Hello, I’m still alive I promise, my head’s just not where it should be right now. Again.
Here I am, at 6am on a Sunday morning, unable to sleep, and I read the news on the BBC. It seems that yet again the IB and DLA Personal Capability Assessment is coming under fire:
“Almost 80,000 sick and disabled people a year are being wrongly denied benefits…”
Disability Minister Anne McGuire has said, “What I think ought to be recognised is that we are responding positively where those criticisms are made.” which is nice, because I feel even more empowered to be able to complain to the Paliamentary Ombudsman.
I especially like the bit that says:
“Atos Origin doctors send their reports to civil servants who make a final decision about a person’s entitlement.”
Which is interesting, because if the points are awarded based on a certain section of questions on the report, it makes it incredibly easy for the examining medical practitioner to lean either in favour or (more likely) against a claimant getting benefit.
I still chew over in my mind why the doctor made such blatant errors in my case. The article highlights that “the relationship between a private contractor – Atos Origin – and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has often been to blame” which makes you wonder. I had imagined a top secret memo to EMP’s about Mr Hutton’s plan to get 1m people off IB, and subliminally feeding them right wing propaganda, but then my imagination sometimes works overtime…