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Official figures released today (27th August) show that of the 2,017,070 disabled people in the UK claimed social security and went through the ATOS assessment regime. Within a 3 year period of the decision by ATOS being made to remove social security support - 4,010 of them were dead! The death rate figures for those going through the process irrespective of the outcome was even worse at 81,140! That said, these statistics only apply to those whose death was 'at the same time' of a decision by ATOS having been made! Yet, the BBC news website and even the TUC comment only on one aspect of the statistics, and use a figure of 2,300 which is the number for ESA claimants only. The full facts of the statistics are pictured below and can of course be read in the full document released today. In reality it took high court action to force him to release the figures and the Government had originally tended an appeal against that decision to force them to release the figures. Which of course begs the question that if the Government saw no coloration between the figures of deaths amongst disability benefit claimants and the WCA process; then why would they have refused to publish them in the first place? However, the figures are that devastating in terms of the number of deaths amongst social security disabled claimants, that a mere coincidence that these people are disabled and therefore their illness took their lives; is unconceivable. The document also does not identify the causes of deaths, or detail the numbers of those who ended their own lives and committed suicide following the loss of their social security support. The document entitled Mortality Statistics: Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance can be downloaded from this website by clicking the pic above. The document states that there are a higher proportion of people who are sick or disabled amongst those on social security (benefits) than in the general population, but does not make it clear that what that means is not that disabled claimants are the majority of those who claim different forms of social security; but that in fact the highest claimants are those already in work! Further, sight must not be lost of the fact that the regime set up by IDS and run by ATOS was aimed specifically at disabled people in order to remove them from social security and force them into work.
The document further explains that: ‘The Work Capability Assessments (WCA) are conducted for all those individuals newly claiming ESA, current claimants requiring subsequent assessments after a prognosis period, or existing IB/SDA claimants being reassessed for ESA. This will include terminally ill claimants, and those having claimed Incapacity Benefits due to illness or disability. The number of people who died within a year of a WCA decision will therefore also include all of those categories.’ Further analysis together with statistics show that the number of people, who died whilst going through the WCA process and which therefore ended their claim, was a staggering 81,140!
The document closes with details of the history of WCA and the removal of social security from the disabled person when found fit for work: ‘In October 2008, ESA replaced the existing benefits of IB and SDA for all new claimants. Starting from October 2010 claimants who received IB/SDA were assessed to see if they qualify for ESA. A key part of the ESA regime is the WCA process, which is used to assess capability for work and eligibility for benefit. Those claiming ESA are initially put in the assessment phase. Following the assessment phase the claimant can have three possible outcomes: Individuals can be found “fit for work” – in this case their award is closed and the claimant can move to Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA). They are able to seek a reconsideration of the decision from DWP and appeal to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS). Individuals can be found to have limited capability for work – in this instance they are entitled to the benefit and placed in the Work Related Activity Group. Those in this group are not expected to work, but are provided with help and support to prepare for work where possible. They receive a higher payment than those on JSA; and Individuals can be found to have limited capability for work and in addition, limited capability for work related activity – in this situation they are entitled to the benefit and placed in the Support Group. Those in this group have the most severe functional impairments and so are provided with unconditional support and receive a higher premium than those in the Work Related Activity Group.’ What it does not tell the reader is the details of the process and the resultant stresses upon disabled people who, in the main, feel victimised by a system which questions from the outset, their integrity, honesty and actual disability. The interviews can be quite clinical and lacking in empathy, sitting all the while behind a laptop screen as they do; not to mention being aimed at removing the person from social security payments from the outset.
Further the decision maker’s written rationale can be blunt, simplistic, disrespectful and even judgemental, and can be totally devastating for the disabled person to read what is being said in such a way about them. One such example known to the editor of this website concerned a single mother with severe social anxiety and expressed in interview that it is so bad she cannot go into social circumstances without a person she is familiar with accompanying her at all times. Pregnant at the time of receiving the rationale for the decision to remove her social security support, the decision maker stated that, despite her claiming not being able to socialise, she was able nevertheless to become pregnant to a total stranger! The stress of the whole WCA process plus the media attacks and slander on disabled people calling them lazy, fraudsters and choosing to be in their situation in order to claim benefits; not to mention the attacks made upon them by the likes of Ian Duncan Smith, all create an environment of victimisation and desperation that the majority of disabled find themselves having to cope with in addition to their physical and/or mental disability. Absolutely no official recognition and support is provide by ATOS, the Government, or the NHS to disabled people going through a process loaded against them and that has no concern whatsoever for their health, safety and welfare. But before total blame for the current situation is placed upon the current Tory government, it must be remembered that the assessment of disabled people and their ability to work being part of social security claims, was first introduced in 2008; during the last Labour Government. Indeed, there appears to be no viable political opposition to what is currently in many eyes; the total victimisation of the disabled in this country, which many on social media are saying is tantamount to Nazi ideology. The complete document entitled Mortality Statistics: Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance can be downloaded here and from the E-Library Database Source: DWP |
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Questions such as being able to lift one arm above the head, or pick up a pint of milk with one hand, or being able to stand in one position for 10 minutes, or sit comfortable for 10 minutes without having to move, or able to walk aided or unaided to a distance of 100 yards. In all cases the implication is, and the usual outcome is one and the same; the person is fit to work!