Iain Duncan Smith’s brutal and bungled welfare reforms could be set to the plunge the NHS into chaos as nurses and doctors are paid huge sums to carry out benefit-slashing assessments instead of working in our chronically understaffed hospitals.
Last year the Royal College of Nusring warned that a lack of senior nurses in the NHS is putting patient care at risk. This followed a report a year earlier from the Department of Health funded Centre for Workplace Intelligence which found that the NHS will face a shortfall of 47,545 nurses by 2016. It is not just Tory cost cutting set to cause this crisis in the NHS, but a lack of suitably qualified homegrown nurses. Last year The Guardian reported that the shortage is already so acute that one in five nurses employed between 2013/14 had to be recruited from overseas.
US firm Maximus are the company brought in to replace Atos to carry out the notorious Work Capability Assessment, the crude computer based test designed to strip benefits from out of work sick and disabled people. Every one of these assessments must be carried out by a qualified healthcare professional with at least two years clinical experience In an attempt to meet their target of one million benefit assessments a year., the company are currently undertaking a huge recruitment exercise promising nurses the chance to “work within the exciting and challenging area of Disability Assessment”. What they mean is bastards wanted to cut people’s benefits by declaring them fit for work on the flimsiest of evidence.
In an attempt to bribe healthcare workers to carry out this grubby malpractice, Maximus are offering a considerably better salary than similarly qualified nurses would be paid in the NHS. A salary, it should be remembered, that is ultimately funded by the tax payer. This government would rather pay healthcare workers to bully people off benefits rather than deal with the staffing crisis in the NHS.
Maximus are not the only ones who are desperately trying to lure qualified healthcare professionals away from the NHS. Whilst the notorious Atos will soon no longer carry health tests for out of work benefits, they too are recruiting nurses and other healthcare professionals to carry out disability assessments for the new Personal Indepence Payments (PIP) – the replacement for Disability Living Allowance which pays for the costs of living with a disability such as care, transport or specialist equipment. Alongside Capita, Atos will be responsible for implementing the Tory policy to strip this benefit from a fifth of disabled people. Both Atos and Capita have large scale recruitment operations underway. Atos also use paramedics to carry out PIP assessments. Last year health bosses warned they are having to recruit paramedics from Poland due to a national shortage estimated to be around 3000.
It is unclear how many nurses and other healthcare professionals are currently working on DWP contracts to stop people’s benefits instead of in hospitals where they are so badly needed, but it is likely to run to several thousand. Minister for Murdering Disabled People Mark Harper dodged the question of how many staff Maximus are planning to recruit when he appeared before the Work and Pensions Committee this week. Every last one of these so-called healthcare professionals, which also includes doctors, is breaching the fundamental medical principle of first do no harm. But with nurses in the NHS facing pay squeezes and increased workloads, there will always be some happy to throw medical ethics out of the window and use their talents to harm not heal.
This blog has no sources of funding so here’s a quick reminder that you can help ensure it continues by making a donation.
Join me on facebook or follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid
the void 
Medicals with no medical people doing the medicals. 3 hours on wiki medical pages. Real bible bashing & faith healing voodoo at Mr Hunt`s think tank. Medicals over the phone. I thought you were the doctor & you`re asking me what`s wrong medically !!! Wiki Health Care Professionals it should be called.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/meet-new-snp-candidate-ochil-5075268
??????
ATOS & MAXIMUS ARE OUTLAWED IN MANY COUNTRIES & STATES OF THE USA. MALPRACTICE FOR STARTERS – GUILTY AS CHARGED IN ATOS & MAXIMUS HISTORY.
When you sign a contract to work with Maximus you are also signing a contract to keep quiet A Gagging Order. [read the small print] What a legacy on your CV. Maximus is a political tool. What has changed since being thrown out of the USA for malpractice.
It says it all for this government.
Sadly we now know that complaining against these hcp does get results has when they leave that company their complaints follow them so their new master will now they were unscrupulous in their last job but many nurses now know that working for these so called companies isnt a angels thing only the bad ones will jeff3
Reblogged this on sdbast.
right you push one way, and we’ll push the other, that’s bound to cause motion!
Pingback: Looming Staffing Crisis In The NHS As Atos And ...
ATOS and MAXIMUS the Fred and Rose West of the non-medical “medical” assessment-which is a medical “fit for work” assessment, of the non-medical assessment disability denial factory.
To be honest, i am not really bothered by what the DWP have unleashed on the most vulnerable.
There sad little game is starting to be the biggest embarrassment in UK governments history………………….
