Post by nickd on Aug 23, 2011 23:19:32 GMT 1
ATOS - the DWP contracted health care professionals who carry out work capability assessments for ESA decision-maker's have been coming in for a lot of criticism of late.
Is it justified or libelous?
It seems they are fighting back with legal action and closure of sites; - are they restricting the rights of complainants or acting within the law to protect their reputation?
Here's what Carer Watch say...
'Distress' for disabled after legal threat shuts web forum
Molly Garboden
Monday 22 August 2011 15:08
"Disabled people and carers have been caused "fear and distress" after an internet forum they use was taken down after disability assessment firm Atos Healthcare threatened to sue for libel.
Atos said the forum, run by carers campaign group Carer Watch, had carried "false and malicious allegations" about the company and its employees.
The forum's internet host company shut the site without warning, a Carer Watch spokesperson said. The organisation has still not been told why Atos has threatened to sue for libel.
In a letter to the Atos legal team, Carer Watch said members had been phoning forum organisers in tears because of the fear and distress caused by the site's suspension.
However, it said it could not contact members whose contact details were lost when the site was shut.
"We are in the dark and that is why we contacted Atos," a Carer Watch spokesperson told Community Care. "By all rights they should have contacted us first and any possible libellous comments would have been removed immediately. Our members, who we're currently unable to reach, are our priority just now."
An Atos spokesperson said: "While we fully support the right of people to express their opinions, it is our duty to protect the reputation of our employees and company against false and malicious allegations.
"In such circumstances, we will look to take any necessary steps to ensure that these unsupported claims are addressed swiftly and appropriately."
Atos is contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions to carry out medical assessments of people applying for employment and support allowance, the replacement for incapacity benefit. Last month, it was criticised by MPs for "unacceptable" failings, including overbooking appointments for assessments and the assessments being carried out at centres inaccessible to disabled people."
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As a responsible forum, we obviously can't condone any libellous comments about ATOS. However, for many disabled people, the disability forums are the only place where they feel they can air their views. There are a huge number of blog posts which express a view that a large number of claimants are unhappy over the way they have been assessed, if it's not on the net, it's on Twitter, if it's not there it's on Facebook, similarly many people are protesting over the way they've been examined.
The GMC are apparently looking into 12 of the ATOS healthcare professionals and concern has reached Parliament over the accuracy of the assessments. Perhaps ATOS would be better listening to the views of its customers before taking legal action against those who will no doubt say they are only expressing a view.
It seems that when the genuinely disabled are irresponsibly labelled 'fakers', 'scroungers', 'skivers' or 'fraudsters' by the media they have little redress, yet when the people challenge those carrying out the profitable medical assessments they are quickly deprived of the right to have their say.
It's all the more reason why claimants should have the right to access legal help to put right what they see as an injustice. Ultimately, the place where it is determined whether the medical assessment is right or wrong is the Tribunal room; - it's why people need help contesting the state and those they contract to carry out these assessments.
Has anyone else heard of other closures?
* This article was brought to my attention by a Mylegal viewer who was dismayed to learn of the closure of this particular disability forum.
* The image used in this post belongs to crippencartoons.wordpress.com - from Google Images.
Link...
www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2011/08/22/117337/distress-for-disabled-after-legal-threat-shuts-web-forum.htm