Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment awarded, Atos said: In August, the whistleblower expanded on his allegations in a first-hand account published by the "British Medical Journal". He suggested that the DWP's alleged actions might have been at least partly driven by pressure to "reduce government debt". The DWP's senior doctors made no reply but the clinical director of Atos did respond. In relation to the claim that some Atos assessors had been led to interpret the test's criteria too harshly, she did not deny that the "bogus rules of thumb" had been used in training talks but she said that assessors were expected to follow
Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the United Kingdom to assess Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claims and some claims for Universal Credit. Concerns have been raised over its design, its reliability in practice, its value-for-money, and the effect of wrong decisions on vulnerable claimants.Citizens Advice said of it: "Bureau advisers have expressed grave concern at the number of people unexpectedly being found fit for work". In response to criticism, the DWP said a group of outside experts had studied the test and concluded