You can rebrand Ethnic cleansing however you wish, but there are not just a handful of deaths that they are desperately trying to erase, the true number runs into the tens of thousands, probably more.
Every day we see well documented proof that the very fabric of our nation is at rock bottom, with some dolt always challenging the obvious.
The DWP, lie, cheat and steal at every move, governed by fear at every level.
One thing is for certain, and it is happenning now, locked lips have become loose lips as the horror of what Decision Makers are expected to do, comes to light.
Senior ministers think that they can walk away from the carnage they have created, just wait till the courts are awash with claims of genocide and corporate manslaughter.
Mark my words, our day will come faster than the government thinks.
“ATOS STARTED WITH A CLEAN SLATE AND WE SOON FUCKED THEM OFF, CAPITA WILL FOLLOW, AS WILL MAXIMUS, WHO CARRY THE WORST INDELIBLE STAINS EVEN BEFORE THEY START”
“CORRUPT AT EVERY LEVEL, HAVING A WELL ITEMISED HISTORY OF CORRUPTION, DISABILITY DENIAL AND TERMINATED CONTRACTS”
“THE DWP REFUSE TO ANSWER THIS LEGITIMATE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST”
IT HAS BEEN ASKED SEVERAL TIMES
MANY MORE THAN I CAN KEEP TRACK OF
“A GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT THAT MURDERS INDISCRININATELY”
“A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSIONER THAT SUPPORTS THE DEATHS”
From: A. Clerk
27 January 2015
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
As you completely ignored my previous request I shall put it to you
once again!
Under the Freedom Of Information act I would like to request the
number of recorded deaths of the UK population judged to be fit for
work following assessments by ATOS/WORK CAPABILITY ASSESSMENTS.
This should include all deaths including “Suicides.”
Please also provide details of ongoing legal investigations into
the deaths of the UK population judged to be fit for work following
assessments by ATOS/WORK CAPABILITY ASSESSMENTS.
Yours faithfully,
A. Clerk
Link to this
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/atoswork_capability_assessements#incoming-610476
“WHILST THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE POISONS OUR SERVICE PERSONNEL”
“SHOCKING”
Thousands of British soldiers are being put at increased risk of psychosis and suicide because the Ministry of Defence refuses to stop using a controversial anti-malarial drug that has just been banned by the US military, The Independent can reveal.
Mefloquine – better known as Lariam – has long been the subject of warnings over its effects on mental health and is now only used by a minority of people travelling abroad.
Amid mounting concerns about the dangers of the drug – which has been linked with a string of suicides and murders – the US military acted this month to ban its use among special forces. The decision came after it was linked to the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier.
Yet British soldiers are still being given Lariam – a drug described as a modern-day “Agent Orange” by doctors because of its toxicity.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-the-lariam-scandal–mod-ignored-decades-of-warnings-about-dangers-of-suicide-drug-8842496.html
“I WONDER WHY THE LINKS TO THE QUESTION OF OUR TROOPS HAVING MENTAL DISORDERS DUE TO BEING GIVEN MEFLOQUINE (LARIAM), HAVE BEEN BLOCKED ?”
From: Cailean Watt
19 January 2015
Dear Ministry of Defence,
I am writing to request information as a UK citizen about UK
military personnel who were prescribed Mefloquine (a.k.a Lariam),
and the number of these personnel who were then assessed for a
mental health disorder in 2014. This ‘assessment’ could have been
in the form of being assessed at a mental health clinic or admitted
as an inpatient for a mental health disorder.
The MoD gave a thorough answer on this topic to Mrs Madeleine Moon
when she asked a written question in parliament on November 20th
2014
(http://www.parliament.uk/business/public…).
……………………..I WONDER IF ATOS, CAPITA AND MAXIMUS HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO IGNORE THE MENTAL EFFECTS ?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
What’s going to happen to all those nurses when they lose their jobs after hopefully an incoming government tears up the contacts with Atos, Maximus and Capita? They can do that by declaring the contacts “odious” which means null and void.
They won’t “lose their jobs”, they will be employed by the likes of Unum in denying disability income insurance/private health insurance premiums etc to people that have their cover with them, same as they are doing in the USA. All this will happen when people are forced (one way or another) to take out cover with them, many will not have the means to take them into court.
See……Stepping Razor Sound Plate System | January 30, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Pingback: Day of Action, 2nd of March, Against Maximus. | Ipswich Unemployed Action.
