Friend off to be assessed by ATOS today, I am feeling suspicious.

[ElizabethSwann]

My friend has life long anxiety issues due to an appalling childhood. As an under 13 yr old she experienced terrible sexual abuse ( of the most serious kind physically) plus spending time in and out of Refuge accommodation with her Mum and siblings. Her Mum was too traumatised and too involved with her own problems to realise how damaged her children were becoming.
With that childhood I am frankly amazed my friend can function at all but she actually does well - far more than she gives herself credit for.
As a 20+ yr old she worked as a care assistant in a nursing home - a job she loved and in fact her DD is named after one of the women she cared for.

The issue now is agoraphobia which started after her DD was born. My friend had horrendous PND and all the stuff she had suppressed since childhood hit her. It has caused problems ever since. Her DD is now 9 but my friend only leaves the house in the company of trusted friends. Without us she simply would not go out. Her partner (who was supportive) collapsed and died suddenly last year so it's just her and her DD now.

She has a mental health history under the psychiatric unit as long as anything and struggles with all day to day activities. I take her DD to school and collect her, she does food shopping online and I take her out if she needs extras.

I am so anxious about her today because last year ATOS found her "fit for work" which she absolutely is NOT. It took months of appealing and letter writing to get them to reverse their decision.

Am I right to suspect the motives of ATOS? I don't think my friend can go through another situation like last year which came right on top of the sudden death of her partner.

Why isn't the MASSIVE medical record she has enough? She has only got to the centre today with the aid of her support worker but all I can think is that they will see her chatting with the support worker and think she must be fine ....but she isn't - she really isn't.

Thanks for this summer111 I am still a bit confused! Is it possible to apply for ESA on the original questionnaire that you are sent before the actual WCT by Atos (worrying that it can be a nurse of pysiotherapist) as they are not qualified to make an assessment, but i suppose they are just scoring numbers on the form -is that right? I don't remember seeing anything about applying for ESA on the questionnaire that I saw that was sent to my friend's son. Then does the Atos completed form get sent to the DWP and "some bod" (presumably no medical qualifications) makes the final decision about whether it is JSA, or ESA and if so which group. I am glad to hear that they do ask for medical evidence from a GP or Psychiatrist to backup the claim that mental health difficulties prevent them from working.

I was wondering about whether I could assist people. I was a social worker and tm manager for 30 years but all in childrens services. I retired in 2009. I have experienced severe depression and been an inpatient for 3 months in April 2010. I have not made a complete recovery and still have ups and downs, far more ups than downs, but that does make me unreliable. I was thinking of applying to CAB to be a volunteer but I think my unreliability would be a problem because they would obviously need to know that the shift was covered.

I am hugely relieved that I am not dependent on benefits because I can be absolutely fine for weeks, even months at a time and then I can have a phase of bad days that vary in length and severity. No one would believe me on good days that there is anything wrong with me at all.

I think the worrying thing is that there are not many jobs available in any event and hence the "creative" ideas of how to use those claiming JSA. I read recently in the Guardian that this mandatory work people are being forced to do for 4 weeks is not working as people are just not claiming benefits rather than do the 4 weeks mandatory work (supposedly to get people back into the habit of work) though it does beg the question what they live on for 4 weeks.

I just wish these posh boys from the cabinet tried living in poor housing, grinding poverty, mental health problems etc on £69 per week but of course that will never happen.

Yes agree with what you say Madmouse. This coalition is really worrying me. It is ruthless and have no notion whatsoever of the issues facing ordinary people.

NanaNina don't write yourself off so quickly. You are far more than the sum of your depression. CABs have lost a lot of funding and most of their paid staff. They also struggle more and more to recruit suitable volunteers. Why don't you go have a chat?

Thanks for that Madmouse, maybe I will NNx

Nananina, let me see if I can explain the process a bit better for you, apologies if I cover ground you already know. Benefit re-assessments commenced in Oct 2008 for those already claiming income suport or incapacity benefit on the grounds of a health condition or disability. These re-assessments have been done in phases and are still happening. At the same time, any new claimants of sickness benefit since 2008 have automatically had to apply for ESA as it has replaced (for now) the other 2 benefits (IB and IS). Either way the process is the same. New claimants or those being reassessed have been sent the ESA 50 application form to complete. It then goes to ATOS who read over it. On the basis of the form ATOS then invite the client in for the face to face assessment with a doctor, nurse or physio. They complete a report with their summary which is sent to the decision maker in the DWP. The DWP then write to the client to inform them of the decision. From 2013, a new Universal credit is being introduced which will replace some benefit, the detail of which I not fully aware of.

I agree about the challenges for clients actually finding work even if they are job ready. I have equal concerns about the support offered by those organisations who have been awarded huge sums of money by the government to provide the Work Programme, I think you aluded to this yourself in an earlier post.

Regarding volunteering, As I was reading your post, I immediately thought you would be a great asset to the CAB. They provide quite comprehensive training, some of which you may already be familiar with. Alternatively, there are a lot of smaller charities that you could consider volunteering with - for example those that offer support to the elderly, the disabled etc. They often need volunteers to offer advice about finances etc. You may find that a volunteer role that uses your talents and skills but doesn't place too much stress on you will in fact support your recovery. Check out the following website for volunteering roles:
www.do-it.org.uk

Hope that helps!

