Reblogged from Beastrabban's Weblog:
This is another piece on Atos that I’ve found on Youtube. It’s a
report from Sky News, put up on the 18th October 2013, revealing that
doctors have officially complained about the extra workload they are
being placed under by people, who have been declared fit for work by
Atos. They also reveal that the Citizens Advice Bureau had received
150,000 complaints about Atos.
The report also covers the case of Mr
Cowper, a man dying of cancer, who was nevertheless found fit for work
by Atos. Mr Cowper is only one of tens of thousands. The precise number
is unknown because the government repeatedly refuses to release the
figures, claiming that such requests are ‘vexatious’. See the relevant
posts over at Vox Political on Mike’s attempts to get the figures out of them.
Atos, however, are complaining that they have been victimised. Their
vice-president, Wayne Gibson, turns up on the programme to state that
they were working for the government for fifteen years with no protests.
They feel that they have been scapegoated for the government’s
policies.
Now I was first thrown off benefits when Blair/ Brown were in power.
If I remember correctly, there were strong articles about Atos in Private Eye even
then. Furthermore, the company cannot pass the blame wholly onto the
Government. They chose to bid for the contract and administer the tests.
No-one forced them. If they had an moral objections to the work, they
could simply have withdrawn their services. Or, if their health care
professionals are as highly trained and skilled as they said, they could
have sought to change the test itself. They did not. Now I think the
company is right in that the DWP must also share the blame, but this
does not, by any means, excuse them.
If you want to see the video on Youtube, it’s at ‘Atos Gets 150,000 Complaints, Atos say DWP to Blame’ at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GwUSa63tX0