I find it difficult to believe that the mindless drone that did my ATOS assessment was any kind of medical professional. Not interested in a letter from the senior eye surgeon at the hospital regarding my cataract surgery just a few days before. Not interested in a letter from my GP saying that I was clearly incapable of working. Rushed through the tick boxes in 15 minutes. Usual lies: 100% fit to work. Benefits immediately stopped. She got her pieces of silver. I don’t know how these people sleep at night.
Lee, how do you survive with no income? This company Maximus is using medical staff who should be healing people in the NHS to plunge disabled people, most of who would happily work, into poverty and often homelessness.
Pingback: Crime Minister says MPs ‘love our country’ and are in politics for the ‘right’ reasons - Maria Muir.com
Reblogged this on Same Difference.
Please can people not post comments identifying individual staff members. Ta.
@JV fair enough but this came up before when a twat from A4e was banging on how A4E was pretty much running the DWP …
Thing is if we post examples of whats going on with Maximus and their attitude one could identify them from job description
But how do you square that with getting info on whats going on with maximus withour quoting from ppls own statements and position and what they are doing eg recruiting NHS or having worked in NHS
The newspapers often quote people and name them and what position they hold …and they are prone to be getting sued
These employees of maximus dont seem to have a problem with what they do..even promoting that shit company too
Blogs can be sued just as easily as newspapers. Directors, Judges, people in the public eye, fine, front line staff not fine. Really it’s the kind of thing that could cause a lot of shit and I don’t need it.
@JV ok so delete it all then …and also not say nasty things about M*xim*s or I**n D*nc*n Sm*th or C*ns*rv*ves or L*b*ur or C*m*r*n
Lets not say anything about anybody in fact…
you can say what you want if you set up your own blog and face the consequences yourself
What`s changed from before !!! The powers that be are getting nervous !!!
The one who can`t be named Valdermalt. – DWP aka Valdermalt.
@JV i will probbly do that as i cant see way where i cant not name ppl
That is part of the whole deal it would look silly if i didnt
you can name people in the public eye, that includes politicians, company directors, people who have made public statements online, all kinds of people in fact, but not individual front line workers – if you or anyone has evidence of malpractice by a front line worker email me and we can discuss it. theres no need to name a worker when discussing jobcentres or anywhere else being arseholes and by doing so then this might not only be a breach of privacy, depending what you say, or what others may subsequently say, but also harassment, and possibly libel, again depending on what is said, or what others say – I dont have time to monitor the comments in real time. it also gives ammunition to the DWP if they ever decide to have a go at this blog. there is far less moderation on here than most similar places on the net and I dont think this is un unfair policy – and it has always existed, I’ve always removed names of people not in the public eye.
Agreed. Give thanks JV for your blog
I wish I knew how to set up my own blog and set posts to public or private.
Probably pseudonyms, sure [redacted] my sanction happy work roach is a famous porn star.
For my privacy and private life I want to use a My pseudonym/pen name on Universal Jobmatch,is this OK, or will my Jobentre or Work Programme adviser tell me to use my my ‘official’name? Will I get a JSA sanction if I only choose to use a pseudonym/pen name?
Universal Jobmatch would not stop you inputting a pseudonym or pen name. However anyone claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) will be expected to register in their own name, especially in instances where an adviser has issued a Jobseeker’s Direction to require a claimant to create a profile and public CV in UJ.Jobseeker’s Directions require JSA claimants to take specific actions which will help them to find work, and failure to do so without good reason may result in a benefit sanction being applied. The onus is on the claimant to demonstrate that they have followed the direction. In instances where a pseudonym or pen name has been used the adviser cannot be sure that the evidence being provided belongs to the claimant and may therefore refer to a decision maker to consider whether a sanction should be applied or not.
Jobcentre workers use fake names over security fears
One rule for work roaches another for claimants.
What BS! So according to that link if their safety and well being is in doubt they can use a fake name. So why is their safety and well being considered a priority when this corrupt bunch of wankers have been the one’s who have instigated sanctions on the poorest in society leading to their deaths?
So their safety and well being is paramount but an unemployed or sick/disabled person’s is not?
I missed that. Did someone do that on here? What do you mean by that? Do you mean like people you deal with at JCP? people like that?
yes, frontline staff basically, either at JCP or elsewhere. this blog has recently been falsely accused of inciting violence in the courts because of some of the comments, both Atos and DWP have also made noises about individual staff being targetted. there are all kinds of criminal laws against online harassment, as well as libel/privacy laws and I’d rather not take any risks at the moment – it just doesn;t seem worth it just so someone can slag off there work coach, there are plenty of places online people can make comments where they will be held responsible for them, not me.
