The nurse even claimed that Ian Littler, who lives with significant mental distress and long-term health conditions, said that all people were “scum” when he said no such thing during the telephone assessment.
As a result of the assessment report, he had his monthly personal independence payment (PIP) cut by nearly £340 a month.
It is the third time he has had to appeal after an inaccurate assessment report has resulted in his PIP being cut.
Atos has accepted the report was not fit for purpose – after listening to a recording he secretly made of the telephone assessment in April – and is investigating his complaint.
Mr. Littler is calling for the nurse to be sacked and struck off from the nursing register, and he is seeking legal advice.
It is just the latest case in which Disabled people have proved that PIP assessors working for government contractors Atos and Capita have lied in their assessment reports.
Among the errors in the assessment report, the nurse said Mr. Littler – who lives alone – would always take his medication, when he actually told her he could not take his anti-depressants unless someone was with him because of the risk that he would choke.
She also claimed he only expressed pain twice during the 40-minute assessment, even though he can repeatedly be heard groaning with pain.
The nurse wrote in her report that Mr. Littler “did not sound low in mood or anxious” and was “not anxious, agitated or tense” even though he told her: “I just don’t want to be here. I just want to go to sleep and not wake up.”
He also ended the assessment by becoming severely distressed and hanging up the phone after the nurse kept pushing him to explain why his GP was giving him monthly prescriptions when he had previously tried to take his own life.
Mr. Littler said that he felt “completely let down by Atos, the DWP and the whole assessment process in general”, which he said was “seriously flawed” and had increased his thoughts of self-harm.
He added: “After hearing horror stories for years about fraudulent Atos nurses and reports I’m shocked and stunned that they are still continuing to do these reports, and I feel that they should never be allowed to do these reports ever again or be awarded any future contracts.”
Note: Atos carries out assessments under the name Independent Assessment Services (IAS)
Source and for more information see Recording shows Atos nurse lied repeatedly in PIP assessment report available from disabilitynewsservice.com.