Post by nickd on Feb 9, 2012 8:17:07 GMT 1
"Employment Minister Chris Grayling admits to sickness benefits backlogs"
The DWP are now blaming ATOS for the large numbers of claimants now waiting to be assessed
Mylegal says
Mr Grayling. You cannot blame all this calamity on ATOS or the DWP. It's all because too many totally unrealistic targets have been set and no-one can cope with such huge volumes in processing. People are appealing these decisions in droves; it's systematic failure at its worst. Let's see some sense here and remove unworkable targets. We need to ensure proper standards of decision-making by making sure claimants are listened to in the assessment - that's the only way of making sure people who can work will get the support they need to get back into work.
It's totally the wrong time to be taking away forms of support like legal aid which aid better standards of decision-making which ultimately save us all a lot of grief and cost.
Here's some BBC coverage on what's happening...
At least 35,000 people applying for sickness benefit are waiting longer than 13 weeks, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted.
DWP officials are privately blaming the backlog of employment and support allowance claims on French firm Atos, which carries out medical assessments.
Atos Healthcare said it had recruited additional staff and extended opening hours in response to the situation.
One member of DWP staff described the situation as "in meltdown".
Face-to-face appraisals
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said there were "probably about four months behind where we would wish to be and we're in the process of clearing the backlog".
He said the backlog was down to the "transitional impact" of changes being made to the medical assessment, recommended by the independent Harrington Review.
Link to rest of system
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16937742
The DWP are now blaming ATOS for the large numbers of claimants now waiting to be assessed
Mylegal says
Mr Grayling. You cannot blame all this calamity on ATOS or the DWP. It's all because too many totally unrealistic targets have been set and no-one can cope with such huge volumes in processing. People are appealing these decisions in droves; it's systematic failure at its worst. Let's see some sense here and remove unworkable targets. We need to ensure proper standards of decision-making by making sure claimants are listened to in the assessment - that's the only way of making sure people who can work will get the support they need to get back into work.
It's totally the wrong time to be taking away forms of support like legal aid which aid better standards of decision-making which ultimately save us all a lot of grief and cost.
Here's some BBC coverage on what's happening...
At least 35,000 people applying for sickness benefit are waiting longer than 13 weeks, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted.
DWP officials are privately blaming the backlog of employment and support allowance claims on French firm Atos, which carries out medical assessments.
Atos Healthcare said it had recruited additional staff and extended opening hours in response to the situation.
One member of DWP staff described the situation as "in meltdown".
Face-to-face appraisals
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said there were "probably about four months behind where we would wish to be and we're in the process of clearing the backlog".
He said the backlog was down to the "transitional impact" of changes being made to the medical assessment, recommended by the independent Harrington Review.
Link to rest of system
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16937742