Atos Healthcare, the company appointed by the government to test whether disabled people are 'fit to work', is at the epicentre of dogmatically-driven tragedy.
Atos, the company contracted out by the DWP to conduct ‘fit for work’ tests, has come under renewed criticism with a man they deemed fit to work going on hunger strike.
Christos Palmer, who is both mentally and physically disabled, was judged by Atos to be fit for work. As a result of the way he was treated and the company’s ignorance of disability, he went on hunger strike (in association with Disabled People Against Cuts) outside Atos in Cardiff from November 5th until 1:00pm yesterday.
Christos believes Atos is responsible for worsening the illnesses and causing the deaths of some of those they have judged:
“Atos are killing people left, right and centre. One of my friends, Karen Sherlock, died earlier this year whilst trying to claim her benefits. I want Atos staff to see me out here to know disabled people are suffering and in pain.”
This is not the only case of Atos’s policy having a catastrophic effect. Political Scrapbook reports Brian McArdle, a man paralysed down one half of his body, blind in one eye and who couldn’t speak, died the day after his disability benefits were discontinued.
Brian’s family put the heart attack that killed him down to the stress he suffered as a result of Atos’s testing. This is part of a wider problem, with many disabled people suffering health problems and even dying as a result of their being forced to work by an Atos ruling.
Uunfortunately, these incidents are not isolated. Many people suffering from crippling illnesses like Parkinson’s and cancer are deemed fit to work by Atos. Unsurprisingly there has been public outrage and calls for a policy review from the Labour Party.
With the removal of Chris Grayling from the DWP, it is to be hoped his successor Mark Hoban will be humane and curb this disgusting policy.
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
11 Responses to “Atos, Tory cuts and a diasbled man driven to hunger strike”
Rahul Kamath
A lot of wild allegations in this posting. Somebody died … let’s not be so swift to blame Atos for this (and other deaths as you do above) without some proof. And the person in the article is mentally/ physically disabled enough not to work but fit enough to protest? I don’t know specifics but surely this requires a little more looking into.
Newsbot9
Ah yes, the sort of view where being caught knife in hand needs an examination of the social status of the perpetrator and the victim before a decision can be pre-rendered on what occurred…
Of course you want to harass someone who dares speak up, who dares have people help them to protest their victimisation.
Patrick
I didn’t say that excuses the Tories continuing it. I simply stated a fact. Labour created it.
Newsbot9
And? Centralists created it, your right’s made it worse, my left opposes it. Bombing your own moral high ground is not a tactic of success!
Oliver Wright-Jones
When people suffering with cancer, blindness or paralysed from the waist down, are found ‘fit for work’ (with many of these people ‘dying’ soon after their ridiculous medicals) it is obvious that Atos are simply in it for the huge profits generated by the contracts given to them, by this coalition party. David Cameron had himself a disabled child, does he not feel any compassion for others in a similar plight, who unlike himself are not millionaires, but in poverty and desperate for a few quid to live on. Does Iain Duncan Smith (DWP) who oversees these fit tests, have a heart made of stone? What have we, the electorate voted in…a nasty party indeed, never again.