Disabled Man who went to ATOS for assessment told his wheelchair was a fire risk.

[ADK]

The whole system is broken and prejudiced anyway.

[RobHawk]

So ATOS have a policy of home visits for assessing people in wheelchairs were they dont have a wheelchair accessible centre?  How terrible to have to stay at home and have someone come out and visit you.  Shocking.

 

You don't have a point, you have a contrived argument.  The whole thing is a PR stunt.

 

It is a valid point because they weren't informed of the issues in the appointment letter and yes they can organise a home visit but why didn't they do that in the first place?

 

Without trying to get into an argument, this guy could walk and they used the wheelchair to save time. For me the most controversial point is they would not let him stay when they offered to remove the wheelchair.

[AyewJoking]

wheelchairs are handy for smashing windows in the event of a fire.

 

just toss the veggies out first mind.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Erm... has everyone not read the article properly? (Just the stupid people I guess... )

 

It's not a case of accessiblity, it appears he could get in...

 

His wife Karen, 52, a shop manager, said she was asked to take her husband out of the building after she checked in at reception.

 

She said: “We were in bit of a hurry so I took Charles up in the lift and left him on the first floor as that was where the examination was to take place.

 

“I went down to check in properly and the woman there told me we had to leave as my husband was in a wheelchair.

 

“She said that the building was not equipped for people in wheelchairs and that he was a fire risk and a health and safety hazard.â€

 

 

So it was easy enough to get in and be examined, no problem. What we have here is a case of your common or garden "health and safety gone mad!" They were saying he was a fire risk because he could not be evacuated quickly This was a story on East Midlands Today last week and there was a spokesman from an organisation that did training in proper evacuation procedures who said there is absolutely no reason why, if proper training is given, that someone in a wheelchair should be a fire risk.

 

What ATOS were basically saying is that no one in a wheelchair should ever use a lift. EVER!

 

But of course...

 

If people can't be bothered to read and check correspondence then why should I have any sympathy for them?

 

Anyway, you're all stoopid.

[Guest MattP]

Still doesn't excuse the fact he went to the wrong place does it?

 

Had they decided he would be ok and not a fire risk and let him through he would have then had to go through the embarrassment of realising his appointment is actually miles away.

[Trav Le Bleu]

His appointment was at Halford St. Having no doubt used lifts countless times since having his condition, he probably thought nothing of the fact that it's on the first floor. ATOS should be aware which people will be in wheelchairs and make approriate arrangements for them. It's not good enough to say, "We would like you to attend here, but somewhere else might be better," because how the hell do you know exactly until you get there? The next nearest centre apparently was Peterborough.

 

I'm not one for excusing layabout scrounging benefit moaners, but I'm not for excusing corporations who don't know their arse from their elbow.

[davieG]

A disabled man who was turned away from a medical centre because his wheelchair posed a health and safety risk, has got an apology.

Atos Healthcare in Leicester said it was "sorry for the upset" caused to Charles Foreman, as he went for a medical assessment.

The centre said wheelchair users are unable to use the first-floor location but are offered an alternative.

Mr Foreman said he is "still very angry" about being turned away.

Back injury

"The situation should not have come about as far as I am concerned," he said.

His wife Karen Foreman said the receptionist was "not rude - she said what she thought was right for them - that health and safety was paramount and that they wouldn't let him in".

Mr Foreman, from Market Harborough, who has a back injury suffered in a work accident, was attending an incapacity medical assessment.

He offered to walk rather than use his wheelchair as he is able to walk short distances with a stick, but the centre refused to carry out the assessment.

A letter from Atos Healthcare said: "We are unable to allow access to the building to people who use walking aids or have mobility problems" because of health and safety regulations.

It said the service will offer people an alternative location including transportation or a home consultation.

The Department of Work and Pensions, which owns the building, released a statement adding: "If people have mobility problems, which may make evacuation in the event of a fire difficult, a home visit or an appointment at an alternative assessment centre is arranged."

[Zingari]

The reading of information on forms is surely a basic necessity. My partner who works at Wycombe Hospital, is forever having people turn up, when the appointment letter clearly states it is elsewhere. It's people's incorrect assumptions that are the root cause of so many such problems.

[Rincewind]

This has turned into a 'he's claiming so he must be a scrounger/benefit cheat thread. No surprise.

[Ross-Kemp]

This has turned into a 'he's claiming so he must be a scrounger/benefit cheat thread. No surprise.

Rather that than trying to plug your silly radio show or a sale at the charity shop or telling us a one sided son story about some benefit claiming slob.

[Guest]

This has turned into a 'he's claiming so he must be a scrounger/benefit cheat thread. No surprise.

Give it another page and it'll be a Pearson In/Out or NP v Sven thread

[Rincewind]

Rather that than trying to plug your silly radio show or a sale at the charity shop or telling us a one sided son story about some benefit claiming slob.

[Webbo]

Have you liostened to the radio show?

One sided? I give my view based on the people that I have met who have worked and been through the system not newspaper headlines or an Ian Beale portrayal.

