Atos and appointment rescheduling

[StupidMistakes]

I might be being unreasonable, but I received 4 letters all on the same day, for a medical, that is fine doesn't bother me at all, however I ended up confused and phoning them to work out which appointment I was supposed to be at!

I got a letter saying they wanted me to attend a medical on one date, fine, and then another three letters, rescheduling all with different dates, which then confused me as I got them all the same day as to exactly which one I needed to attend, so I phoned them to ask and was made to feel stupid, "the appointment time and date is on the letter, sigh" yes, on all 4 of them.... erm.... first one rescheduling fine, subsequent 2 gets confusing.

AIBU to think why am I getting three reschedules which have more than likely been sent out the same day? Should they not check the appointment is suitable/available before sending a letter? And should they not make it clear which one is the correct one?

On the Atos Miracles Facebook page this tactic has been well noted. They're of the opinion it's designed to confuse. You will get better answers than mine from them though, they're a great bunch of people.

Can I suggest you contact your MP? They can sometimes get involved in these things to get them resolved.

Can't help, but loved the fact that the committee interviewing Capita, G4 and ATOS asked if the chap from ATOS lived in a bubble or if he really was on a different planet! This was in response to a question regarding Customer Satisfaction, in which apparently ATOS believe they score highly!

Atos .....Be afraid , be very afraid...........Everything and I mean everything they do is designed to remove any benefit you are legitimately receiving. They are watching you from the moment you enter the building , the way you behave in the waiting room , I cannot stress enough...THEY ARE WATCHING AND ASSESSING YOU AT ALL TIMES ...

They did me over a treat............4 Heart Attacks and a Stroke and more besides I can work apparently...........

JuliaParker :( OP what a PP said. Get in touch with your MP. Your MP can get in touch with Senior officials who can try and sort the 'cock-up' out. They are very very sly and the tactics they use are despicable. Good luck and hope you sort it.

Haven't even had an appointment letter yet and I'm nine months on ESA.

Oh dear first of all you have my heart felt sympathy I have also endured the ATOS experience.

I will warn you now that this will be long but I hope helpful.....

In March 2012 I received the dreaded form for a reassessment, I was already in the WRAG, even though the conditions that I suffer from are all chronic and degenerative. On that form I stated on the top of every page that I required my assessment recording. ( because the previous assessment report done by them was a complete work of fiction to say the least).

I got my 1st appt letter for June, nowhere on that letter was it stated that it would be recorded, so I rang them to be told that no it wouldn't. I informed them that it was my legal right to have it recorded. They then cancelled that appt, which I asked them to confirm in writing. They did not but sent another appt letter out, again no recording mentioned, so I went through everything again and demanded the cancellation to be confirmed in writing, again they didn't. This happened another 4 times, they then started confirming the reasons in writing. On one day I got 3 appts 1 with the appt time and date on the other 2 rescheduling to the same time and date. I also had 3 appts cancelled, one 40 mins before time, one a hour before time and the last one when I arrived at the assessment centre, all due to lack of recording equipment.

I involved my MP and lodged a formal complaint with ATOS. After 10 months of being messed about and a hell of a lot of stress, I actually spoke to the ATOS Customer relations manager, I went through everything with him from asking why I had to have the medical when they were in receipt of pages and pages of evidence pertaining to my health from trained professionals etc to the last minute cancellations. I informed him that I had kept all communications and noted all phone calls etc. 2 weeks later I received a call from the DWP saying I was in the support group for 3 years without having to go for a face to face assessment.

That is my experience and my advice to you is that you keep everything they send and log all your calls to them. If you have not requested a recorded assessment the do in writing, send it recorded post to prove that they have received it. AS a poster further up suggested ATOS MIRACLES on facebook and also FIGHTBACK on fb are great places to go for help.

Please don't let them grind you down

I will phone them on Monday and ask for the appointment to be recorded and ask for a copy of the assessment as well. Mine is mental health, and I do have a psychological and psychiatric report which states I need 12 to 18 months of intensive therapy and that's after dealing with the loss of my mum and my son being adopted and was before my seizures returning.

How they can tell how my mental health is in a 20 minute assessment I don't know. I have days when I am better than others, they may well ask questions that are very upsetting and I have decided that though normally I would hold myself together I wont be putting on my mask that day and pretending I am okay and going home to cry, I will show my emotions. I am broken and I do need fixing.

I will also appeal if I need to, because right now I am at breaking point as it is.

OP The Appeal process has changed nowadays. Strongly suggest getting advice and recording and requesting to get all kinds of correspondance written down.

