- Target:
- The Rt Hon Andrew Lansley CBE MP;The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP;The Rt Hon George Osborne MP;
- Region:
- United Kingdom
Many people with severe medical conditions and disabilities are being automatically forced to undergo a Work Capability Assessment by the private company Atos Healthcare, and having their ESA sickness benefit cut off as a result.
Atos Healthcare is contracted for £500million over 7 years and is working under contract to the DWP to meet the government's target of forcing 1 million claimants onto Employment Support Allowance. Those claimants suffering from the following conditions (Atos' descriptions of the conditions, not mine) are, by policy, automatically required to undergo an assessment: Alcohol Dependence, Anxiety, Depression, Drug Dependence, Panic Attacks.
Those suffering from the following are, by policy, to be ‘tentatively’ invited: Agoraphobia, Anorexia Nervosa, Bipolar Affective Disorder/Bipolar Disease Manic Depression, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Eating Disorder, Learning Difficulties, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Phobic Anxiety, Social Phobia.
Those suffering from the following may be invited if so advised by the 'Medical Advisor': Mental Retardation, Mental Subnormality, Parkinson's Disease, Schizoaffective Disorder, Schizophrenia, Severe Depression.
All of us who sign this petition support it, even if we are expats or residents of other countries.
We understand that there is about 1 scrounger for roughly every 200 'sick benefit' claimants.
We are angry that politicians and the media seize words like 'genuine' to turn the debate away from the part of campaigns focused on fairness for the sick and disabled and onto the tiny fraction of those who are not genuine.
We are worried that the ATOS statements will cause too many genuinely sick and disabled too be pushed further into poverty. We are concerned that more deaths will occur.
We feel the economy will suffer as more people have to claim ESA but are still unemployable.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Against Governement Reforms for the Sick and Disabled petition to The Rt Hon Andrew Lansley CBE MP;The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP;The Rt Hon George Osborne MP; was written by Helen Mary Bradshaw and is in the category Miscellaneous at GoPetition.