ATOS were fine with me, keeping me on light duties as long as possible, and good at communicating with RM, I have heard such horror stories of people claiming ESA it's putting me off from claiming

[WARDY]

I was off work with achilles tendonitis and had a good few contacts by telephone from atos. I was sent to physio at rehab works for six thursdays to get me back to supposedly full fitness. Luckily my job within royal mail group is not as a walking postman and personally speaking my case was handled professionally and I wasnt continually harassed by them. I probably agree with previous comments that atos are okay with rehab programmes but in regarding claims or benefits, they probably get peoples backs up. My workmate has been off work for nearly six months and he is always phoning me and moaning about atos continually on the phone to him and making enquiries regarding his problem and talking about wanting second opinions on his illness. So there is the tale about two sides to atos.

[bedfordrl]

Well I for one am bemused by them, I really do not see the point of them.

I have a back problem which rarely strikes but when it does it hurts, at my back to work I was asked if I wanted to talk to ATOS, well I had nothing to loose to I agreed.
Three times they made appointments via work to speak to me and they never did get back to me so I gave up on them.

My son, who also works for Royal Mail has a bladder problem which is not getting better.
He is in and out of hospital seeing specialists and regularly confers with his doctor .
Atos actually spoke to my son and he told them he can still just about manage the work he is being given which is around the periphery of the office, that way he is not too far from a toilet.
They then in turn informed our DOM that he can manage a ninety minute delivery which is how long the delivery took him but they took to mean he can be that far from the office which he cannot.
I ,thanks to this site, looked into DDA or whatever it called now and he seems to qualify so I went along to a doctors appointment with him to set the ball rolling.
The doctor says that ATOS have to instigate the proceedings for the DDA but the real gob smacker was when he told us that ATOS have not spoken to him at all.

That means that for £200 ATOS spoke to my son and decided what work he can or cannot do without once speaking to his doctor or looking at his medical notes.

Easy money.

[guyscliffe]

Hi Peeps ...
As people will be aware,if you have read my posts I have been enduring a horrible passage in my life .....
Was referred ATOS....
1. Six telephone calls/appointments ....
2. Referred onto a local counsellor,for six face to face sessions of CBT ( Paid for by Royal Fail )
3. Had two face to face ATOS medicals cancelled at my local mail centre,through no fault of my own.
4. ATOS,then saw fit to assess me over the phone ( which my GP,union rep,and counsellor were all disgusted with )
5. The findings of which,deemed me fit to return to work,on a rehab plan ( which I KNEW I couldn't accomplish,because I wasn't well enough )
6. This then triggered a medical,at my local JobCentre,to see if I still qualified for benefits .... which I didn't.Also a meeting was arranged with my DOM and union rep,to discuss my return to work.
7. However,it was established very quickly by all parties that I wasn't fit enough to even THINK about coming back on a rehab plan.So it was agreed that my boss would then set in motion the process of arranging me another face to face medical,with an ATOS doctor attended by myself and my union rep.
8. Quite Simply :- HE FAILED IN THIS PROCESS,BECAUSE HE PLAIN AND SIMPLY DIDN'T DO IT ...... ( COMPLETE FAILURE )
9. Anyways,had another phone call from ATOS today ( Yawn ) referring me onto a face to face interview with a doctor,although I have to await yet another call from ATOS next week,to arrange a time/date for this appointment.
So maybe,i'm eventually getting somewhere ... who knows ...!

[BELIAL]

You gotta admire the brass neck of it. Some american owned company can actually make a profit out out of you being too sick to work

ATOS is French....

Dig deeper

Did you do the legwork? You kept schtum but for the record Atos aint Froggies ,they are Yanks through and through Wonder why they pretend to be French

[Oldham600]

Where do I start with this shower!!!

I have a rare condition that I will have for the rest of my life which unfortunately does mean I have to have surgery from time to time. A couple of years ago I ended up being Long Term Sick for almost 8 months due to major surgery and its complications. Thats when the fun began, incompetent advisor's, complete rude advisor's, lying to my line manager etc.

In that 8 months lay-off I must have endured atos phone calls about 30 times all a complete waste of time due to me being still unfit for work, with them always pressing me to go back to work even though I had no chance of doing so. One Irish lady on the other end of the phone even decided that my gp and specialist were in fact wrong with any diagnosis on me and would not listen to anything I had to say, I ended making a complaint as I felt completely stressed out after listening to her shout down the phone at me.


