Had My Atos Healthcare Assessment & Just Received A Letter

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I have been on employment and support allowance for just over a year and had my Atos Healthcare Assessment on the 1st of September and just got a letter saying i am fine and fit for work

I am sitting here reading the letter and at first was angry but now i find it quite funny. It's like the woman i saw just ignored what i said and wrote down her own answers to her questions.

She asked me about spending time with family and i replied most of my family live about 45 minutes away and my mum and sister usually go once a month and i stay at home.

In the letter it says I enjoy spending time with my family and see them when i can

She asked me am i ok with speaking to strangers outside and i replied not really, i had trouble finding this place and walked around for ages instead of asking someone on the street.

In the letter it says i have no problem speaking to strangers and asked someone on the street

She asked me about going out to the shops and i replied i usually just go to my local corner shop in the morning get what i want and leave as soon as possible and go home and don't like going to supermarkets and can't remember the last time i went to one

In the letter it says i have no problem going out to the shops and supermarket

She asked me about friends and i replied i don't have any friends

In the letter it says i have no problem using a mobile and calling and texting my friends

In the Assessment i told her i had to cancel my previous appointment because i had a panic attack in the morning and felt down and this happens a lot and interferes with jobs and appointments etc

In the letter is says i have no problems with keeping and attending appointments

My sister drove me to the appointment and dropped me off and i told the lady that

In the letter it says i came alone

All my life people have always said about me having terrible eye contact etc

In the letter it said my eye contact was fine

Since high school i have had problems with anger and my behavior and have seen a number of
therapists since the age of 16 which i told the woman

In the letter it says i have no behavior problems and never have


It says i have one month to appeal


Has anyone actually ever appealed and what happened

My doctor's signature on a "Not Fit for Work" certificate overrode their assessor's decision. I've been signed off indefinitely ever since.

I thought that ATOS paid to get out of its contract with the UK government in 2014 after killing several thousand people with interviews designed to meet cost saving targets rather than assess needs?

Are they still evaluating people in the UK, I thought that was over ?

They were very accomplished in meeting Tory cost saving goals: They came within 600 deaths of matching the achievement of the 9/11 hijackers. Quite an impressive feat for a bunch of office workers.

Atos have a VERY bad reputation for assessing people with physical disabilities as "Fit to work" (apparently a wheelchair-bound person scored zero on an Atos assessment) so I can only imagine that they're even worse with mental issues.

Good luck on appealing it, hopefully they'll see sense.

I can't say for sure whether you meet the requirements for ESA or not (you probably do), but I think you have good grounds for appeal. It is always worth appealing ESA decisions.

The first stage (the DWP's Mandatory Reconsideration) will give you time to send in your reasons for appeal, though you probably won't get anywhere with them unless you have something convincing from a doctor. It is worth persuing any appeal as far as a tribunal as the tribunals service have a lot more common sense than the DWP and they understand both the law and people's medical conditions properly.

Good luck if you do decide to appeal.

Sounds a lot like almost every doctors here, they ignore every word you say to them. I can't offer any advice though as I don't live in the UK, hopefully those that do can.

The same thing happened to me - my atos write up was a work of fiction.

I appealed, and the DWP eventually caved in and put me in the support group without my having to go to an appeal hearing, but it took months. I had a lawyer. This was before my diagnosis of ASD.

On the appeal form, put down as much as possible of what you can't do and WHY you can't do it. Just saying you have ASD isn't enough - you have to put things down like I have asd and I stare at people and talk all the time. Mention that you needed help to get to the interview.

It might help to go see the CAB, they will know better than me.