If this is your first visit, check out the community guide. You will have to Join us or Sign in before you can post.
Receiving too many notifications? Adjust your notification settings.
IAS assessor used false Registration Number-what can I do?

[email protected] As some of you will remember I've been investigating whether my assessor was properly qualified. So far I've been told in writing by HCPC that a Paramedic with the same name as her on their register is the same person who carried out my assessment whilst working for ATOS. They also say she is a qualified Paramedic as she would not be on their register otherwise. In the final letter from ATOS for my complaint made back in February they answered the question of her qualifications by saying I had investigated the wrong person. I have also made a subject access request for all my documentation from DWP. I was about to give up trying to find out about my assessor's qualifications when I found a copy of the form she got me to sign at the end of my assessment. Her signature was on it along with her profession and PRN number. This was completely different to the number HCPC have for her on their register. All their numbers start with PA for Paramedic, this false number under her signature started with SC. I have notified ICE of this but they aren't due to investigate my ongoing complaint till August 2018. I have also emailed my MP with what I've done to date and asking for help as I consider this is now a serious matter. Is there anything else I can do?
Replies
It sounds to me as though you have done, and will continue to do, as much as you possibly can to get an answer to your investigation. I don't know of anything else you should do, although my expertise specifically entails giving advice on benefit law rather than as an investigator into the qualifications of the assessors. Does anyone else have any ideas? Good luck though!
Lee
These are all good questions - I'm sorry that as benefits advisors we don't really know the answers, as this concerns issues such as contract law, and how contracts between a government department and a firm (IAS as part of ATOS) are operated.
I'm sure that the contract does get reviewed in some way and that ATOS would be audited but I also know that it is very difficult to get hold of this information. For example, the Information Commissioner recently ordered that the DWP must publish a report that shows how well Maximus, and before them ATOS, carried out Work Capability Assessments, but the DWP have refused to publish.
So it seems possible that something similar could happen here, with PIP assessments. I know that you have already contacted your MP and have not heard from them but if that continues, or they do respond but unhelpfully, you could try directly contacting the ministers concerned - as I expect you know, David Gauke MP is Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and Penny Mordaunt MP is the Minister of State for Disabled People.
You might simply get a response telling you to go back to your own MP, so I would mention that you have already contacted them, if you do write directly. I know that you will be persistent so am just thinking of whether there are any other avenues - of course there is also the option of contacting the media, to see if they, like the Independent in the WCA story, might be helpful in publicising this - it may not help to get to the bottom of it but would help to show what disabled people are up against.
Will
excellent! sounds like progress!
Mary
My assessor has recently renewed her HCPC registration the criteria for this being to show her level of professional skills and conduct still meet their requirements. If she's doing the same to others as she did to me that is certainly not the case. So what was to stop her registering with them in the first place? They have told me she would have had to be a qualified Paramedic but are unwilling to provide any evidence of this.
The further I go in investigating my assessor's qualifications and making her accountable for her actions the more I realize how possible it would be for anyone to call themselves an HP, register with a Professional body and gain employment with ATOS or another assessment company when they have no qualifications at all.
I expect you have heard about a similar case involving a paramedic, although in this case the HP was caught on camera saying untruthful things about claimants. It concerns Capita rather than ATOS but the principle is similar. I don't know if it helps at all (possibly not, as my understanding is that the HP in that case didn't face disciplinary action about an untruthful report).
http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2017/02/10/pip-investigation-regulator-refuses-to-act-over-capita-assessment-report-lies/
Frustrating isn't even the word for it. I agree however that there must surely be some action from ICO because the issue concerns inaccurate personal data about you, and I am glad that your MP has promised to help.
Will
It's great to hear that your MP is now taking action. Please keep us posted.
Maria
,
ps they also told me not to put my qualifications after my name as it gives the impression I am in pratice! So in order to please them I should now lie about who I am. They are a bit of a quango organisation
I would let your MP be armed with the right questions for HCPC- ( no wriggle room) ( write them down for your MP) as a gov quango they are obliged to answer them; the greatest infringements for HCPC professionals are ambulance personnel and physiotherapist-or has been in the past
I hope you are not getting the leeds taxi trick of endless licensed drivers all using one name?
hence all clients now have to take two forms of id with them to PIPS assessments
MSE result?
and ICO
you mention above?
I wish scope would do a lot more press work on these injustices
folk get distressed
depressed
and kill themselves
What you're doing is very important. We'll all be interested to see what result you eventually get from the ICO. I'm so glad your MP is helping you too.
I'd encourage anyone else having problems to go to their MP as the only way we are likely to see real change in the system is if MPs see for themselves how badly it is currently working and how many vulnerable people are being let down.
Will
What happened while they collected everything was that IAS produced their data and that was added to DWP's and the whole lot was sent to me in just about 40 days which is the timescale they must send it by.
It sounds like the SAR form is trying to limit what is being asked for but you want everything like you say.
OK now try and see ICO and the Data Protection Act as seperate to your ATOS complaint. ATOS take months to reply to complaints and you can only go to ICE after you've received their final investigation report.
So back to your SAR request, once you've sent it count 40 straight days (not working days) on a calendar and mark the day you should get it by. This is the law, they can't not send it. If you don't get it back on time then you can ring ICO Tel: 03031231113 and tell them what you've done and can they please take on the case to make ATOS/DWP comply. Also tell them what you intend to do about getting your Data changed. If you do get all your documents go through everything but mainly your assessor's report and write a letter to ICO giving details of all the incorrect/lies about you. I have done all this and am waiting for a case worker to be allocated to my case. They have a waiting list so it's a slow process but much quicker than the ATOS complaint's process.
To contact your MP find out what party are in your local area and search for their headquarters. Sorry i already knew mine as he's helped me before so someone else may be able to answer better than I can. Please ask anything else you want to know. It's not an easy thing to do but we are protected by law so far more likely to get justice than any amount of Complaints.