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 49 claimants. It went on to explain that it only did this if a): it had been formally notified of a death by a relative of the deceased or a solicitor, and b): a link between the death and the DWP's actions had been alleged. The department admitted that these case audits would not try to establish who was responsible for any mistakes, nor would they "apportion blame" to anyone connected to the deaths. 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