As Atos is forced to rebrand and pull out of Work Capability Assessment Gill George discusses the misery they have inflicted and argues we need to take on the Tories as well.
‘OH Assist’ is the new name for Atos’ corporate occupational health arm. This is a little bit like Windscale being renamed as Sellafield after the worst nuclear accident in British history. The Atos brand has become toxic, and its owners are scrabbling to leave it behind.
What’s gone wrong for them? Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is meant to provide financial support to people who are not well enough to work, but the Tories have worked out that you can pretend people are fit and stop their benefits. Atos has been doing the Tories’ dirty work for them.
A big problem for Atos is that a bunch of people dying on you tends to get you bad press. Terry McGarvey died last month, the day after he dragged himself into an Atos Work Capability Assessment, terrified of losing his benefits if he failed to turn up. He was taken by ambulance straight from the assessment to hospital. Last October, David Coupe died of cancer: blind, deaf and in terrible pain, but Atos said he was fit to work and slashed his benefits. Linda Wooton, a double heart and lung transplant patient from Rayleigh, Essex, died just nine days after Atos declared her fit to work. There are many similar stories.
And then there are the shocking statistics behind the individual deaths. At least 1,300 people have died after being placed in a ‘Work-related Activity’ category, with Atos claiming they will get better and become fit for work. A further 2,200 died before their Atos assessment process was completed. As many as 7,100 have died after being found unable to work – but they were still dragged through a capability assessment despite suffering from severe illness. As many as 31 people have died while waiting for the outcome of their appeals against being found ‘fit to work’. A memorial page for the victims of benefits reform reports that 20 people have now committed suicide. Incalculable human misery lies behind the statistics.
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rs21.org.uk/2014/03/05/atos-weve-won-the-battle-but-not-the-war/
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Atos: We’ve won the battle but not the war
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ttosca · 05/03/2014 20:14
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