THE FULL FACTS

Forgive me if this sounds silly but if I request a recorded medical who's problem is it that they do not have any machines?

It is not my problem and I don't mind waiting for them to get one.

Forgive me if this sounds silly but if I request a recorded medical who's problem is it that they do not have any machines?

It is not my problem and I don't mind waiting for them to get one.

Not so good if the claimant is on assessment rate!

Have I read somewhere that the DWP have to pay a higher rate after 13-weeks (I think) whether they've finished their assessment or not, or did I imagine that? Something about it being the DWPs fault for the backlog, not the claimant's so they shouldn't have to lose out because of it.

A benefits advisor had a 1st tier tribunal win on this issue, Here http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/2810/

Yet in a blog entry (available at
http://blog.atoshealthcare.com/2012/07/ ... f-the-wca/),
Atos Healthcare has said on 6 July 2012: "under the terms of our
contract with the Department [for Work and Pensions], we cannot
postpone an assessment on the basis of audio-recording."

Thank you for your letter of 24 July on behalf of [me] about the audio recording of the face-to-face Work Capability Assessment (WCA). I am sorry for the delay in replying.

In his first independent review of the WCA, Professor Harrington recommended that Atos Healthcare pilot the audio recording of face-to-face assessments to "determine whether such an approach is helpful for claimants and improves the quality of assessments."

A pilot was conducted during Spring 2011. The results of the pilot clearly shows that audio recording of Atos assessments would not improve the quality of assessments and there was only limited evidence of improvement in the customer experience for some individuals. Less than half consented to having their assessment recorded and a tiny proportion, less than 1 per cent, requested a copy of their assessment. There was no difference between the quality of recorded assessments and those which were not recorded.

Providing an audio recording facility for all assessments would be extremely costly with no apparent substantial benefit or improvement in assessments. As a result, the Department has not implemented universal recording of assessments. Instead we have asked Atos Healthcare to try and accommodate requests for audio recording where a claimant makes a request in advance of their assessment.

It is important to note that the availability of audio recording was announced at a time when only a small number of requests were expected and since that time the number of requests has increased significantly. This has put pressure on the ability of Atos Healthcare to accommodate all requests.

The dual CD machines which the DWP uses for audio recording are a specialist item and are built on demand. As a consequence there is a lead in time of 4-10 weeks. Additional machines have been ordered. In view of the limited number of requests for recording, the limited funds available and competing priorities, the large scale purchase of machines is not an effective use of public money. Although there have been increases in requests these still represent only a small percentage of overall WCAs – equating to 0.18 per cent of completed face-to-face assessments for the period March – July 2012.

In the meantime, whilst Atos Healthcare will do all that they can to accommodate requests for audio recording, there may be times when this service cannot be offered, for example, where it has not been possible to get access to recording equipment on the date/time of the WCA. In these circumstances clients will be told in advance that their request cannot be accommodated. Currently, WCA appointments may be deferred for up to four weeks for any circumstance, including the non-availability of recording equipment.

I hope this is helpful to you.