Thursday 17 October 2013

ATOS, GET TO F***!!!


ATOS, GET TO F***!!!


I have a friend and she is not well in the slightest.  She has great difficulty breathing and is also in tremendous pain due to an undiagnosed lung problem.  Back in 2010, this lady had two medicals to access her health for the DWP.  One assessment was for ESA, which was assessed by ATOS ,and the other assessment was for disability Living Allowance.

A couple of weeks later she received the results through the post.  She was awarded DLA at the higher rate with mobility component. ATOS found her ‘Fit for Work’ from her ESA assessment.

Anyone who has campaigned on the streets will have heard countless stories similar to this lady’s story.  A quick search online will also show thousands of heart-breaking stories that reflect so badly on the Government’s Work Capability Assessments (WCA).

There is an argument that there is little point blaming ATOS for the way the deal with disabled and ill people as they are not the organ-grinders. It is the Tory-led Government who has decided on this policy and ATOS ‘only follow the rules’ set down by them by the Government.  I believe that this argument is false and ATOS should be thoroughly attacked at every possible occasion.

Many, many moons ago I was a medic.  It was drilled into me how a medic should conduct themselves. There is an unwritten oath to treat patients and casualties with respect, dignity and humanely. Don’t get me wrong, we were no Florence Nightingales but we conducted ourselves with pride in our profession.

Those in the medical professional should have
 pride in their work and empathy when treating sick and disabled patients.


And so I look at ATOS and they sicken me. It repulses me that this repugnant IT firm has the stomach to enter the medical profession and to treat sick and disabled people in such a degrading manner.  I can’t get my head around how a nurse, the profession that is synonymous with empathic care, can look a disabled person in the eye knowing that their decision is going to have such a devastating effect on the life of that person.  How can they sleep at night?

ATOS needs to go. There is no place for them in our medical sector; they are an embarrassment, tainted by their gruesome WGA regime. Quite simply, ATOS get to F***!!!!


The solution:  This isn’t rocket science of radical thinking, it is simple.  Take disability and sickness benefit out of the hands of the DWP and, instead, have medics treat the ill and allow the NHS to administer disability and sickness benefit.  There is absolutely no sense in the Department of Works and Pensions having control of benefits with are not work or pensions related especially when the support that sick and disabled people can be very complex and require different agencies to work together.

So say after me, “ATOS, ATOS, GET TO F***!!!”
Lets have medics treating the ill and disabled




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