Manchester demo against MAXIMUS and Work Capability Assessments!

We are publishing below a recent briefing received from Boycott Workfare:

"There will be a demonstration against Maximus and the Work Capability
Assessment on Monday 2nd March 2015 from 12pm at Albert Bridge House,
Bridge Street, Manchester, M60 9AT (meeting point St Mary's Parsonage
(the road/square off Bridge St on the Manchester side of Albert Bridge
House), Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/346833825508275 )

This demonstration is part of the national day of action against
Maximus and the WCA called by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) on
Monday 2nd March 2015:
http://dpac.uk.net/2015/01/disabled-claimants-welcome-to-maximus-march-2nd-everywhere/

Maximus is the company taking over from Atos running the despised Work
Capability Assessments (WCAs) for sickness and disability benefits.
These crude and callous assessments have been used to strip benefits
from hundreds of thousands of sick and disabled people after a quick
computer based test ruled them 'fit for work'. A growing number of
suicides have been directly linked to this stressful regime, whilst
charities, medical staff and claimants themselves have warned of the
desperate consequences for those left with no money at all by the
system.

In a huge embarrassment for the DWP, the previous contractor Atos were
chased out of the Work Capability Assessments after a sustained and
militant campaign carried out by disabled people, benefit claimants
and supporters. In a panicky effort to save these vicious assessments
Iain Duncan Smith hired US private healthcare company Maximus to take
over from Atos this coming April.

This is not the only lucrative contract the Tories have awarded this
company. Maximus are also involved in helping to privatise the NHS,
running the Fit for Work occupational health service designed to bully
and harass people on sick leave into going back to work. Maximus also
run the notorious Work Programme in some parts of the UK, meaning that
disabled people found fit for work by Maximus may then find themselves
sent on workfare by Maximus. There is no greater enemy to the lives of
sick and disabled people in the UK today than this multi-national
poverty profiteer who even are prepared to run welfare-to-work style
schemes for the brutal Saudi Arabian government.

Maximus have boasted they will not face protests due to their
involvement in the Work Capability Asessments and have even stooped as
low as hiring one prominent former disability campaigner on a huge
salary in an effort to quell protests against their activities. We
urgently need to show them how wrong they are and call for all
disabled people, benefit claimants and supporters to organise against
this vicious bunch of profiteering thugs.

Albert Bridge House is the assessment centre used in Manchester by
Atos to carry out Work Capability Asessments. The building is owned by
the DWP and it is likely that it will continue to be used for these
assessments with the premises and staff handed over from Atos to
Maximus."

Details of other national and local actions:
https://www.facebook.com/events/771842739517758/permalink/775315939170438/

Links for more info about Maximus and the WCA:
https://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/there-is-no-greater-enemy-to-sick-and-disabled-people-in-the-uk-join-the-day-of-action-against-maximus-march-2nd-2015/
http://dpac.uk.net/2015/01/maximus-the-company-that-dare-not-show-its-face-scrapwca/
https://tompride.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/meet-maximus-the-new-atos-but-even-worse/

Man with epilepsy hangs himself following threats to cut his benefits. How does IDS sleep at night?

Tragic: Trevor Drakard

We are publishing below an article from the Daily Mirror by Jeremy Armstrong.

"A man with permanent brain damage and ‘uncontrolled’ epilepsy hanged himself after being ordered to take part in ‘work related activity’ or risk his benefits being cut.

Trevor Drakard was panic-stricken at the thought he would have to find a job when he could suffer a severe attack at any time.The shy 50-year-old suffered from meningitis at five months old which left him brain damaged, causing severe epilepsy first seen when he was just six. He suffered countless attacks throughout his life, never went 10 days without a fit and would fall ‘like a tree’ to the ground.

Despite heavy medication, he was regularly taken to hospital and had suffered a broken nose, cheekbone, jaw, lost his front teeth and split his head open after hitting pavement during attacks.
Even disabled employer Remploy - where he worked for six years - deemed his condition so severe he had to leave.

Yet ConDem reforms meant he received a letter saying his Incapacity Benefit was being replaced with £112.05-a-week ‘Employment and Support Allowance’. It stated he had to attend a ‘Work Related Activity Group”, or his benefits could be hit.
Shortly before his suicide, he wrote a heart-rending note begging DWP chiefs not to change his status.

He told them: “I have never been able to work due to my epilepsy. I had a job at Remploy but I lost my job because they could not longer cope with my attacks.”But a June 23 standard Benefits Agency letter informed him his appeal had been rejected.

His family struggled to gain detailed medical records of his multiple hospital visits down the years to make a second appeal. He was given a month to get the information, and, as the deadline approached, became more and more worried. On July 19, anxious parents Doreen, 80, and Tom, 86, went to his home in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear - and made the horrific discovery of his body hanging in his bedroom. They say there is ‘no doubt whatsoever’ the stress of the benefits changes caused his suicide.

