A suicidal woman, desperately seeking assistance from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) experienced what no person should ever endure. Instead of care and consideration from her assessor, she was accused of attempting to con benefits, and asked why she hadn’t successfully killed herself yet.
Her
story isn’t an isolated incident. Scores
of people have come forward and accused the DWP of attempting to guide them to
suicide by asking cruel, degrading and bullying questions. Is the DWP’s top
priority helping citizens, or cutting costs? By contracting with Atos, a private healthcare corporation whose assessors
are not mental health professionals, they are willfully putting vulnerable
people at risk. We can help change this.
Sign the petition and ask Atos to stop subjecting people to additional pain and suffering. Require assessors to be mental health professionals, now.
People
looking for assistance from the government should not be forced to explain
their reasons to stay alive. According
to the myriad of claims reported, questions about suicide have generally been
asked of people who are currently experiencing, or have had past issues with
mental illness. What’s worse, many are
afraid to speak out in fear that they will put their benefits at risk.
Sign
the petition and demand that the DWP and Atos do away with triggering
questions, and require that its assessors be mental health professionals,
immediately.
More information
The Canary. 7 March 2017.