Poor decisions attacked by MPs

MPs have warned that “rushed or inadequate” medical assessments are
still causing many mistakes to be made on benefit decisions.

Appeals against incapacity and disability benefit decisions are
successful in more than 40 per cent of cases, a House of Commons
public accounts committee report has found.

“The fact that these are not isolated cases is illustrated by the
level of appeals, which for incapacity and disability benefits
decisions has not changed significantly since 2001,” the report
says.

Between March 2001 and September 2002 the number of appeals lodged
against incapacity and disability benefit decisions was more than
35,000 a quarter.

The Department for Work and Pensions said it was too early for
recent developments in doctor recruitment and performance
monitoring to have had an impact.

An evidence-based medicine system will be rolled out in June 2004
and claims forms are be revised to make it clearer what medical
evidence is needed.

– Report from www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/pachome.htm