Tag Archives: ATOS

Written off by Atos – I might as well die

 The desperate letters from benefit cuts victims

There has been an astonishing response from readers, a deluge of personal horror stories about the Work ­Capability Assessment

 
A protester demonstrates against IT company Atos’s involvement in tests for incapacity benefits

A week ago, in this column, I told the story of Dr Greg Wood, the whistle-blower who resigned from Atos – the controversial French company paid £110 million a year to test British benefits claimants.

Dr Wood left the company after his bosses asked him to declare a person he felt was severely ill “fit for work”.

There has been an astonishing response from readers, a deluge of personal horror stories about the Work ­Capability Assessment.

MP’s concern over lack of wheelchair access at Norwich assessment centre

Adam Gretton Health correspondent adam.gretton@archant.co.uk
Monday, August 26, 2013

A Norfolk MP has called on the government to ensure that all medical assessment centres are disability friendly after highlighting the accessibility problems at a Norwich facility.

ATOS disability protestors in Norwich.  Photo: Bill Smith ATOS disability protestors in Norwich. Photo: Bill Smith

Protesters gathered outside a Norwich disability centre last year to demonstrate about the lack of wheelchair access at St Mary’s House, which is run by private contractor Atos Healthcare.

The centre in Duke Street, where people undergo medicals for disability benefits, can not be visited by wheelchair users, has no parking and is a not near a bus or train station.

MP Richard Bacon urged the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure that Atos Healthcare’s centres are accessible to wheelchair users and people with limited mobility.