The Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, has again answered a Parliamentary Question on the recording of medical assessments for state benefits and expanded on a Written Answer he gave on July 5.
12 July 2012
Mr Frank Field (Labour MP for Birkenhead): To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration his Department has given to requiring all medical assessments to be recorded so that they can be referred to at any appeal stage.
Chris Grayling:
Based on the results of a trial during 2011, we have not implemented universal recording for claimants going through the work capability assessment (WCA).
We have asked Atos Healthcare to accommodate requests for audio recording, where a claimant makes a request in advance of their assessment.
This approach began in late 2011 and we will monitor take up during 2012 before making a decision on the requirement for recording assessments, taking into account factors such as value for money and the value it adds to the WCA process.
As part of this process we are also reviewing Atos capacity to provide recordings for those claimants who currently request one.