The credibility of the work capability assessments carried out by occupational health provider Atos Healthcare have further been called into question in recent weeks. The Government’s review of the work capability assessment provider has rendered some of its reports ‘unacceptably poor’.
A work capability assessment assesses a claimant’s entitlement to Employment & Support Allowance (ESA). Atos are contracted by the Government to carry out these assessments following which they produce a report which is then sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Following an assessment, which usually lasts around 30 minutes, the claimant is awarded points based upon how their condition affects their ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. A claimant must score 15 points to be considered as having limited capability for work and therefore qualify for ESA
Since the DWP began conducting work capability assessments, over 600,000 appeals have been lodged against the decisions reached, costing the Government an estimated £60m.
Following an audit of reports produced by Atos Healthcare, 41% were awarded a grade ‘C’. In response, Mark Hoban, Minister for Employment, has announced that all current Atos Healthcare professionals must undergo retraining, with those who do not meet the required standard continuing to be audited until they do. It has also been announced that the DWP will bring in additional providers to carry out work capability assessments on a regional basis by summer 2014.
However the Minster for Employment fails to explain how this will improve the standard of reports provided, citing simply that the move will help to reduce waiting times.
The most concerning issue relating to the work capability assessments is their limited ability to assess the effects a claimant’s disability or illness has on their everyday life. The assessment does not satisfactorily account for those claimants whose conditions can fluctuate. For example, those who struggle with walking are asked if they are able to walk 50 metres without stopping, something a claimant with fibromyalgia may only be able to do on a ‘good day’, say 49% of time. The work capability assessment simply tests what a claimant can do 51% of the time - on the majority of days; therefore the claimant may be deemed capable for work.
Many claimants feel the assessments carried out by Atos fail to give enough consideration to their conditions and subsequent limitations. Upper Tribunal Judge Michael Mark in a recent judgement warned Tribunals against placing too much weight on work capability assessment reports, acknowledging the limited information they convey following a “very short interview” conducted “without access to medical records”.
There are also concerns regarding the qualification of some Atos Healthcare professionals to assess particular claimants. In the same judgment, Judge Mark remarked on his ‘surprise’ that claimants with only mental health conditions may be assessed by a physiotherapist. Judge Mark went on to consider such a report to be of “no preparative value whatsoever”, stating that “questions of mental health should be assessed by a disability analyst with appropriate mental health qualifications if their opinion is to be of any evidential value”.
At the very least, the Government have finally acknowledged some considerable flaws in the Atos assessments. However it remains to be seen if the Government’s plan to introduce more providers will improve the standards both of the assessments themselves and the reports produced from them.
More importantly, the Tribunal has cast doubt over the evidential weight attributable to these reports, affording consideration to those whose conditions cannot adequately be assessed during a short interview with someone who perhaps lacks professional expertise in the matter.
By Michelle Tilley, Welfare pro bono unit