Please take someone with you to the assessment, if you attend alone you are deemed fit for work because you managed to go alone. Also whoever attends with you can make notes. make sure you ask the assessor's name and profession as ATOS employ Doctors, Nurses, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists to carry out their assessments, none of the latter 2 are in any way trained to be able to assess MH issues and most of the 1st 2 aren't either.

They will ask you questions that appear to be normal conversation such as do you watch television, have a pet.... again these are questions that deem you fit for work, if you can sit for 30 mins and watch telly you are fit to work. If you care for a pet you are fit for work.... etc I have a dog and 2 cats and had to go to great lengths to stop my assessor going onto the next question before I could say that my son does all the caring for our pets. So make sure if they ask a question such as "do you go shopping?" and the answer is yes but you have to have someone accompany you, make sure that you make that very clear. This is where the recording is important to you they cannot change it.

Please ensure you keep all letters and note date and time of all phone calls as you may need them if you are unlucky enough to go to appeal. All correspondence needs to be sent via recorded or registered mail so you can prove they have received it. Also mark clearly on the envelope PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL as they use Royal Mail to open their mail.

Please keep us updated on how you get on. My thoughts are with you.

My friend is coming with me. I also changed the location on the phone today as the one they originally offered required 6 changes when there is a centre within a bus of my address which they have changed.

I will ask my friend to write their name and qualification down for me. I cant manage to watch a whole programme, and I don't actually have pets either so those two questions should be fine. I used to as a child have pets which were obviously before my mental health problems and looked after by my mum.

I think the question with me is would I need support to work. I would say I could work but would need a significant amount of support in order to do so. Days off for the operation coming up, an understanding of epilepsy, a great understanding of depression, the fact that I need to do my therapy and the therapist has recommended due to the intensiveness of the work I am currently doing that I don't work as it leaves me physically and emotionally exhausted after the sessions, and also causes me to have flashbacks.

I am according to the therapist traumatised and I need to deal with what happened to me.

Oh PS I appealed and went before a very nice Judge (Female) and a Doctor.........My appeal was upheld ...............Until the Atossers via IDS changed the rules again ..............cut off again , given up now ....no point

juliaparker25 Please do not give up now, claim again no-one should be cut off. This is exactly what IDS wants to get his already fictitious stats down to try and justify his and the ConDems actions against the vulnerable in society.

If you need pointing in the right direction for advice please let me know.

I already picked up a leaflet on an advice and legal service from the hospital for people with health problems and they will help assist. I am now wondering whether to phone them now or if I get refused?

Maybe some advice now would be useful, and them getting in contact with atos. I understand the need to check on people but the understanding of mental health seems limited. I have been through a lot in the last year. Court to fight to get my son home in april, he was placed for adoption mum died three weeks later, mums funeral, sons last birthday with me, three and a half weeks after mums funeral I had goodbye contact, homeless, September I got somewhere to live, October my seizures returned causing me to be hit by a car and need a two hour operation to piece my ankle back together, and then December came back with an abnormal result on my smear, which I have to have treatment for as they done a biopsy and found pre cancerous cells

I was just getting sorted and thinking of work when I had my seizures return. Now im scared to be out alone in case it happens again

Please, please phone them ASAP you need all the support you can get, the information you have given on here needs to be made very clear to ATOS, all of it. If you have not already sent in evidence of your situation from your healthcare professionals please do so, with everything you have listed you should not have to have a face to face appt.

Please keep me updated and a big virtual HUG for you xx

I went through hell with them as well, I was unfit for work and told I would need to have a medical appointment with ATOS. I was so unwell that I was actually physically unable to attend the appointment and my health care professionals wrote to them explaining all the reasons why a home visit would be needed. It took 7 missed appointments and 3 months for them to get their act together. It was the most awful thing because on that morning when I had got ready for it every time the man doing the assessment would telephone about 20 minutes before he was due to arrive to cancel my appointment and inform me only that "a letter will be sent with a new appointment time".... The thing that made it worse was once he even said that he was running late but may be able to attend if he could bring his wife!

Stupidmistakes - please get a letter from your therapist saying work or even work related activity will be significantly detrimental to your health. Then u nder regulation 29 or 35 they must put you in WRAG or support. Ou must have the medical evidence though. You have a very strong case. And yes don't hold back at the assessment, be open about everything including suicide attempt. Don't go on your own and look tired and unkempt.

I always look tired. I don't sleep well but doctor won't put me on sleeping tablets because of it not curing the underlying problem.

Who do I need to send the medical evidence to. I have it all to take with me. I managed to get an appointment closer to my address n for a day my friend can come with me.

Thank you for the support.