Here is a stoty.

A woman visited a school to give a talk about the dangers of drug and alcohol. After the talk she asked the classrooms views on what they thought an homeless person was. They replied with the usual answera. Dirty, drunk, drugged, unshaven, uneducated, lazy etc.

When she said that she was in fact homeless they were shocked as she was smartly dressed and well educated.

Maybe some people should join that class.

Do you ever consider that the people who disagree with you are talking from their experience and not newspaper headlines or something they have seen on the telly. You seem to think that your view is the only valid one.

[AoWW]

This has turned into a 'he's claiming so he must be a scrounger/benefit cheat thread. No surprise.

 

I've just read through all the posts and not one has claimed he is a scrounger, just that he didn't read his letter correctly.

 

You must be reading a different thread.

[Rincewind]

Maybe not directly in this thread other than 'he could walk' and 'he must be stupid for not reading the letter' But that is not relevant. I was looking at disability in general. When a person is assessed the ones doing it have to tick boxes off.

Can they lift a hand

can they lift a leg

can they walk unaided

If using a wheelchair what sort is it

How well do they move in the wheelchair

Can they enter and exit a door

Is the applicant able to go up a ramp

 

Etc

 

I know some try it on and not as bad as they say they are. I know a bloke myself. He walks reasonably well but needs tablets and stops for a breather every 20 yards. He goes Derby and Sheffield. He has been told he is fit and appealing which is an 18 month wait. but he is mid 50's not physically fit and has no skills apart from decxorating but cannoy climb a ladder.

There are however many in a worse situation Those with heart conditions. Many like the bloke I know who is wheelchair bound would like to work but without a suitable position being available it is not possible. It is the assessments centre job to say yes we have tested you in certain circumstances and we reccomend what these are.

Maybe the story was hyped up it needed highlighting so these errors can be fixed

I think I went by the centre today. A sign on the door says there are no toilet facilitie in the building.

[Vacamion]

You don't need to be able to walk or stand up to do many jobs these days.

A lot of jobs involve sitting at a desk and talking to people on the phone.

Added to which, there is VERY onerous legislation to make large companies cater for disabled employees.

We're not talking about throwing disabled folk down t' pit, we are talking about jobs that people can do if they have a level of disability not much above that of Prof Hawking.

Writing disabled people off by consigning them to a life on benefits is far worse than having them assessed and, where they are able, declared fit to do some kind of work.

[MooseBreath]

The guy in the story could get a job in a call centre in minutes. But why would he? I'm sure he gets more in tax payer funded handouts than he would working in a low paid job, and he gets to swan around all day getting pissed up and smoking fags. If you've got no self-respect it's a no brainer.

[Zingari]

You don't need to be able to walk or stand up to do many jobs these days.

A lot of jobs involve sitting at a desk and talking to people on the phone.

Added to which, there is VERY onerous legislation to make large companies cater for disabled employees.

We're not talking about throwing disabled folk down t' pit, we are talking about jobs that people can do if they have a level of disability not much above that of Prof Hawking.

Writing disabled people off by consigning them to a life on benefits is far worse than having them assessed and, where they are able, declared fit to do some kind of work.

Obviously not ATOS though .

[Zingari]

Back in my day we didn't let disability prevent us from applying for any job 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty68LPKRQQQ

[Rincewind]

You don't need to be able to walk or stand up to do many jobs these days.

A lot of jobs involve sitting at a desk and talking to people on the phone.

Added to which, there is VERY onerous legislation to make large companies cater for disabled employees.

We're not talking about throwing disabled folk down t' pit, we are talking about jobs that people can do if they have a level of disability not much above that of Prof Hawking.

Writing disabled people off by consigning them to a life on benefits is far worse than having them assessed and, where they are able, declared fit to do some kind of work.

Exactly

 

 

Obviously not ATOS though .

 

Don't do as I do do as I say.. The majority of disabled people want to work that is why there are people like the person I know who does a lot of campaigning for rights even sending petions to the HOC and other MP's.

He is not Peter Soulsby's favourite person.

[stix]

Exactly

What exactly?

You were slagging these assessors off earlier in the thread for declaring disabled people fit to work.

You don't know what you're fvcking on about.

[Rincewind]

What exactly?

You were slagging these assessors off earlier in the thread for declaring disabled people fit to work.

You don't know what you're fvcking on about.

We're not talking about throwing disabled folk down t' pit, we are talking about jobs that people can do if they have a level of disability not much above that of Prof Hawking.

 

ATOS was set up to determine this and were unable to do it in this cas. End of thread.

 

I was not  slagging of assers for declaring people fit for work because they were unable to do it.

It is costing the taxpayer a lot of money to do this so should it not be done right?

 

There is no need for iinsults. I was agreeing with Zingari as well/

[Webbo]

Back in my day we didn't let disability prevent us from applying for any job 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty68LPKRQQQ

 Absolute classic.

[Leicfox]

ATOS should be prosecuted for Corporate Manslaughter. 

[Rincewind]

Why?