work capability assessment

Benefits and Poverty

November 20, 2015

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‘Damning’ research on WCA deaths is ‘timely’ reminder of government’s shame

Disabled activists say government-funded research, which concludes that the programme to reassess people on incapacity benefit through the work capability assessment (WCA) was linked to 590 suicides in just three years, is both “damning” and “timely”. Campaigners, doctors and psychiatrists have been warning for several years of strong anecdotal evidence that the programme to

Benefits and Poverty

Stephen Carre smiling and stroking a black cat

November 20, 2015

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Government, health unions and Maximus all silent over ‘590 WCA suicides’

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The Department of Health, doctors’ and nurses’ unions and the contractors paid to carry out the assessments have refused to pledge to take any action following new research linking the government’s “fitness for work” test with about 600 suicides. The study funded by the National Institute for Health Research – which itself is funded

Benefits and Poverty

Doorway of building where Maximus is based in London

November 20, 2015

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Maximus US shares plunge over missed WCA targets in UK

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A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) contractor saw its share price plunge in the US after revealing that it has struggled to recruit doctors and nurses from the NHS to assess disabled people’s “fitness for work”. Maximus took over the £595 million work capability assessment (WCA) contract earlier this year from another discredited

Benefits and Poverty

November 9, 2015

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WCA death scandal: Ministers ‘failed to pass 2010 suicide report to Harrington’

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Ministers appear to have failed to hand a crucial report about the work capability assessment – warning it put at risk the lives of thousands of people with mental health conditions – to the expert they commissioned to review the test. An investigation by Disability News Service (DNS) suggests that work and pensions secretary

Benefits and Poverty

Head and shoulders of Chris Grayling talking

November 9, 2015

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WCA death scandal: Grayling ordered assessment roll-out, despite coroner’s warning

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Ministers appear to have allowed a controversial disability benefits assessment to be rolled out to hundreds of thousands of long-term claimants with mental health conditions, even though a coroner had warned it was a threat to their lives. Employment minister Chris Grayling (pictured) and work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith decided in the summer of

Benefits and Poverty

November 9, 2015

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WCA death scandal: ‘DWP and Atos killed my son’

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The father of a man who took his own life after being found “fit for work” believes his son would still be alive if he had not been failed by the benefits system the government and its contractor, Atos. Stephen Carre, 41, from Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, died in January 2010, after the Department for

Benefits and Poverty

October 16, 2015

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Government hides information on death of Michael O’Sullivan

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The government is refusing to release information that would reveal which ministers and civil servants decided how to respond to the death of a man who killed himself as a direct result of being found “fit for work”. Disability News Service (DNS) revealed last month that a coroner had demanded government action after an

Benefits and Poverty

Natalie Jeffers speaking while holding a placard featuring a photo of her brother, watched by other protesters

October 9, 2015

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‘Fitness for work test and sanctions helped kill my brother’

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The sister of a disabled man who died just three months after being found fit for work and then having his benefits sanctioned says the government’s discredited work capability assessment (WCA) system was partly responsible for her brother’s death. Luke Alexander Loy, who had schizophrenia and lived in Birmingham was just 42 when he

Benefits and Poverty

October 2, 2015

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Disability Rights UK wins contract to teach equality to Maximus

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A national disabled people’s organisation is to provide disability equality training workshops to staff from the controversial US-owned company that won the government contract to assess people’s “fitness for work”. Disability Rights UK (DR UK) will provide training to about 1 600 members of staff employed by the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments

Benefits and Poverty

A wheelchair-user sits in front of a stage, while the grass is covered by white flowers

September 25, 2015

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Michael O’Sullivan inquest: Chief coroner silent over WCA ‘future deaths’ reports

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The chief coroner of England and Wales has refused to act after it emerged that only one coroner has written an official report warning that lives could be put at risk by the government’s “fitness for work” test. Disability News Service (DNS) reported last week how Michael O’Sullivan, a 60-year-old man from north London

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