After much complaining to my line manager I eventually (after 6 years of having the condition) got a face to face with the ATOS doctor at Manchester Mail Centre which was like a breath of fresh air with him agreeing that I am in fact covered by DDA and not able to return to work at that time.

If atos are charging Royal mail so much then surely we should receive the better service from the outset

[mazza111]

Well it's time now that I have to claim ESA due to nerve damage to my spine. Due to the fall that I had back in July. Physio and doctor thought it was the inflammation in my shoulder pressing on a nerve, but after a spinal examination it's been confirmed as being there. Which probably wouldn't have happened if my knee hadn't given way, which probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't had an AOD way back when I started with RM. Which probably wasn't put in accident book because of managers c*ck up. Gotta love RM haven't u. Will let u know of my dealings with ATOS from the other side of the fence now

[TeeferTiger]

Well it's time now that I have to claim ESA due to nerve damage to my spine. Due to the fall that I had back in July. Physio and doctor thought it was the inflammation in my shoulder pressing on a nerve, but after a spinal examination it's been confirmed as being there. Which probably wouldn't have happened if my knee hadn't given way, which probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't had an AOD way back when I started with RM. Which probably wasn't put in accident book because of managers c*ck up. Gotta love RM haven't u. Will let u know of my dealings with ATOS from the other side of the fence now

I'm still waiting for my appeal for ESA. They're paying me it while the appeal goes through, but if they decline your application at first, appeal. Because I was feeling well enough to attend the medical interview thing, I'm well enough to work. But if I hadn't been well enough, I wouldn't have been able to attend the assessment- which goes along the lines of "Can you lift your arm, can you hang your coat up, can you put a pen in your top pocket, can you listen to someone talk?" etc- then I wouldn't have been assessed and my ESA would have been stopped.

So, they can find me an employer who doesn't mind me not doing any physical work or bending down, something that doesn't involve much listening because my tinnitus is quite loud, something for only a few hours because I can't stay awake long enough or concentrate for very long and doesn't mind me turning up as and when I can get out of bed, then I'll gladly work. Oh, and it has to be very local because I can't drive far and don't want to rely on public transport in case I start to feel unwell and need to leave work immediately. Does anyone know of any jobs like that going?!

[POSTMAN]

A DOM?

[southcoast_postie]

Hi Peeps ...
As people will be aware,if you have read my posts I have been enduring a horrible passage in my life .....
Was referred ATOS....
1. Six telephone calls/appointments ....
2. Referred onto a local counsellor,for six face to face sessions of CBT ( Paid for by Royal Fail )
3. Had two face to face ATOS medicals cancelled at my local mail centre,through no fault of my own.
4. ATOS,then saw fit to assess me over the phone ( which my GP,union rep,and counsellor were all disgusted with )
5. The findings of which,deemed me fit to return to work,on a rehab plan ( which I KNEW I couldn't accomplish,because I wasn't well enough )
6. This then triggered a medical,at my local JobCentre,to see if I still qualified for benefits .... which I didn't.Also a meeting was arranged with my DOM and union rep,to discuss my return to work.
7. However,it was established very quickly by all parties that I wasn't fit enough to even THINK about coming back on a rehab plan.So it was agreed that my boss would then set in motion the process of arranging me another face to face medical,with an ATOS doctor attended by myself and my union rep.
8. Quite Simply :- HE FAILED IN THIS PROCESS,BECAUSE HE PLAIN AND SIMPLY DIDN'T DO IT ...... ( COMPLETE FAILURE )
9. Anyways,had another phone call from ATOS today ( Yawn ) referring me onto a face to face interview with a doctor,although I have to await yet another call from ATOS next week,to arrange a time/date for this appointment.
So maybe,i'm eventually getting somewhere ... who knows ...!

Well I can understand all this as I have been off work since May .... had several Atos phone calls, seen their Doctor etc, this on top of several appointments with a Consultant at the hospital( who specialises in this field of illness), and had a few physio apps too via ATOS ..... this week, I had another referral on the phone, and the polite Lady asked me ' can you tell me what you are diagnosed with? ' ... ....do they not have records to refer to ? She said my DOM had asked for this latest referral and hinted at IHR, news to me, so what will I expect in terms of IHR please ???

[mazza111]

depends on atos. If they think u can work again u will get IHR with lump sum.

34 weeks PILON (pay in lieu of notice)
any holidays remaining

Pretty sure there's 9 weeks of something too, but cant remember atm as I've not had my meds do a search on forums for IHR