Ill health and ATOS Doctors advice....

[guyscliffe]

Hiya Guys ....
Have just had a call from a health practitioner within ATOS,following on from my :-
A. Six telephone appointments.
B. Six face to face sessions,with a local counsellor.
Have been suffering from a very bad depression,owing to my dad and nan passing away.
Was advised by both my GP'S and counsellor to start looking at ill health retirement,if it was offered.
Anyways,a doctor from ATOS is now going to contact me to arrange a face to face meeting with him/her,at a local doctors surgery.
My question is"Do I need to take anything/anyone with me to this meeting"?
Or medical notes etc ..... ??
Thanks in advance. ....
Jon ...

[POSTMAN]

Would you want IHR,is it not possible that could make things worse.

Best wishes btw

[guyscliffe]

Would you want IHR,is it not possible that could make things worse.

Best wishes btw

Hiya Postman ....

Well no,not really.
We have had three guys resign within our delivery office apparently,because they are unable to hack the new van and loop duties.
Nobody knows the new walk sorting,leading to VERY late days.
This has all been brought in since I have been away.
My counsellor doesn't want me to undo all my good work,by going back into such an unstable and pressured atmosphere.
Our new methods of working dont lend themselves very kindly to staff in my current mental condition.

[POSTMAN]

Would you want IHR,is it not possible that could make things worse.

Best wishes btw

Hiya Postman ....

Well no,not really.
We have had three guys resign within our delivery office apparently,because they are unable to hack the new van and loop duties.
Nobody knows the new walk sorting,leading to VERY late days.
This has all been brought in since I have been away.
My counsellor doesn't want me to undo all my good work,by going back into such an unstable and pressured atmosphere.
Our new methods of working dont lend themselves very kindly to staff in my current mental condition.

Good point,it's very nasty out there at the mo.

Not sure what you need to take,hopefully someone who's been there will know.But i would of thought as much info as poss.

Good luck.

[guyscliffe]

Would you want IHR,is it not possible that could make things worse.

Best wishes btw

Hiya Postman ....

Well no,not really.
We have had three guys resign within our delivery office apparently,because they are unable to hack the new van and loop duties.
Nobody knows the new walk sorting,leading to VERY late days.
This has all been brought in since I have been away.
My counsellor doesn't want me to undo all my good work,by going back into such an unstable and pressured atmosphere.
Our new methods of working dont lend themselves very kindly to staff in my current mental condition.

Good point,it's very nasty out there at the mo.

Not sure what you need to take,hopefully someone who's been there will know.But i would of thought as much info as poss.

Good luck.

Many thanks,Postman .....

[Himaggen]

You shouldn't need to take anything with you.

Many people do not understand the difference between mood changes caused by sadness/circumstance and depression. I would suggest that given a consult of reasonable length a reputable ATOS expert should easily be able to tell whether or not you are clinically depressed.

You should not offer any information provided by your health professionals unless you wish to dispute the ATOS findings at a later date.

[REDLETTER]

I'd check their qualifications! What is their speciality in? Mental health?

[stokes11eg]

you only need to take yourself. If you have given permission for medical info to be shared, then the Doc. you see will have access to your records anyway. I do not think you can take an observer with you. Good luck and hope things work out OK for you.

[mazza111]

Always a good idea to take a list of medication with you. Your prescription may have changed since they were in touch with your GP. It might be a good idea to take someone with you, or write down any questions you may want to ask as when you get in there your mind may go blank, especially when ur suffering from depression.

Good luck with the recovery, there can be light at the end of the clouds if you want to chase it enough. Been there, it takes time, give yourself that time without the pressures of RM

[guyscliffe]

you only need to take yourself. If you have given permission for medical info to be shared, then the Doc. you see will have access to your records anyway. I do not think you can take an observer with you. Good luck and hope things work out OK for you.

Many thanks,stokes ....

[guyscliffe]

Always a good idea to take a list of medication with you. Your prescription may have changed since they were in touch with your GP. It might be a good idea to take someone with you, or write down any questions you may want to ask as when you get in there your mind may go blank, especially when ur suffering from depression.

Good luck with the recovery, there can be light at the end of the clouds if you want to chase it enough. Been there, it takes time, give yourself that time without the pressures of RM

Many thanks Mazza ....
Yea,its such a shame that this job has changed SO much.
Going back into this job years ago,after mental problems wouldn't have been a problem.
But now,I couldn't think of a worse environment to go back into.
This is my 25th year with the Royal Mail,and I dont think i've seen everyone so very fed up with everything,as they are now.

[guyscliffe]

I'd check their qualifications! What is their speciality in? Mental health?

Yea,good point REDLETTER.

Thanks for replying.

[tonywildchid]

I would certainly ask if they were qualified to deal with Mental health conditions.I had a face to face with an Atos rep,and they didn't even know what Bipolar and OCD were.Nice lady but she didn't seem to have a clue.

[guyscliffe]

I would certainly ask if they were qualified to deal with Mental health conditions.I had a face to face with an Atos rep,and they didn't even know what Bipolar and OCD were.Nice lady but she didn't seem to have a clue.

Yea Tony,when he/she rings me to eventually arrange an appointment,I will pop that question to him/her.
Its quite nice though to have the backing of my coounsellor(who has been working with me on behalf of Royal Mail,and ATOS),and of course my GP.

[REDLETTER]

I would certainly ask if they were qualified to deal with Mental health conditions.I had a face to face with an Atos rep,and they didn't even know what Bipolar and OCD were.Nice lady but she didn't seem to have a clue.

Yea Tony,when he/she rings me to eventually arrange an appointment,I will pop that question to him/her.
Its quite nice though to have the backing of my coounsellor(who has been working with me on behalf of Royal Mail,and ATOS),and of course my GP.

Do a search in Google for "The Doctors Name" and ATOS and see if you get any results.

Plus if you are not happy after the interview with the report produced challenge it with ATOS. Important issues to you can, and will be missed off these report!