16 May 2013

What: Greg Wood, a GP who worked at Atos as a senior adviser on mental health issues, says that claimants were not assessed in an “even-handed way”, that assessors were trained to award points “begrudgingly” and encouraged to find “reasons not to award points”, and that medical staff were told to change reports if they were too favourable to claimants. The doctor claims he resigned in disgust at what was going on, saying that many doctors he had spoken to shared his concerns. He says: “I think the Department for Work and Pensions is the real culprit here. It’s the government training that makes Atos assessors do this.”

Why significant: Shows how Atos processes were designed to lead to claimants being unfairly found fit for work.