An internal bulletin to DWP staff says that Atos Healthcare which has been providing medical services for DLA and AA claims will now only be doing this on a “a revised basis”.
Atos doctors used to provide medical advice to DWP decision makers. Decision makers have no medical training and depend on opinions from medical experts to help them arrive at a decision. Now Atos doctors are only available for claims from people with terminal illness, and for those claims from disabled children being dealt with at just one regional benefits centre.
PIP has replaced DLA but the roll out of PIP has been delayed, particularly in those areas covered by Atos. As a result there is still a need to make DLA decisions for adults who have a claim renewal or who report a change of circumstance.
For more on this story see http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2013/11/atos-move-leaves-dla-decision-makers-guessing/