Have beeen browsing a lot of sites recently where people have been describing their experiences of these infamous medicals that ATOS are conducting for people claiming ESA.Makes for extremely grim reading.

Came a little bit closer to home earlier when me other half was telling me about the experience of a work colleague of hers whose daughter had been summoned to an ATOS examination centre.The daughter is in her early 20,s and suffers from some sort of anxiety disorder which keeps her housebound for much of the time.Yet as far as ATOS were concerned this young woman didn,t score enough points in her medical and since then the DWP have stopped her benefit and advised her to apply for JSA.She is going to appeal and her GP will support the appeal.Plus she,s still living at home so she won,t starve in the interim period when she,s being left without any income.But what a disgrace.

Also this woman told my partner about the attitude of the ATOS staff which she said was cold,brisk and indifferent.Plus she said something of some of the other people who were in the waiting room waiting to be examined.A woman who clearly had back problems and couldn,t get up when she was called.Who was reduced to tears by the pain she was in and whose husband was forced to remonstrate with the nurse who was unsympathetic to her plight and did nothing to either help or reassure her.Another woman who was both deaf and dumb and who was abandoned at the examination centre by her carer.And was therefore unable to respond when her name was called.And it was left to the other people in the waiting room g to intervene and explain her circumstances to the stroppy receptionist who apparently been made aware of her condition but who had 'forgotten'.A man who had some sort of fit in the waiting room followed by a profuse nosebleed.And a young man who had clearly had some sort of accident and was wearing a neck brace as well as having an arm and a leg in plaster.

We don,t know whether any of these other people were also declared fit for work by ATOS but it,s clearly outrageous that they were summoned in the first place.And in all probability there are ATOS waiting rooms all over Britain with a similar collection of sick,vulnerable people who have enough to worry about without being put through this added humiliation.

What i have described will almost certainly become more commonplace as those currently on IB are summoned by ATOS to see if they are eligible for the new ESA benefit.And it makes my blood boil that so many people seem unaware of what,s going on.And that the Guardian is still nowhere near wholeheartedly joining the fight to get these barbaric ATOS medicals stopped.