Labour’s Stephen Timms MP is backing a campaign by the
mental health charity Rethink to make the controversial Work Capability
Assessment fairer and more accurate for those with mental health
problems.
The Work Capability Assessment was first introduced by
a Labour government in 2008 and the contract to carry out the assessments on
sick and disabled benefit claimants was awarded to the private health firm Atos
Healthcare. Labour were to review both the WCA and the contract with Atos
Healthcare in 2010 once its 2 year period expired, but defeat in the 2010
general election led to the Tory led coalition extending the contract and,..
according to some commentators, toughening the WCA.
Rethink are campaigning for improvements to the
process which determines a person’s capability and readiness to return to work
after evidence emerged that those with mental health issues, which have a
negative effect on their ability to work, are far less likely to be found ‘unfit
for work’ than those with physical disabilities. Figures also suggest that too
many benefit claimants, who are unfortunately having to battle mental health
problems, are being found ‘fit for work’ as a result of the work capability
assessment only for that decision to be later overturned in favor of the
claimant at a social security tribunal.
Benefit appeals against ‘fit for work’ decisions for
both those with physical disabilities and mental health issues have risen
dramatically and success rates remain high at close to 40%, leading to
accusations against Atos and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by
opponents of the system that the WCA is fundamentally flawed, should be
scrapped, and then replaced with a system that puts a claimant’s own GP, and
other qualified health professionals to whom the claimant has been referred on
medical grounds, in the position to determine whether a sick or disabled person
is ‘fit for work’. The British Medical Association (BMA) has also agreed that
the WCA should be scrapped in a vote by its members last year.
Parliamentary MPs recently took part in a mock
assessment in the halls of the House of Commons organised by Rethink which,
perhaps jokingly, assessed members ability to be an MP. Labours Stephen Timms
was among many MPs who agreed to be assessed. Stephen has been a long-term
campaigner against Atos and the WCA and many believe he was a key player in
Labours recent policy announcement to terminate the government’s contract with
Atos Healthcare, and their involvement in the WCA, should Labour win a majority
in 2015.
Lara Carmona, head of campaigns at Rethink, told the
local press in East Ham where Stephen Timms serves as an MP:
“This was obviously a slightly tongue in cheek
exercise, but there is a very serious message underpinning it. Just as our MP
Capability Assessment doesn’t accurately reflect Stephen Timms’ ability to be an
MP, neither does the Work Capability Assessment fairly judge whether someone
with mental illness is able to work.
“That’s why we are delighted that Stephen has backed
our call for the Government to make the fit-for-week test fair for people with
mental illness. The system isn’t working, and it’s in everyone’s interests that
we have a fair and accurate assessment process, which gets it right the first
time. It could make a huge difference to some of the most vulnerable people in
east London.”
A recent court case found that those with mental
health issues claiming sickness benefit Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
were put at a ‘serious disadvantage’ by the current WCA.
