A career with Independent Assessment Services, delivered by Atos?

[Glittabug]

I am considering applying for disability assessor role with independent assessment services delivered by Atos. I’m aware of the negative press Atos received from employees and claimants, I have read the employee reviews on indeed (mostly negative) and the thread created MN back in 2016.

I am interested to find out if the name change was for the sole purpose of creating a smokescreen from thier unscrupulous behaviour or if they have made positive changes to the organisation which benefits both staff and claimants.

Any recent experience from current or previous staff will be greatly appreciated.

My partner does this. He is an LD nurse.
Job is well paid but incredibly stressful, and I don't feel he is well supported or treated particularly well by the company. It can be upsetting too, hearing the sad stories of people's lives day after day, and of course it isn't a therapeutic role, you are only there to assess.

I don't think any name change can or will make some people think differently about disability assessors and how they conduct themselves.

As a CAB advisor, all I seem to see over and over is 0 points awarded on the PIP claim decision letter; when clearly the claimants have been and continue to suffer with their mental and or physical health. The latest one was "So when did you first catch Downs Syndrome"?

Obviously we only see one side of the coin. They might be a great company to work for; you will never know until you try.

I knew someone who worked in this role. She had to seek professional help because the work was so distressing and she handed in her notice because she couldn't live with the way she felt about what she had to do.

I'm a benefits advisor with CAB and senior members of my team help clients with their appeals. Some of the decisions are shocking but I guess we only deal with the worst cases. There are some decent assesors. I have sat in on some assessments as support and the assessors seemed decent and compassionate and the clients were awarded appropriate awards, so they are not all bad ! I think you could go into the job with the aim of doing a good job but I suspect the DWP still get to decide what people are awarded based on your report. It must be a frustrating job !! I am a Nurse and have had 3 invites recently on indeed to apply for these posts but I send the recruiters messages back explaining why I could never do the job ! I agree the money is tempting but to me it would feel like selling my soul.

Personally I'd sooner slit my wrists than go to work for Atos in that sort of role, but I suppose some people have a different sense of right and wrong.

Suppose it is job at the end of the day and there must be some decent human assessors out there. Depends how you would cope when you have to make decisions which deep down you know don’t really tally with the claimants condition/s. That’s the problem! Have you watched I Daniel Blake?

Ex DWP here and I know two nurses who have worked there and had to leave. Quite frankly it's a disgrace and their management are awful.