Thursday, April 7, 2011

Exclusive: ‘Sick firm told us to catch out disabled people'

socialistworker.co.uk, Tue 5 Apr 2011:

The ruthless Tory drive to remove thousands of seriously ill and disabled people from benefits was exposed this week as a nurse employed to assess them spoke out to Socialist Worker.

Jean, a former employee of Atos Healthcare in Scotland, exposed a process she described as a “sham”. Atos is a multinational firm contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions to screen patients.

“I worked for Atos as a ‘disability analyst’ thinking I would be helping vulnerable people to access their benefits,” she said.

“I soon discovered that nothing could be further from the truth. The rules laid down by the bosses are designed to catch people out.”

Jean says that anyone deemed capable of looking after themselves or a child, however difficult they find it, is judged to be capable of work and taken off benefits.

“If you turn up to your claimant interview in nice clothes, you’ve failed,” she says.

“If you turn up washed and with your hair neat, you’ve failed.

“And, if you turn up with your kids, you’ve failed.” Read more>>

See also: 3 more assessed "fit for work" by ATOS die

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