Tom, a retired marine engineer, said: “Trevor had meningitis as a baby, and it was caused by the scar on his brain. He had his first epileptic attack when he was six. He did not know when a fit would come, it was completely random. He would have two or three in a short space of time, he did not go ten days without one. Trevor would get so anxious about little things, that was a feature of this condition - we would tell him not to worry, but he just could not help it.”

His parents had been helping with the second appeal to the DWS on the eve of his suicide.

“They asked for his full history but he had countless attacks in his life time, it was despicable really,” said Doreen, who ran a wool shop as well as bringing up Trevor and siblings Michael, 51, and Pam, 48. “He often hit the pavement when he fell, there must have been hundreds of occasions when he ended up in hospital. On the day he died, we went around for him to sign the appeal letter we had been working on the day before. The door was open, the curtains were closed, so I thought he must have been poorly.”

Fighting back tears, her husband added: “He was here on the Friday, and we went around the next morning and we found him like that... “It was such a shock, what shocked us more than anything the way he did it. He had panicked because of the benefit changes.There is no doubt that is why he did it. You cannot bring him back.”

The Drakards agreed to speak out to raises awareness of benefit cuts, and how devastating their impact can be on the vulnerable in society. Trevor worked at Remploy until he was 30, but his condition was deemed so severe he left after six years. He had saved up enough to buy his own home, and with the help of around £100-a-week in Incapacity Benefits, lived an independent life.

The first letter about the change in his benefits arrived in March this year. Due to his condition, Trevor was ‘beside himself’ with worry over it. Doreen explained:

“We went to Citizens Advice Bureau, we explained we could never get his medical records together in a time needed to appeal. He was on the bare minimum really, but the benefits agency said they intended to change it because he needed to look for work. He had to attend a job interview, and this work group, or his money could be stopped. Trevor did not know from day to day how he was going to be, and if he would take a fit, so this just stressed him even more. He was worried about taking a job in case he had attacks. He lost teeth, broke his jaw, cheekbone, he was always in accident and emergency with his injuries. We tried to explain, his GP had just retired and so had his consultant in Sunderland, it made it hard to get his history.”

His family helped make his home ‘safe’, with a specially made bed, cushions scattered to break any falls, and child-safe furniture. “He had been alone for 19 years, he never had a girlfriend but he had helped us, did gardening, wood work, loved bird watching, photography and walking,” added Tom, a grandfather-of-five. “He wrote his own letter of appeal - but they told him they would not change their minds.”

Trevor’s brother Michael, of Leeds, added: “The system is not appropriate for someone like Trevor, who really needs help. “It was never about the money. He did not drink, smoke, he had the most frugal existence - he probably had about ten shandies a year. He may have ended up on about the same in benefits. But he could not cope with the stress of thinking he had to make himself available for work. There is no doubt whatsoever that is what caused his death.”

Olive Marrs, 65, a retired social worker, said she and Trevor’s other neighbours were ‘disgusted’ at how he had been treated. She added: “He was a lovely man. He was quite obviously vulnerable, so depressed about his benefits.”

Coroner’s officer Neville Dixon told the inquest into Trevor’s death earlier this month that he had been warned his benefits could be stopped. He added: “He had been feeling very down, due to the stress.”

Senior Sunderland coroner Derek Winter was satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that Mr Drakard had been responsible for his own death. The city’s Labour MP Julie Elliot said: “Sadly, the removal of benefits to genuinely sick people is becoming all too common, having a devastating impact on “The system is not fit for purpose. The Government needs to act now to stop anymore tragedies occurring and causing unnecessary hardship to people.”

Woman in coma told by Atos to find work!

Shiela Holt from Rochdale

The government and the healthcare company Atos (a.k.a. Crapos), have come under fire after it was revealed that they told a critically ill woman from Rochdale, to get a job even though she was in a coma.

Sheila Holt (47), a bi-polar sufferer who last worked 27-years ago, has been in a coma since last December. But Atos, who are contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to assess fitness for work, continued to send Sheila letters forcing her to look for work. Her family say that Sheila went into a coma after suffering a heart attack at Christmas. They claim that she had a breakdown after she was forced to go on a job seeking course by her benefit bosses.

Following a meeting arranged by Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, which was attended by Sheila's father Ken Holt, the minister for disabled people, Mike Penning, apologized to the family and admitted that what had happened to Sheila, had been wrong. He also confirmed that Atos were to be replaced.

In February, Mike Penning, told MPs that Atos's work had caused real concern because too many people were appealing against their decisions. More than 600,000 appeals have been lodged against Atos judgments since the work capability assessments began, costing the taxpayer £60 m  a year. Around 40% of the original decisions are overturned on appeal.