There are also civil and criminal laws against the abuses of power that frontline JCP staff dish out to claimants everyday, but do you hear DWP defending claimants against their rogue agency.
Couldn’t give a shit, Johnny – we are naming and shaming Mickey and Minnie Mouse who both work at Hackney jobcentre.
Jobcentre workers use fake names over security fears
Reblogged this on Britain Isn't Eating.
Reblogged this on glynismillward189.
… and this is what happens when the government only give nurses a 1% pay rise (when MPs have had 11%) Who can blame nurses for wanting to increase their net pay. This government would rather pay money to private companies to enable them to make a profit, but the thing is, it’s taxpayers money that they are paying them with!
that be a no then has there was only a dew asked for it at atos more lies to come fiddling the figures of those who asked for it to be recorded jeff3
@JV tell you what i put in an FOI on a case in connection with a serious offender and HO removed it then rejected it and hid it
Seems the official line was about not wanting to defame that convicted offender what had been continually offending …aww poor thing ..he can cause harm to young ppl but we must not say bad things about him
I had a fairly brief medical by a retired doctor at ATOS. Totally scary as he was familiar with my condition and the operation I had had. I suspect he got more for his half hour that I was getting per week. I worked with Capita once on an outsourcing contract. They lack of knowledge was encyclopaedic!!
NOT FAMILIAR!!!
Cover up of Westminister Pedo is going well… [if you’re a dead person that is]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31062904
One amusing thing about the Nurses is this question.
When did the law change to allow “non-Doctors” to make medical judgements on people?
Can anyone say “Struck Off Nurses?”
Let alone the disclaimer on the page about “not our fault Guv if you use Us”
Good luck to Maximus when this roles up in court [Oh, and DWP will be in the dock with them for letting through such a lax Contract to allow this abuse.]
The influential 2007 report by the unelected David Freud, promoted the use of the private sector in welfare reforms when adviser to the New Labour Party and before being appointed as the Minister for Welfare Reforms in 2010 by the Coalition government. Subsequently, the WCA was sub-contracted to Atos Healthcare in 2008 and according to the General Medical Council, Atos Healthcare ‘have total immunity from all medical regulation.
The WCA uses a manipulated bio-psychosocial (BPS) model of assessment, designed in consultation with Unum Provident Insurance and is a replica of the discredited healthcare insurance assessment model historically used by Unum Provident Insurance to resist funding insurance claims. The LiMA IT programme used for the WCA was designed by Atos Origin IT Ltd, the parent company of Atos Healthcare, for exclusive use for DWP assessments
Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog.
“HOW LORD DAVID FREUD CONNED PARLIAMENT”
When the Tory work and pensions undersecretary Lord David Freud set out his vision of welfare reform for disabled people he used a number of references to back up his plans. No fewer than 170 of these references came from a group of academics based at or connected to Cardiff University’s Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research.
This centre, originally led by the ex‑chief medical officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, Sir Mansel Alyward, was funded by the US-based insurance giant Unum to the tune of £1.6 million from 2004 to 2009. The objective was to add academic credibility to the ‘biopsychosocial model’ that has underpinned disability benefits reform since the early 1990s – a model used as part of the government’s disability benefits crackdown by the private company Atos in identifying who is deemed to be ‘fit for work’ and hence ineligible for disability support.
Reblogged this on Citizens, not serfs.
I’m sure Sue Marsh will sort this out for us. I have every faith in her ability to persuade this corporate juggernaut, having bought her off, to behave.
…………….So recorded deaths in prisons are up,
recorded deaths in hospitals are up,
recorded deaths of homeless are up,
recorded deaths of old people are up,
recorded deaths of welfare claimants are up,
recorded deaths of children are up,
……………….and yet the government insist there are no links to any of it’s policies ?
This morning there is talk of arming all policemen with tazers.
Is this really about fear of terrorists, or the terror unleashed on the people by the state ?
The recorded instances of deaths by tazers is also up, where is all this leading ?
Politicians don’t give two fucks about you or i, the interests of Lord Darzi and Alan Millburn show just how much the Labour party thinks of the electorate……………….
Both have multiple interests in private healthcare and push for the end of our shining jewel in the crown, the NHS.
There are over two hundred peers in the House of Lords who have conflicts of interest, being on the boards, advisors or investors in private health.
“THESE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE VOTING ON OUR CHILDRENS FUTURES”
Couple that with their ignorance of the war waged upon the disabled and poor, and you have nothing but Red Tory’s.
