Sis had a serious motorcycle accident. By rights she should have been killed. Thankfully her mates are policemen and they knew how to deal with the crash.
She was overtaking a vehicle doing 30 mph in a 60 mph zone without knowing there was a hidden dip. She went through the windscreen of the oncoming car and her bike hit the one she was trying to pass. We now call her Missile and are thankful to be able to. Her gear saved her life but her leg was badly broken and she had other injuries that still haven’t healed. Tweety (the bike) was a write-off.
Missile has a wee cleaning business and is self-employed. She has been unable to work for obvious reasons. She lost contracts that she will never be able to get back. When she ran out of savings she applied for Incapacity Benefit. She was turned down even though she was clearly incapacitated.
Missile has been doing the best she possibly can to get back to work and save what is left of her wee business and she is a long standing tax paying and worthy person. Tough!
Missile has a neighbour who had a number of seizures and is unable to drive. They live in a very rural area. The sister’s husband or another neighbour takes the girls into town to buy groceries once a week. Her wee friend looks after her grandparents who are in their 90’s. She didn’t claim carers allowance because it never occurred to her to do so. Her grandparents are family and you do what needs to be done for loved ones. This wee girl has been told she has to go back to work. She is two miles away from the nearest bus stop. Imagine leaving your aging grandparents to walk two miles in winter to get to a job that pays minimum wage? She doesn’t get much in benefit to start with but it’s not about the money … or is it? The truth is the wee lass is saving the government money by caring for her grandparents at home. If she is forced to wreck herself getting to a job they will have to go into care. Do you think the assessors care?
I know that the benefit system needs an overhaul and that there are people “swinging the lead” but I have found out some stuff that has shocked me to the core and I have gone from cross to incensed.
I did some research and here are my findings.
The Medical Support Service of the Social Security Agency is now run by a profit making organisation called ATOS. I doubt if many people know that. If you get a letter to attend a medical assessment, to all intents and purposes, it is from the SSA. The SSA logo appears on the letterhead and ATOS are not mentioned at all. Why is that? If they are carrying out the assessments why is their name not on the letterhead? Could it be that the powers that be don’t want you to know that they are paying a profit making company to manage your health and welfare?
I tried to get information via government websites and was passed from pillar to post. Thank goodness for the Internet. I gleaned a lot of information but I am still baffled. I can’t establish which department is responsible for what. It appears that the SSA is part of the Department for Social Development and the ones “probably” employing ATOS is the Department for Work and Pensions. Or is it the Northern Ireland Office? So unless I’ve lost the plot there are at least two departments dealing with the benefit system. Is that not a waste of resources and a recipe for confusion?
ATOS are a worldwide organisation boasting annual revenue of 8.7 billion euro. They are extremely diverse. ATOS are into defence and education to name a very few.
The company have directors and shareholders and partners in projects such as the 2012 Olympics. Don’t’ take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.
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