MP raises ‘grave concern’ over PIP benefit assessors – and he’s a TORY
As seen on Twitter: but a new Conservative MP has raised concerns about the “abrasive” assessment process.
Did somebody forget to send Anthony Mangnall the memo?
Normally, Conservative MPs pay little attention – perhaps only lip-service – to complaints about employees of the private company Atos who are hired at great cost to assess claims for the disability benefit Personal Independence Payment.
But Mr Mangnall – elected as MP for Totnes last December – has actually paid attention to the concerns of benefit claimants and raised them with ministers.
Constituents’ complaints were echoed by the town’s Citizens Advice service; perhaps that’s what convinced him that the issue was important.
Mr Mangnall told Disability News Service:
“If people are complaining about the Atos service, then that is a problem and it is a problem we need to look into.”
He said Justin Tomlinson, the minister for disabled people, had assured him that PIP assessors were “experts in understanding the effects of a health condition on an individual’s daily life” and that the department continued to “monitor performance, share best practice, and work with claimants, stakeholders and charities to improve training and guidance”.
But Mr Mangnall doesn’t seem entirely convinced:
Mangnall has told Disability News Service (DNS) that he wants to ask further questions of ministers if he can secure more evidence to show that the process should be improved, because he believes it is currently “letting the side down”.
“I have got some fantastic constituents and this is a headache that they do not need.
“They need support from us and they don’t need a bureaucratic system like this holding them up, with people who don’t understand their situation.”
He has asked DNS for details of its lengthy investigation into dishonest PIP assessors.
The cynic in This Writer wants to take bets on how long it will take for Mr Tomlinson and fellow Tory ministers to get Mr Mangnall to shut up.
But hope springs eternal.
Let’s hope DNS can keep Mr Mangnall dedicated to the case. The hordes of people who have been betrayed by PIP assessors deserve it.
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I want to know the answer to a question no one is asking. Who is going to feed the people? We now have a lockdown with people being told to stay home. How many millions of people is this? Who is going to feed them all. People can come out to go to the supermarket. One person per household. Over 70s have been told or will be told to self isolate for some months. There are many others who are self isolating. As long as the people can get out to supermarkets or order groceries on line to reach a complete figure of food supply then that is fine as long as there is enough food to live on. But supermarkets have a limit to the amount of customers they can go to even with double the amount of capacity they have at the moment. They could reach up to half the population but that is the absolute limit. So the other half of the population will either have to visit the supermarket or have some one visit for them or local councils can deliver food packages or voluntary groups can deliver too. There doesn’t seem to be enough of this non supermarket delivery capacity to reach those who can’t go out and can’t an online delivery. Let us pluck a figure out of the air. 1 million people and this could easily be more who can’t be reached and can’t get out. What about them, Mr Minister? And if this virus decimates more rapidly and more deadly then total food capacity will over time reduce. This would mean an ongoing reduction in quantity of food for each housing unit. Until at the extreme of this only bread will be manufactured and that is it, the total diet. We can live on bread alone for years and years. If the situation still worsens then we will have less quantity of bread and less nutritious quality. We can live on bread alone but energy provided naturally by the body will be less than someone on a full diet. Meantime we will still need a workforce in the NHS and in food production and logistics and retail staff and other essential roles against a background of up to 80% infection rate. The government and the media is not addressing this food production and food supply issue in a joined up strategic way, there doesn’t seem to be as food plan in place. Why?
The volerable people and Elderly and others have been notified by our Govt re C Virus. The next phase should be talking about families/Elderly Food Parcels re Super Markets they may or may not get Food further down the line only it is in the lap of the Gods. But for the moment things are fine. I hope to God all will be well and things get better for every human being and that we ALL Survive this HORRIFIC GERM. IN ANYBODY’S RELIGION FROM MY FAMILY TO YOU ALL GOD KEEP THIS FROM ALL OUR FAMILIES OF ALL FAITHS AMEEN.
FATIMA IN ILFORD…BLESS US ALL XX
experts in understanding the effects of a health condition on an individual’s daily life” whot ha ha ha they very highly trained HCP they s**thawks of the first degree only there to stop you has for them telling all they have nothing to do with benefits then why does it stop or be cut after a meeting with these devils they ain’t experts they charlitans aktion T4 rolling along with out much of a ado
sadly it does not matter how many tories say this is wrong, they have to be beaten at tribunal anytime, I have worked enough of these cases, read plenty of there reports to know that I am dealing with a liar within the first few pages, then you have to go through this process, mandatory reconsideration, complaints procedure, tribunal the first tow are nearly a waste of time, the tribunal is bloody hard work, in the meantime a persons condition has not got better, it has worsened, I know of at least two who self-harmed or threatened to, who then ended up being back in NHS Mental services with Phychiatrist interventions which is not cheap, one of those cases went to tribunal, 15 minutes, tribunal ruling after looking at medical evidence and a chat with the person and there rep, time to get to tribunal about a year, did anything happen to the assessor, nothing, who was the assessor, one of the ones that had assessed me and lied, been caught out lying and in the letter from capita or atos they stated they would learn from this, sure they did they went and did it again a few months later, time for accountability, time for a seprate independent complaints procedure run by professionals similar to NHS PALS so that when medical wrongdoing has happened, minor offences get treated as that unless repeated then it goes down procedural route, serious offences are treated as disciplinary with suspension pending investigation, remember if this gravy train ever ends these people could end up back in the nhs, can you see the diagnosis, nothing wrong with them, they can carry a cup of coffee, the dwp NHS arm has made a caring profession something that people are wary of, people should not be worried about going to there gp, people should not be worried about what a assessor is going to attempt to try and influence a gp on, wholesale accountability not just capita/atos and hcp level but dwp level and if there wrong then they should have to pay the price for it, whether that is medical negligence, safeguarding and if needed hmp for all involved then so be it, put them in court, give them a chance to defend themselves, if found guilty take them away, to many suicides caused by there lies, now we need accountability
My sister has been waiting over a year for an appointment because she was put off pip money matters sent the mandaTory form bk and was refused agaIn so now much longer does she need to wait thank
u
Hello frances it seems I’m in the same boat as your sister, I had my reconsideration turned down do now must go tribunal the phone operator at pip said this usually takes 6 months which if it is six months would have taken the whole process 13 months in total hope this help and good luck and best wishes to your sister in a service that is shocking to say the least
I’ve seen at least 5 liars in capita and atos all been reported to the nmc and nothing done. I have won 1 tribunal and I am in the process of going through the others. When these scumbags get found out they should be held accountable, and now they have got no work they will be back working for NHS, pretending to care for people but actually try to kill them off. And remember the virus is killing off people that these people would have assessed and probably lied about.
see if you can contact me somehow, there clearly needs to be a more methodical approach from nmc/hscp as they regulate these lot and I have taken action against some assessors and am lining up two cases on others at the moment, am on twitter
Capita assessor was not of sound mind she proved that with the false allegations and lies which ended my daily care.i have so many chronic & mobility problems and the mandatory decision was refused despite clear evidence.i cannot eat like I used to my health is deteriorating quickly a death sentence for committing no crime
mine was does not suffer anxiety issues, does not rock back and fourth in a chair, I asked them to provide the medical definition for that descriptor, they could not, then he said I did not have addiction issues as I did not shake and swet, then he stated later I had slight tremors, I would not let them look after a hamster and it worries me that somehow they managed to go through nursing training