50 signatures reached
To: Secretary for health
Disabled people to be treated with respect and dignity by Atos
To ensure people with genuine disabilities receive a fair and honest assessment by Atos health care and to be treated with respect and dignity by the assessors. Also to ensure that their experience is not humiliating, anxiety provoking and that they are spoken to in a manner that a non disabled employed individual would wish to be spoken in. For disabled people to not have to endure the level of stress and fear that these assessments cause. The assessors should also be qualified to assess certain illnesses and disabilities. For eg please do not allocate an assessor who is knowledgeable in general medicine to an individual suffering from mental health problems. Finally the assessment should take place in the Borough the claimant lives in.
Why is this important?
It creates fear, anxiety, distress and an exacerbation of a disabled persons conditions. If somebody has to travel out of area for an assessment it may cause the individual pain, anxiety, panic attacks and other symptoms of their illnesses.
People have the right to be treated with respect and dignity. It is not the individuals fault that they are sick and need to rely on the state for financial support. Many people with disabilities have worked and been active members of society. Illness can happen to any of us.
People are human with feelings and should not be made to feel humiliated and undeserving whilst attending assessments.
An empathetic nature is vital when carrying out health assessments. Nearly all disabled people want to continue working, Nobody wants to struggle financially, have their independence taken away and experience life changing illnesses. The assessors need to be aware of this.
It's important to ensure that if somebody is suffering from a mental health illness they are assessed by somebody that works in the Mental health field.
If somebody has Parkinsons Disease they need to be assessed by somebody who works in Neurology. An assessor can not understand and individuals needs if they have no knowledge of the illness.
Claimants have been unable to attend their assessments because it has been too far to travel. This must be taken into account . It's obvious that if somebody is in a wheelchair it's going to be difficult for them or if somebody is agoraphobic getting to an assessment centre may be impossible. Claimants should not be sanctioned if they have a genuine reason for not being able to turn up.
There should be a complete overhaul of the way assessments are devised, dealt with and carried out by Atos and DWP. Disabled people are committing suicide because of the way they have been treated by this organisation the number of which is being hidden from the public. The true statistics should be published