………..Greece and Scotland are leading by example. It’s time to send these self serving bastards to the history books…….
“POWER IS INFECTIOUS, IT DISSOLVES ALL YOUR PRINCIPLES AND WHET’S YOUR APPETITE FORE MORE”
Reblogged this on sdbast.
Pingback: Looming Staffing Crisis In The NHS As Atos And ...
a great thought provoking post jv…few will fail to see it’s overall implications…
just what has healthcare in the uk become?
Sanction/Hardship payments – JCP work coach probing my own and partners health in support of withholding the first two weeks of hardship payments.
Reminiscent of the fit to be liquidated ceremony of the 20th century.
mr r
guilty of being alive whilst poor…
Sorry to hear this Mr R. Stay strong and don’t give an inch to these bottom feeding scumbags. So they sanction your JSA and then when you revert to the only option left, hardship payments, they look into stopping you getting them too. All designed to bully, cow and intimidate you into compliance with their BS and to make you grovel before them and willingly accept the worst kind of job imaginable. Or workfare.
This is the culture we now live in. Where working for your dole and being hounded and bullied is deemed acceptable and desirable.
Thanks Raining,
Pretty angry because the premeditated and false jobsearch doubt sanction by the work coach was bizarrely because the WC had taken it as some kind of personal affront that I had walked out of CWP. The WC was aware that I would be sanctioned for refusing the CWP placement making her manufactured sanction an act of vengeance and even more malicious.
The sanctions for refusing CWP are pending.
I know all about it mate. Those workfare pricks got me sanctioned for refusing to go on their slave/drone work program. Then they wonder on subsequent dealings with them why you’ve got an attitude. Well, sanctioning people so they have no money to buy food or pay rent etc tends to do things like that to us. When you try to deny us our right to food and well being and shelter, so that we possibly end up dying from it, then excuse us JCP/DWP scum if we take it personally.
Wankers of the highest order. I phoned them up to tell them i was not going to it and the idiot woman then says i have to because “It’s the law!” Oh is it dear? It’s not common law, which is what we’re governed by. These BS so called laws are not even laws. The trouble is the judiciary work hand in glove with them to uphold this BS.
@Raining ” its the law ” tell me about laws like The Home Office having to comply with freedom of information requests and totally ignoring them
Are they above the law then?
And this law ..the law that says everyone should be working ..in which case all unemployed must be criminals
Well they must be ..look terrorists they are criminals and guess what they are benefit claimants too they must be to have all that time on their hands to commit terrorist offences
See Iain Drunken Shit is trying to protect humanity by getting those terrorists to get a job so they would be too busy stacking shelves they wont be
out therw blowing us all up
IDS that man is i saint i tells ya
And sanctioning all them terrorist types will stop them from buying bomb making stuff too
Maybe you can ask Mr A, Salmond for some of the £116 000 expenses he claimed from a few years back. Surely he’s not spent it all.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/alex-salmond-claimed-116k-expenses-972571
Alex Salmond doesn’t look like a man who skips a meal… 😀
Reblogged this on Notes from the north.
“DWP SANCTIONS APPLIED AS A LAST RESORT”
(PLEASE STOP LAUGHING)
[DWP request email]
Our reference: VTR 76
Date: 30 January 2015
Dear Mr Booth,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received on 14 January
2015. You asked:
I am seeking information about benefit sanctions being instigated as a last
resort, to quote https://www.gov.uk/government/news/benefit-sanctions-
ending-the-something-for-nothing-culture–2
Please could you email Jobcentre’s staff guidance or manuals that mention
this last resort.
There is no guidance or manual that makes specific reference to sanctions as
a last resort. However, in the interest of customer service, it may be helpful if I
explain the steps taken before imposing a sanction.
We take into account individual circumstances when setting requirements,
e.g. in terms of what activities someone might be expected to undertake to
give themselves best prospects of employment. Nobody is expected to
undertake something that is simply unreasonable given their circumstances.
If a claimant refuses or fails to comply with any requirement placed on them,
they are given the opportunity to provide their reasons for not complying.
Where the claimant demonstrates they had good reason, a sanction is not
applied.
Where a potential sanction is identified, the details are referred to an
independent Decision Maker to consider whether or not the claimant had
good reason. DWP Decision Makers make their decisions on behalf of the
Secretary of State. When determining whether or not a person had good
reason, Decision Makers take into account existing Social Security legislation
and established Case Law, as well as the individual circumstances of the
case (including any evidence provided by the claimant).
