ATOS will not give me SAR on data they hold

Hi
Just joined here.
I emailed ATOS for a SAR for:
1.
The DM form DBD385-Medical Services advice request/evidence sheet.

2 . HCP home Visit report for DLA


3. EMP-DLA Examination Report – Doctor’s assessment with reasons for referral to doctor from DM and any other information concerning my DLA case.

I was emailed back and told to ring the DLA line to ask for the HCP report.
They made no mention of the other information I had asked for.

I am not sure whether to email Medical Services for this information as they hold all information according to past requests as in past ATOS always referred to Medical Services for any SAR I had asked for.

ATOS say though they do not hold this information but I have seen internal emails from JCP to ATOS asking for the same information as I asked for and ATOS obliged them!

Any advice.

Thanks Gordon for advice

I am surprised that as company they do not hold any information of their acting Drs as I said I have seen in private internal emails ATOS giving HCP reports ect to Job Centre Plus and ICE on ESA claim of mine in the past. This I beleive was referred to Medical Services who hold that data for ATOS. So if this is the case ATOS can supply all information they recorded whether they sent DWP /JCP back the file they should have record of all information on DLA.

If you make a complaint about ATOS to JCP or ICE and Ombudsman they ask ATOS for all information concerning the claimant and ATOS supply it to them. So when I make a SAR ATOS should be able to supply that to me and I correct?

What I will do is send by fast post a request which i will do and then ask ATOS to why they do not hold information on what they recieved from DWP and their own Dr's reports as a business I would make sure I hold the information I supplied to my customer as this would be information I may need if complaints were made against me. Which in ATOS case is everyday by thousands of claimants.

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Hi

I was reading about home visits and read that advice to HCP's were given by ATOS:

'Observations regarding mobility begin at your arrival at the house, taking note of the type of home, any obvious adaptations etc. Observe the claimant’s gait, balance, and pace of walking informally in the home. A formal walking test will almost never be required and is not recommended.
Claimants who are clearly breathless walking within the home may well have substantial attention needs also.
Observe any aids used by the claimant, any obvious modifications within the home and any help from another person. Look for consistency between the informal observations and formal examination findings. Any differences should be explained to the DM'.

How can they say not recommended this is bloody outrageous. When your being assessed by a normal truthful Dr who wants to know how your effected he will ask you to walk and tell him when you start to get pain or SEVERE DISCOMFORT. So why is ATOS treating people as if they are all cheaters trying to catch people out in life, this is wrong. This can be done by DWP if they have suspicions by watching them with investigators as seen on TV, not to do such things in a official examination/assessment.

This means that a HCP is not really wanting to find out how far a claimant can walk without being in severe discomfort and how far they can walk in reality without getting breathless and having to take stops. This seems very dishonest to me as the HCP is not getting the true picture of the claimant in outdoors conditions and distance to the amount that a DM can make a decision on.

I had a home visit and was not asked to walk but as I opened the door thinking it was the ambulance that had come for me I must have been observed but then it stated in my DLA notification that I had not trouble walking 200 meters with normal gait and normal speed! its 2 meters from my front door to my couch and I was walking with a limp and was using my stick. So how was I assessed to be able to walk for 200 meters with normal gait and speed and DLA do not mention anything about not being in severe discomfort or being in severe discomfort?
Just to say I was waiting for ambulance as I was in extreme pain to gallbladder and the GP called surgeons at Hospital to see me. A wait of some hours so I OK this HCP although I had cancelled him with ATOS who confirmed by email he was cancelled but he turned up said no-one contacted him I believe him as he was honest with me I saw he was genuine. I had the assessment to just get it out of the way did not want it hanging around me.


Therefore assessing someone the way ATOS have recommended and being dishonest by not saying they are assessing your walking would be against GMC as they have not asked you for your permission to make observations to your body (person)? its a bit like stalking someone watching you for their own needs which you do not know about.

In my case I was limping putting weight on right toes to support right foot, with a walking stick- as diagnosed with bad foot problem and a report that stated unable to weight bear on right foot -unable to walk suffers with chronic lower back pain (MRI shows straightening of lower spine, root nerve compression, varies disk protrusion and some arthritis in the lower spine and DLA turn me down for high rate DLA!


I also read that: Time and experience improve the ability to assess evidence.
This would mean that those who just started have little experience of assessing will be making mistakes?
Or they are not getting matters of assessment right until they have gained experience with time is a crime. If a surgeon does this how many will suffer before he gets it right? This would not be allowed and training would be of the most up-most importance in making sure that HCP gets it right not learning on the job at the expense of claimants who lives may be badly effected if they lost benefits.

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