One in three Capita PIP Assessments are flawed

Mike1

Copied from the Disability Rights UK website:

More than a third of Capita's PIP disability assessment reports have been found to be significantly flawed, according to Freedom of Information (FoI) Act response.

The proportion of substandard personal independence payment (PIP) reports completed by Capita has risen to 37% in the two years since 2016, when nearly 33% of reports were found to be defective.

The figures secured from the DWP under the FoI Act by campaigner John Slater. They show the results of government audits of nearly 6,000 assessment reports carried out by Capita during 2018.

Nearly four per cent of the reports (3.92%) were of such poor quality that they were categorised as “unacceptable”. With another 17% of assessments, DWP concluded the report was so flawed that there was “learning required” by the healthcare professional who wrote it, although the report was of an “acceptable” standard.

And in a further 16% of cases, the report needed to be amended because of even more serious flaws, although again the report was still said to be of an “acceptable” standard.

In all, nearly 37% of assessment reports audited during 2018 were found to be of an unacceptable standard, to need changes, or demonstrated that the assessor had failed to carry out their role properly.

John Slater still appealing against DWP’s failure to release data showing the results of audits of Atos assessment reports.

The data shows that the many reports of dishonest and distressing assessment experiences by individual disabled people are not isolated occurrences.

One concern highlighted by the data is the proportion of assessments cleared by Capita within 40 days, which nearly fell as low as 50 per cent at one stage during 2018.

Another concern is over the number of Atos and Capita healthcare professionals who have been the subject of multiple complaints within a three-month period.

Last year, Disability News Service revealed that 161 assessors working for Atos and 19 Capita assessors had had at least four complaints made against them in a three-month period in 2016.

But the figures for 2018 show that, although the number of Atos assessors who faced multiple complaints fell from 161 to 129, the number of Capita assessors who were subjected to at least four complaints in just three months leapt from 19 to 84 between 2016 and 2018.

Capita carried out about 220,000 face-to-face assessments in 2018, compared with more than 730,000 by Atos.

Another key concern is that Capita is still requesting vital further evidence from GPs and social workers in less than 30 per cent of assessments.

But DWP documents drawn up in May 2012, before the award of the contracts to deliver PIP assessments, show the department expected its contractors would need to request further evidence (also known as further medical evidence) in about half of all cases (50%).

Source and for further information see Secret PIP files show one in three assessments by Capita had significant flaws available @ www.disabilitynewsservice.com

See also –

Northern Ireland Ombudsman commences investigation into handling of Personal Independence Payment
Complaints about PIP assessments up 6,000 per cent in three years