In terms of decisions made, and sanctions imposed, these are subject to a
quality assurance process to ensure that Decision Makers continuously apply
the law fairly and consistency.
If you have any queries about this letter please contact us quoting the
reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
……………………THATS WHY ME, A DISABLED MAN, HAS BEEN LIVING ON £33.20P PER WEEK FOR NEARLY 18 MONTHS
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/247411/response/612387/attach/html/3/FoI%2076%20WDTK%20Booth..pdf.html
“TO ILLUSTRATE HOW EASILY THE DWP APPLY SANCTIONS TO THE VULNERABLE, I WILL SHOW YOU MY MEDICAL REPORTS THAT THE DWP HOLD”
MR REYNOLDS IS ENTITLED TO THE HIGHER RATE OF THE MOBILITY COMPONENT, FROM AND INCLUDING 14/112002, BECAUSE HE IS VIRTUALLY UNABLE TO WA;K CONSIDERING THE DISTANCE, SPEED, MANNER AND TIME HE IS UNABLE TO WALK WITHOUT SEVERE DISCOMFORT.
MR REYNOLDS IS ENTITLED TO THE LOWEST RATE OF THE CARE COMPONENT FROM AND INCLUDING 14/11/2002 , BECAUSE HE CANNOT PREPARE A COOKED MAIN MEAL.
MR REYNOLDS HAS BACK PROBLEMS, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS , HEARING PROBLEMS AND BLADDER PROBLEMS.
……………………………and yet a DWP DECISION MAKER MADE A DECISION TO MAKE ME EXIST ON £33.32P PER WEEK FOR THE LAST EIGHTEEN MONTHS.
M Boyce left an annotation (31 January 2015)
The DWP has provided you with a largely inaccurate reply.
They say:
‘If a claimant refuses or fails to comply with any requirement placed on them, they are given the opportunity to provide their reasons for not complying.’
Yes, but often only AFTER the sanction has been imposed as a FIRST resort.
For instance, if the DWP send a claimant an adviser interview letter through the post, and which gets lost in the post, and then the claimant doesn’t turn up for this interview because they simply didn’t know about it, then that claimant is instantly sanctioned as a FIRST resort. This happens regularly.
The DWP then go on to say:
‘Where the claimant demonstrates they had good reason, a sanction is not applied.’
Often, absolutely untrue. in the example above the DWP just say they sent out the letter, and if the claimant didn’t receive it then it is the claimant’s fault and the sanctioned stands.
Then the DWP says:
‘ Where a potential sanction is identified, the details are referred to an INDEPENDENT Decision Maker to consider whether or not the claimant had good reason.’
Total nonsense. Sanction decisions are referred to Decision Makers who work WITHIN the DWP – how is that independent? Only if a claimant decides to take their appeal to tribunal, does it become independent, and only then are the DWP made to abide by the rules and to play fair.
The DWP sanction regime under the ConDem Government has turned the law in this country on its head. The claimant now has to prove their innocence, and the DWP does not have to prove the claimants guilt – the burden of proof has been illegally and unfairly placed onto the sanctionee. Sanctions are being applied totally unfairly by the DWP as a way of saving the Government money and as a way of bashing the poor for the financial mess that governments and bankers have left this country in.
M Boyce
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/sanctions_are_used_as_a_last_res#incoming-612387
“Only if a claimant decides to take their appeal to tribunal, does it become independent, and only then are the DWP made to abide by the rules and to play fair.”
THIS IS ALSO TOTAL BULLSHIT, THE TRIBUNAL IS NEITHER, FAIR, IMPARTIAL OR INDEPENDENT………………..
JUST ANOTHER COG IN THE DISABILITY DENIAL PROGRAMME……..
………..every department which bears the Queens coat of arms is another state run facility.
The Queen gave her approval, Royal Assent, to the Welfare Act 2012, therefore the independence has never existed and never will.
“HOW MANY CWP RETAINED A REAL JOB?”
From: p travis
30 January 2015
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
Dear Sir/Madam
1) could you please tell me how many people have been put on to the
CWP (community work programme) buy the job centre from April 2014
untill 30/1/2015
2) and how many of those people have returned from the CWP to the
job centre after the CWP has finished?
Yours faithfully,
Paul Travis
Link to this
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/how_many_cwp_clients_have_been_s#incoming-612112
Would FAIR, IMPARTIAL OR INDEPENDENT Tribunals even entertain the DWP instruments of CWP slavery?
