Fuck ATOS: Fuck Nato, Fuck It All

HIV/Aids UK 2014: Hardship

Thousands of people with HIV have been left struggling in poverty by the Government's welfare reforms – with some unable to afford the basic food they need to fight their condition.

The situation is now so critical that in some cases doctors are having to prescribe food supplements to ensure that patients' medication works, The Independent on Sunday has learned.

A national hardship fund for people with HIV/Aids, run by the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), registered a 63 per cent increase last year in those needing emergency help because their benefits had been stopped.

HIV experts described the situation as "truly alarming", saying it was "nothing short of a disgrace" that seriously ill patients in modern Britain were having their treatments compromised by hunger. HIV medication can be less effective if taken without food.

Changes to sickness benefits introduced by the coalition – alongside other welfare reforms such as the so-called bedroom tax – have left many HIV patients significantly worse off.

Stringent criteria for employment support allowance, assessed by the now notorious Atos Healthcare, means that many have been moved off sickness benefits altogether. The replacement of the disability living allowance with the personal independence payment is also affecting growing numbers...

Independent On Sunday.

This is in the IoS, so might be hyped up for the usual reasons.
Doesn't help that the only personal account they highlight is a woman complaining that she can't afford to shop at Waitrose anymore.
But it fits my narrow agenda, so... whatever. 

Persistent death threats against staff who decide whether sick and disabled people are eligible for benefits have forced the private company employing them to seek an early exit from a £500m government contract.
With opposition Labour MPs also stepping up criticism, Atos Healthcare said the political environment had become untenable and that it was no longer fair to employees to leave them vulnerable to attack...

Financial Times, February 20th. 

As this article goes on to say, ATOS's real problem is that they were exposed as corporate crooks, officially declared incompetent, and driven by callous targets for striking claimants off. 

Thought For The Day: Mark Steel

"There's a company called Atos, that you may have heard of, and the achievement it's best known for is to be despised by thousands of the disabled. Graffiti such as "Atos kills" is common on some housing estates, which must be why Atos is one of the main sponsors of the Paralympics. It makes sense, in the way that if you had a gay Olympics, you'd get it sponsored by the Pope..."

The great Mark Steel in the Independent on the cruel irony of Atos sponsoring the Paralympics.
Atos are currently being paid £100m a year to try and scare the disabled, sick and vulnerable off benefits.
I wish them all dead.  

PS There are a series of actions against Atos hypocrisy - Disabled People Against The Cuts, Atos Victims Support Network.

ATOS: Cash From Chaos

"Janet was kept waiting for nearly an hour. The doctors were running late, she was told, because of "transport problems". Finally, her name was called and she was taken through the locked security doors and into an assessment room. The doctor told her to take a seat and proceeded to work on his computer.
""I could tell he was clicking down a column of boxes. I could tell from the way he was moving the mouse." The doctor said nothing more to Janet for "at least five minutes". He then asked about her medication and also her physical health. And then – "I think it's because I said I had piles" – he launched into the most extraordinary diatribe.
"Janet was forced to sit and listen as the doctor described in graphic detail the physical damage men did to each other by having anal sex. "They're everywhere!" the doctor said. "They're running the government." He would not allow his grandchildren to be brought up in a country run by homosexuals and paedophiles.
"Janet, who is herself gay, said nothing. She found herself wondering if it was part of the test. The doctor went on to tell her that a lesbian couple had complained about him, saying that he had rejected their claim because he was homophobic. "I had to go to tribunal," he said. "I could have lost my job. But they found against them and they lost their benefits." The doctor then left the room without any explanation. Some minutes later he returned with a nurse and proceeded to examine Janet's feet..."

Clare Allan writing on Guardian Online.
This doesn't surprise me.
ATOS are the private profit-driven company hired by the government to try and scare and throw vulnerable people off benefits.
Maybe we can all get jobs doing Disabilty Assessments at ATOS Healthcare.
An interesting assessment of the ATOS crooks and creeps here.

An open letter in The Guardian signed by Mind, Centre For Mental Health etc;
"We've found that the prospect of IB reassessment is causing huge amounts of distress, and tragically there have already been cases where people have taken their own life following problems with changes to their benefits. We are hugely worried that the benefits system is heading in a direction which will put people with mental health problems under even more pressure and scrutiny, at a time when they are already being hit in other areas such as cuts to services..."

• Queer Resistance - UK Queers & Allies Against The Cuts. Next meeting at Gay's The Word on Saturday June 5th.