Glasgow short on doctor assessors

People in Glasgow who need medical assessments for benefits such as
attendance allowance may face difficulties finding a doctor
approved to assess them.

Almost half of the 40 doctors in the UK who had their approval to
medically assess benefit claimants revoked last year come from
Glasgow, it was revealed this week.

Atos Origin, the agency that trains and approves doctors who assess
people for benefits, admitted Glasgow has more doctors who have had
approval revoked than anywhere else. This is in part because
doctors are “unwilling or unable to undertake training specific to
disability assessment medicine”, it said.

Dr Mary Church, joint chair of the British Medical Association’s
Scottish GPs’ committee, said that doctors’ increasing workloads
could be to blame.