Norfolk and Suffolk mental health Skype ‘outsourcing’ causes concern.
A health trust’s proposal to help treat patients with depression by using “staff from lower wage countries” via Skype showed a lack of understanding of mental health care, say campaigners.
mr r
why not? it’s just a progression of the current crap MH so called care, people get anyway….CBT from call centres from around the globe…unless it is actually curing mental pain, cognitive therapy, ie clearing/cleaning/venting/de toxing trauma(s), caused by abuse, programmed toxic gossip from mind, then skype is an excellent medium….
“For us, investigating a mutuals model is all about improving staff engagement. Being part of the Pathfinder project might help us fully understand the benefits … “
Pathfinder project???
Wannseekonferenz!
mr r
they help one to find one’s way, we learn how to part the red sea on the way to the promised land….not understanding the word RECOVERY, of the path that one has been brutally knocked off of…coz we all start of with the same life chances of everyone else don’t we, and make a lifestyle choice to be abused, downtrodden and poor?
‘the conspiracy’, saw the movie not long ago!
While it does say they’re not seriously considering the Skype proposal, which was more to do with making use of people in countries where they wouldn’t have to pay them much; it does, yet again, illustrate their attitudes. How therapeutic could it be, when all involved would be being, in their different ways, downtrodden and exploited.
Here’s another suggestion for them – take away all the funding for those making bad situations even worse, and put it into Real mental-health treatments; and note that no therapy is going to work under the duress of someone’s income being removed for every hint of non compliance, imagined or otherwise.
Maximus have made it known that they intend to do more initial assessing over the phone, and for those with mental-health illnesses. This when they must know that a lot of people with mental-health issues, and many others, find it difficult to engage with a strange person through that medium, and don’t manage to say things right, so – claim dismissed. Which of course is the real purpose of these excercises. That is, all of it a variety of Paths to finding that every condition is a result of not thinking in the right way; and so off you go to your workfare, or no benefit, or even both at once; as that’s the treatment to be prescribed for all ills.
It is some sort of treatment for sure, as in treating people in as undermining a way as possible, and then deciding that they the perpetrators can provide the treatment for it. What an audacity for this abusing government, who are doing everything they can think of, and then some more, to worsen and create more depression and anxiety across the land, through instigating fear and insecurity, to proclaim that they are doing this to help people, when it must be obvious that in most cases it will only be helpful to those profiting more from the woes of others.
When the answer to supporting people with mental-health distresses is firstly to stop removing their support. To stop the policies of bullying, harassment, sanctions, starving, unhousing and thoroughly demolishing anyone not successful at coping with what life has thrown at them. Which includes policies intentionally creating a large pool of the unemployed.
To which the government’s benevolent answer is – let’s see what we can do to make things even worse for them, and then say we’ll provide a cure for what troubles them; which is being forced to work for a small amount while being punished for not having a higher wage. Until death becomes The cure-all, which even then hardly seems to satisfy them.
All of this instigated by a department headed by someone obviously very psychologically damaged by something in his background, who is one of those minority with psychosis who also have become completely depleted of empathy, and wish as well, in vengence for something that has twisted him, to hurt as many others as possible.
Therefore, an initial step to healing the increasing ills of the nation, would be to remove from office (and strip of benefits) this very mentally ill person; illustrated by the way he and the similarly emotionally crippled that he draws to him, laugh and jeer and mock and bray with pleasure, in the midst of any parliamentary debate about the suffering and death being caused by their policies.
And then immediately to abandon all of those policies, and to put in their place only proposals of decency and caring, along with a refusal any more to exploit.
dirt under
main stream MH treatment is all about management and control, and because of this makes the problems worse…humiliating and intimidation cures nothing…. http://www.soteria.freeuk.com/176_16-18.pdf
@Donkey Skype now comes up with ” microsoft account ‘ like setup one
Like thats a good idea after complaints about microsoft being linked to security bods like NSA and probbly all international security services..but then ppl would just think i was a tinfoil hatter
chewie
dunno mate, don’t take too much interest in that kinda stuff….
@donkey microsoft bought skype but allegations of feeding info to spooks persist
The message underneath is to OBD above. I get a bit confused in all of these boxes… One big company buys another, and their opportunities for collecting up info about us increase expotentially. Always best to be wary.
Bear in mind that US companies are subject to the US Patriot Act which the US Government use to ensure data concerning individuals are the property of the state – which can also be sold on to private outfits. Anyway, we are all under surveillance by the Five Eyes spook consortium, which includes the NSA and GCHQ. In fact Five Eyes is basically a supra-national corporate outfit.
