Don’t Help Claimants With Benefit Appeals, GPs Told GPs in South Wales have been ordered not to help unemployed people in appealing against a decision to cut or stop their sickness benefits. The order from the Bro Taf local medical committee (LMC), says doctors should concentrate their time on seeing “ill patients”, instead of providing support to benefit claimants who have been found ‘fit to work’ following a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and wish to appeal the decision.
Chairman of the LMC, Dr Charles Allanby, told BBC Radio Wales:
“We are seeing at least one or two patients per surgery per doctor, asking for assistance.
“If you add that up throughout the whole of Wales, that is an enormous number of appointments being taken up by people who are not actually ill.
“Do we want to see doctors seeing ill patients, or do we want to see doctors seeing patients who are not ill but simply want to undertake some form of appeal letter?”
WCA’s are carried out by the controversial private French firm, Atos Healthcare on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Atos have come under attack from disability campaigners and others, who say that they make too many mistakes in deciding a person’s capability to work and yet the private contractor insist it is the DWP who makes the final decision on benefit entitlement. The DWP agree with Atos recommendations in the vast majority of cases.
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