Pam Vassie is calling on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide these assessments closer to home.
She explained: “Anyone who is sick or disabled and needs to claim employment and support allowance or a personal independence payment is required to attend a medical assessment. These assessments are carried out on behalf of the DWP by a private company, ATOS.
“ATOS are committed to making sure that claimants should not have to make a journey of more than 90 minutes by public transport to reach an assessment centre.
“Claimants in Berwick are routinely sent appointments at Gosforth, Newcastle. This centre cannot be reached by public transport within 90 minutes.”
She raised the matter with Sir Alan Beith last December who has taken it up with the Secretary of State, Iain Duncan Smith, but ATOS, supported by the DWP, has not changed anything.
Mr Duncan Smith said a review had considered changing the default postcode to Berwick assessment centre rather than some for Newcastle.
But in a letter to Sir Alan, he said: “In view of the assessment capacity in Berwick and the potential for delay in completing assessments, it was decided to leave this unchanged.
