medical esa.

[rosylyn]

ESA claimants are to be forced to have regular appointments with DWP doctors or other health professionals, possibly employed by Atos or Capita, not to assess them for benefits but to get advice on how to improve their health.  The appointments will be mandatory and can be as long and as frequent as is considered necessary in order to get claimants back into work.  Pilots of this and two other schemes will begin in November. More details in ESA news below.

Elsewhere, Iain Duncan Smith is growing ever more desperate in his attempts to find something positive to say about the bedroom tax.  Even as a way of heaping further hate on claimants it is beginning to look like it may backfire, as more stories of debt and empty properties emerge.

Meanwhile IDS’ partner in squalid misinformation, Lord Freud, is desperately trying to imply, without actually saying it, that many of the people using food banks are thick-skinned, scroungers rather than people in genuine need.

The DWP is also brazenly ignoring its duty to claimants and taxpayers as it tries to pretend that the fact that Atos has only a pathetic 15%  of the PIP assessment centres it claimed it would have is a non-issue.

Meanwhile, claimant bashing continues as it emerges that future income-related ESA claimant will have to wait 7 days before making a claim and that the DWP is using its legal department to fight against making any improvements to the work capability assessment.

Looking on the bright side, Pat’s Petition have secured a debate (open access) on forcing the government to carry out a proper assessment of how this blizzard of cuts is affecting disabled claimants - there may still just be time to contact your MP before the debate on Wednesday.