Ah thanks so much - I get it now. The questionnaire I saw must have been the ESA 50 as my friend's son has been on IB for many years. He has been put on JSA which isn't surprising as his main problem is drink. Apparently he scored 0 out of 15. I read recently that the coalition's new idea is that anyone with drink/drug problems will have to agree to a treatment plan and if they refuse, their benefits will cease. I can see that to pay IB for many years to people with drink/drug problems doesn't seem fair, although there is usually an underlying reason for the problem in the first place, but this would be impossible to assess. IF the treatment plan (not sure that term was used) is a comprehensive residential plan with good follow up care, then it might be a good idea. However I am pretty sure that it will be nothing like that and will be something very superficial, and organised by someone who doesn't have any idea of the difficulty of withdrawal from drink/drugs. Also as I'm sure you are aware many people "self medicate" their mental illness with drink/non prescribed drugs which makes things worse of course.

As you say summer this whole thing is fundamentally flawed and final decisions being made by civil servants at the DWP I think is horrendous.

Going off the point a bit but my specialism if social services was fostering & adoption. Applicants had to have a medical, carried out by their own GP, who would complete a form and send it to the medical officer of health for the county council, who made a decision on the applicant's suitability (or not) to foster or adopt. The notion that the GPs report would be sent back to a social worker (without any medical qualifications) to make the final decision is ridiculous, yet this seems to be what is happening with these WCTs.

I have read something about IDSs big plan about "universal credit" but thus far I have been unable to understand how it will work.

Thank you for your kind words about how I might be helpful as a volunteer. I am seeing a psychologist on the NHS and we have been talking about my loss of confidence since my last episode of severe depression and the fact that it ebbs and flows. She has said that I would make a very good advocate because I am articulate and would be capable of understanding the relevant issue. She has also asked if I would consider being on a panel organised by the Hospital Trust - E for E (experts by experience) and whilst I am in agreement with the principle, I am ambivalent of wanting any more contact with the mental health service at the hospital where I was an inpatient.

I have however given some very detailed notes to the psychologist about the shortfalls on the ward (it was for older people as I was 66 at the time of admission) The psychologist is hoping to improve services on the older peoples' wards as her specialism is related to older people. She told me that she had concerns about the ward and would appreciate patients giving feedback. I think for me the most worrying thing that nothing had changed between my first 3 month stay in 1995 (following the death of my closest friend) and this next 3 month stay some 15 years later in 2010. Apparently the ward manager is keen on improving services, so that is a good start.

However I will think of applying to CAB and I have thought of volunteering in other ways, but feel that I would like to use some of the skills that I attained in my long career in social services, and I thought something like Samaritans or CAB might be more relevant.

However I will look at the web site you have provided. Many thanks.

I am involved with meeting my grandchildren from school once or twice a week when I am ok, but would like more of a focus to my life and would want to be of help to the most disadvantaged people in our society, who this coalition is intent on making their lives more and more disadvantaged.

Thanks again NNx

Just wanted to say summer that the one thing that had changed for the better on the psych ward was the OT. The first time it was awful. We had to walk to another building accompanied by the nurses (although they didn't wear uniforms then) and I only went once. I was asked if I wanted to do "some sticking" (cutting pictures out of magazines and pasting them onto big sheets of paper!! The option was to paint a jam jar. I had resisted going for weeks even though the OT kept badgering me, so gave in and went but it was really upsetting to be treated like a 7 year old.

During my first stay in 1995 my friend (who is an art therapist) brought in lots of paper, paints and felt tips and coloured pencils. I started messing about with the paints (even though I wasn't much good) but I enjoyed it and gradually other patients joined me and started to use the paints and paper etc. Within a week, there must have been 10 patients sitting doing drawing, and painting and it passed away the afternoon very well. When I left the ward I offered to leave all the art equipment with them, but they refused, which I thought was a great shame as so many people had enjoyed it. I still have some of the drawings that people did, and many of them hadn't picked up a pencil, sketch book, paints or crayons since they were at school.

This second inpatient stay the OT was so much better. The OT was a very nice young woman with just the right balance between being caring without being patronising and she was clearly enthusiastic about her job. Her assistant was also a very likeable bloke and they worked well together. We didn't have to move to another building which helped (I guess because it was the OP ward) and we did relaxation exercises every morning, then some kind of activity. Sometimes a very large crossword pinned on the wall, on paper similar to a white board where things could easily be rubbed out. The OT read out the clues and this passed away an hour or so and was enjoyable. Also we did painting and drawing, and people seemed to enjoy this too, commenting that it was a "bit like going back to school" but engrossed none the less. Sometimes the OT bought books of poetry (particularly black country ones) - that is the area in which I live and some of us would offer to read them out complete with black country dialect which brought back memories for many of us, especially the patients in their 70s and 80s, oh and a lovely woman of 93.

This encouraged people to talk about their past lives and how things had changed since they were kids. The OT and her assist facilitated this group really well as that was needed for success. Very often people would carry on talking about their memories later in the day. It happened to be a lovely warm spring and we went and weeded the small gardens and had coffee outside which was nice.

Just thought you might be interested in this.

If turned down it wouldbe best togo to a wekfare rights organisation.

I was voluntary up to last year and we were wining 80% of ESA appeals.

It is knowing what the questions are actually asking and how to fit the persons condition into that.

What a CAB or other WA will do, is go through the questions again, but in more detail, they have the same details as the DWP and then if they score you above 15, they will base your appeal on that.