Although Atos have been criticized for finding terminally ill and mentally ill people fit for work, in January, Atos boss, Joe Hemming, told a Commons Committee that the company was proud of its work and added:

"We have a real passion for delivering services to the citizen in a way that continues to satisfy."

Labour MP, Paul Flynn, told the Atos boss that he was suffering from a "reality problem."

The companies that are in the running to take over the contract from Atos, currently worth £115m a year, include G4S, Serco, A4e and the Capita Group. Both Serco and G4S, are currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. Atos and G4S, paid no corporation tax last year despite carrying out £2bn of taxpayer-funded contracts.

BMA calls for government fitness for work test to be suspended!

The last Labour government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, can take credit for laying the foundations for much of the welfare reform that is currently being pursued by the Tory/Lib Dem coalition government. It was the disgraced former Work and Pension Secretary, James Purnell, who was responsible for introducing modern-day slavery to Britain with his work-for-your-dole schemes and who was responsible, for introducing the much discredited fitness-for-work test, the 'work capability assessment' (WCA).

Since the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in October 2008, which replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds, there has been considerable criticism about the work assessments carried out by Atos, the French information technology company. Evidence such as that provided by Citizens Advice, has highlighted numerous cases where people with serious health conditions such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer, bipolar disorder, heart failure, and severe depression, have been found fit for work.

Last week, the case of 27-year-old Ruth Anim, was reported in the Guardian newspaper. Ruth was born with complex medical needs that include learning disabilities, epilepsy and heart problems. She needs constant one-to-one care and is currently attending life skills' classes to learn how to make a sandwich and a cup of tea. In addition, she cannot cross the road on her own and has no concept of danger. Cecilia Anim, Ruth's mother, who is the deputy president of the Royal College of Nursing, told the newspaper: "She (Ruth) doesn't know that if a car hits you it will kill you; she has no concept of danger."

Despite Ruth's medical and learning problems, she was found fit for work when she attended a medical assessment carried out by a doctor working for Atos. Ruth was assigned to the 'work-related activity group' and is now required to attend regular meetings at the jobcentre to begin "mandatory preparations for going to work."

Describing the 45-minute medical assessment as "chaotic from start to finish", Cecilia Anim, says that because Ruth was very anxious, she was unable to sit still and repeatedly got on and off the medical couch while the doctor was talking to her. However, the medical report says: "Client was able to sit on a chair with a back for 45-minutes." Anim also says that during the medical assessment, Ruth, "went to the tap to wash her hands and started spraying water everywhere." The doctor then shouted at her and said: "Stop doing that!" Anim says she responded to this by saying: "No, no, don't speak to her like that. She's got learning difficulties; she doesn't understand."

Cecilia Anim, says that the medical report that Ruth received about the work capability assessment, was riddled with factual errors. In his report, the doctor described Ruth as a 'male client' and said that Ruth's speech was normal although her mother did most of the speaking. When asked how old she was, Ruth, told the doctor she was 18-years-old although she is 27- years-old. Anim says that when she told her daughter's consultant neurologist that Ruth had been declared fit for work, he "was beside himself with fury" and said to her "Have they done a risk assessment?"

Several months after attending the Atos medical assessment, Ruth was called into the jobcentre to discuss getting back to work. Anim also attended this interview with her daughter and says that she said to the jobcentre adviser, "Are you having a laugh?". When made aware of Ruth's medical and learning disabilities, Anim says: "She asked Ruth, 'what day is it?' Ruthie said Thursday, but it was Tuesday. She asked 'what time is it?' She said 5.30pm but it was 2.30pm." Although the adviser told Anim that Ruth could appeal the decision, she also advised her that she must attend the jobcentre each week and show that she is actively seeking work.

This case prompted one Guardian reader to write to the newspaper describing its report on Ruth Anim as "an affront to a civilised society." But it seems that some people in Tory Britain, think that to show compassion nowadays to those less fortunate than themselves, is something that is positively indecent. Yet opinion polls show that a majority of people want to see more benefit cuts and believe the government pays out too much in benefits and that welfare levels overall, should be reduced to what they see as 'congenital dependents'.

Atos, who were awarded the assessment contract in 2005, claim that its reports are "evidenced based, clearly presented, legible and fully justified." But a report published by Citizens Advice earlier this year, found a "worryingly low" level of accuracy in the WCA's. Published statistics of the 600,000 new claims for ESA from October 2008 to May 2010, showed that 39% were assessed as fit for work. Around a third of these people appealed the decision, of which, 40% were successful.

Earlier this year, the British Medical Association (BMA) conference passed a motion stating that the "inadequate computer-based assessment" performed by Atos, had "little regard for the nature or complexity of the needs of long-term sick and disabled persons" and passed a motion calling for the WCA to be suspended "with immediate effect."