Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment ideation being described on the claim form. The coroner wrote to the DWP in January 2014. She was concerned that neither the Atos doctor nor the DWP decision-maker had sought information from Michael O'Sullivan's own doctors. The DWP wrote back, referring to the guidance issued to the Atos healthcare professionals who, before face-to-face assessments, scrutinised the paperwork submitted by claimants — guidance called the "Training and Development ESA Filework Guidelines". The DWP confirmed that suicidal thoughts had been described on Michael O'Sullivan's application form but said "further evidence was not requested in line with the stated policy [in the "Training
Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment that: "...capability assessors too often have a culture of disbelief about disability, especially mental illness". Professor Louis Appleby leads the National Suicide Prevention Strategy in England. In February 2018 he told "Disability News Service" that sickness benefit recipients were "a high risk group" and, while it was rare for one thing alone to trigger suicide, "a protracted stressful benefit claim, feelings of being treated unfairly, and of course financial problems themselves can all contribute". Furthermore, on the question of claimants committing suicide as they tried to qualify for their benefits, Professor Appleby said: "I've no doubt for some people claiming