PIP claimants - email your experiences of the process to Laura Pidcock MP before Westminster debate next Wednesday

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...emonisation-benefit-claimants-disabled-people
This is a very good article with many useful figures.
All this pain to stop benefit fraud that amounts to just 1.1% of disability benefit claims.

 

And how much money has actually been saved?

The cost of assessments has gone up - the likes of ATOS, Capita and Maximus aren't doing 'em for free. I would love to see what the cost of the average assessment was before the 'reforms' and after. Just how much do these private firms make from each assessment. Then of course the more regular and frequent the assessments, the more they make.

I very much doubt that anyone here would approve of benefit fraud, but when you look at how much is being spent to claw back a relatively small amount and the suffering inflicted and compare that to the attitude towards big corporations not paying their fair share on profits made within the UK....and the vast sums that could be clawed back from them.

To the best of my knowledge, Atos, for example, is based offshore and so has a reduced tax burden (on profits made off the suffering of the sick and disabled, in addition to what was made through their other government contracts).

If this post is deemed to be too political, please feel free to remove it.

 

Have just been googling "what do physios know about CFS?" or similar, and came across this:
http://www.csp.org.uk/news/2018/01/30/nhs-expert-adviser-gives-approval-physios-issue-fit-notes

I know that many physios, get a bad press on here - mainly due to inappropriate GET.
I am also aware that many PIP assessment reports (PA4s) include significant errors, or at least some statements in the PA4 show little resemblance to the answers from the claimant.
However, I was appalled at the complete lack of knowledge and understanding that my friend's assessor demonstrated in her PA4.

As ME is known to be poorly understood/controversial we had included a summary of Z's symptoms of FM and ME and an outline of their impact on daily life.
BUT we realised that this information had been ignored. This is quite common it seems.

SO I am alarmed re the above, particularly with regard to People with ME and those in a similar boat!

 

Sounds dire.

So when trialed, the intervention Black wanted was shown to not be worthwhile... and she thinks the problem is not with her, but that they did not find a way to make it work?

 

I expect barely trained CBT therapists in blue cardigans are cheaper....

 

Agreed.

My PA4 was undertaken with a physiotherapist, and it was a frustrating experience. He made it clear from the outset that, in his view, "ME, chronic fatigue, it's all the same thing", and that I could vastly improve my health if only I would take up some form of exercise. He had zero understanding of POTS, so pretty much disregarded this aspect of my illness.

Thankfully, I also have severe scoliosis, which was much more in his comfort zone. Although, from my perspective it causes the least of my health problems, he chose to concentrate on this and ignore the actual reason why I was seated in a wheelchair and became increasingly unable to form a coherent sentence as the assessment progressed.

 

What does that mean?

Edit: Physiotherapists are allowed as assessors and to end sick leave?!

 

Physios assessing medical conditions.. Physios issuing sick notes.. Which are cheaper to employ; physios or PE teachers? I'm sure PE teachers could do an excellent job with their ability to recognise a malingering shirker when they see one.

edit - It all just makes me angry.

 

It would be very beneficial for Laura Pidcock to attend the PACE Trial debate on Tuesday (part funded by dwp)


It would be best if her constituent asked her to attend. Does anyone on here live in Durham North West?

https://www.s4me.info/threads/suppo...iament-tuesday-20th-february-2018.2405/unread

 

I expect she is aware of the debate, but there would be no harm in any Uk person emailing her, in case one of her constituents doesn't.

 

It was never, has never been about fraud see:
https://www.s4me.info/threads/government-and-insurance-companies-establishing-the-bps-model.2319/

They just use that as a tactic to demonise claimants generally.

"Atos and Capita are set to be paid more than £700 million between them over the first five years of their contracts to assess PIP claimants in England, Scotland and Wales."

"The committee was also told that both Atos and Capita employed only two doctors each within their PIP operations, with their assessments instead carried out by nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists and occupational therapists."

https://www.disabledgo.com/blog/201...-failings-on-quality-of-reports/#.Wom4aLhizCM

 

Completely agree - that was just a tactic. However, I was choosing my words carefully - I don't want to give anyone ammunition to say we promote benefit fraud or being less than truthful, especially as so many of us claim benefits. I would go as far as to say that most genuine benefit claimants would be more anti-fraud than the average citizen, because we'd be tarred with the same brush.

It's not about benefit fraud and it's certainly not about the money, because what they could hope to recoup per £ spent putting people through the wringer would be tiny. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it actually cost them significantly more in outlay they could hope to recoup. If they were that concerned about money, one could also ask why the government were employing companies who don't pay taxes on profits made in the UK to HMRC....

There is a lot more that could be said about workers rights and the role of the insurance industry and big business, but if we go there we will almost certainly breach forum rules. This is just one part of a much bigger strategy, IMO.