I know. In saying there should be investment in Real mental-health treatment, I should have qualified that that meant as compared to what is happening now; which, as you say, is mostly the opposite of benefical, and still far too much about control and/or pushing drugs, which soon just make people feel worse or scramble up the neural connections.
CBT helps some, but it depends on the cause, and isn’t for everyone, especially those who are sent there with a condition like M.E., implying it’s not real. There need to be various approaches, but not cutbacks for anything that might be useful, followed by unnerving phone calls.
And there’s still far too much resistance to hearing about it from the point of view of the ‘client’, the one who really knows the effects from experience, and not out of a textbook. When much of it is really because the drug companies need to keep making their profits, and psychiatric can be made into an endless market. Even while they do far more harm than good.
What is very certain is that the government’s prescription for mental-health areas is only likely to increase the shattering of already fragile minds; even for those who were okay before they broke down under the strain of dealing with the DWP. Which is not going to be remedied by making people accept phone calls from that direction under the pretence of therapy. Far better would it be to make a halt to a proportion of the nation living in fear of the DWP envelope.
Btw OBD, I have found your references interesting and instructive.
dirt under
behaviourism who sets the standards??
the work of dr bob, sets one free!
@dutf
From now on it’s vital to never give a telephone number – not everyone can afford a telephone, landline or mobile. Likewise textphones are only available to those with SOME problems with speech and deafness, but not stroke survivors with aphasia a likely consequence. That’ll put the mockers on Maximus’ scheme. Anyway, less than 100 days to go.
It’s been a long time since JC+ and the DWP accepted not having a phone as an reason for not giving them a phone number. Some individuals on JSA have been given JS directions to force them to use their weekly pittance to purchase a phone under threat of sanction.
Even PAYG has conditions and requires regular monthly top ups, never mind contracts that run for 24mths minimum)
Just another few ways they “support” by hammering us.
lucy
‘As part of the process of claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants are asked to supply, but are not obliged to provide, their telephone number.’ see refuted’s link on this page… http://www.edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk/node/42
ps enter ‘need for telephone’ in refuted’s search box…
It’s all so well and good OBD, but doesn’t cover the myriad opinions on the rules, held by the averagely bitter, hell bent on knackering a person’s immediate life up, JC+ Adviser. They have been trying anything and everything they can to trip up and screw over individuals making claims, for years and years now.
If they think they can get away with it, they will try it on.
It’s good to keep pointing to the organisations that are genuinely dealing in truth.
EATTHE RICH!!
EAT THE THIRDFORCE GANGMASTERS!!
SAY GOODBYE TO AUSTERITY!!
Say hello to GOLDEN DAWN
Gone is The Lady with the Lamp – we now have the Nurse from Mein Kampf.
Outsourcing overseas via Skype raises very serious concerns to me. After recovery from surgery (and classed prematurely fit by ATOS!) it took me a year to find a job because of ageism. In the course of this process I passed every skills test I undertook (computing, networking, database, accounts and book keeping) bar one. This was carried out over the telephone by someone based overseas. Although they were fairly fluent in English I had difficulty in understanding the questions because of a heavy accent and some rather bizarre technical jargon. This is not a way a person’s fitness could be assessed. I did think of appealing but decided if that was the company’s culture I did not really want to know.
Reblogged this on Jay's Journal and commented:
We need our nurses in the NHS with decent pay!
I am once again pleased to read Geoff Reynolds comments…and others. Their views and comments echo my own+++
I have no faith in the British Judiciary. Especially its lower orders. If the arguments get too tough for any government controlled agency…surprise,surprise,it accidently catches fire: records lost. Very convenient.
The army are now to be engaged. Read the papers? Recruits in training to monitor and engage in ops. Embedding in disaffected groups and bloggers,just as the police have done with protesters. And tho they sexually and psychologically abused those protesters,the women dismissed,police awarded ££££££s in compo. That compo paid by our fathers and mothers: what the toffs call plebs. That’s British Justice.
If you think you have been mistreated or misdiagnosed by WCA,complain about that staff member to their professional body,ATOS or its twin,then as many others as you think appropriate.
Reblogged this on The Greater Fool.
Rebuild the National Health Service
Public Service Not a Profitering Business
Academic Jobs Europe is one of the best job search websites in Europe. We post and update academic jobs in Europe frequently. Check our website if you are looking for Poland job opportunities for International students. Find other opportunities in Europe by registering with us.
https://jobs.edu.eu/