A couple of weeks ago I told you all about how R was going to have an ATOS Assessment. Well she's had it now, and since what I recounted last time was largely speculation and inference, I thought I'd take a few seconds out of my day to tell you what it was like.

The first thing we wanted to do was ensure that the assessment was undertaken by a female GP. R was abused as a child which is one reason why she would find a male doctor particularly distressing. Rather to my surprise, when I phoned up the number on the letter I was told that in order to achieve this we would have to book an appointment on a different day. We had already busily rearranged other appointments which had been due to take place the day of the assessment so I left it at that until I had consulted R again. After some agonising she decided that she did want to see a female so I phoned back. This time I was told she was already scheduled to see a female assessor. As I banged my head repeatedly on the table, the chap on the other end of the line told me that these things sometimes changed on the day, so he would e-mail the assessment centre to make sure of it for us. How two people of such diverse degrees of helpfulness can do the same job in the same place is beyond me, but it was ever thus in call centres as far as I can tell.

The day itself was not so bad, reflecting on ATOS wise. They recommend what did indeed turn out to be the best route in terms of timing, including the exact train journey we should take. The walk that was timed to take 19 minutes took us about 10, so they seemed to have made reasonable allowance for slower walkers. The map they sent was somewhat poor, in that it largely failed to identify key landmarks, such as where the buses might stop. But it was once we got to the centre that the real work began. The lady at the desk was obliging and helpful, answering all our questions clearly, pointing us in the right direction and doing a lot of photocopying for us. Then, we went into the assessment itself.

We were to see a friendly and good-natured nurse who was, at a guess, late 30s.The room was more or less what you would expect of bog standard GP's surgery. She introduced herself and explained how the assessment would work. In the event it consistent entirely of questions. Now in my experience there are two ways you can play interviews like this. You can opt for 'how often are you in pain?' questions or you can go with 'but you're only limited in your mobility three days a week?' Essentially it is the difference between establishing the facts and steering them. Our nurse opted for the latter and was rewarded with R giving a calm, articulate and thorough account of how her health impacted on her. I was allowed to add what I wished to (not a great deal in the event) and the whole process felt broadly sympathetic. The nurse happily accepted that both of us should have our travel costs paid for, as R needed guidance in an unfamiliar environment. Rather than fill out a form, she simply went out and passed her view on to the receptionist, who took our details for the refund.

The real test will be when the decision about R's fitness to work is finally made. This, as I understand it, will be done at DWP HQ. ATOS have done their bit. There was, I confess, somewhat of a final twist when they sent us a pre-assessment questionnaire that we had already filled in for the assessment R had already attended. A couple of phone calls to confused people with thick accents more or less cleared that up (I'm still not completely sure what was said to me) so we threw it away. In the end though, I would have to say that admin glitches aside I was pretty happy with ATOS. I know they have a terrible reputation and I can't answer for that. All I can say is that I demanded that these institutions inspired the confidence of the people they were assessing. In this case, I am happy to say, that is what they did.

benjaminpmoore

04.08.14 Front Page

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