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
Incapacity Benefit medical assessments using a new semi-structured interview technique, with the findings recorded in digital format. This meant that from 2008, most new claims were scrutinised by a healthcare professional; those whose claims reached the threshold for eligibility were granted ESA - either shortly after the initial assessment, following an internal review of the initial decision, or after an external appeal. After the introduction of ESA, the number of remaining Incapacity Benefit recipients dwindled (largely as people came off the benefit for reasons such as reaching the State Pension age): by early 2011, the Incapacity Benefit caseload had shrunk by more