After months of e-mailing my MP, (Norman Lamb, LibDem, Nick Clegg’s Special Political Advisor), sending him links to what we know about the DWP’s, Atos & Unum’s relationship, Unum’s recently announced marketing campaign, Mick O’Donnell’s appointment as Chief Medical Officer of Atos, the suicides, the figures relating to appeals, Ms Carr’s & the little Treasures comments on Facebook and much more, with much of what I was e-mailing him about being in the public domain I finally spoke to him about it this morning, he actually gave me a ring.
Was it worth it ?
Judge for yourself, this was his response, a letter to Maria Miller.
Norman Lamb Member of Parliament forNorth Norfolk Guyton House,5 Vicarage Street, NorthWalsham,NorfolkNR28 9DQ Telephone: 01692 403752 norman@normanlamb.org.uk www.normanlamb.org.ukMaria Miller Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Minister for Disabled People Department of Works & Pensions Caxton House Tothill Street LONDON SW1H 9NA
Our Ref: NOR-Lock002-clg-2011/1078.nl
5 September 2011
Dear Maria,
Re: ATOS Healthcare
I enclose an exchange of correspondence that my office has had with my constituent, xxxx xxxxxxxx. You will be aware that my caseworker, Andrew Wells, has already written to you enclosing xxxx xxxxxxxx’s first email.
I wanted to follow up on that letter, by referring you specifically to the Black Triangle campaign. I have had a number of serious complaints made to me relating to assessments undertaken by Atos. It is really important that the public – and claimants – have confidence in Atos and in those carrying out assessments.
I would be most grateful if you could respond fully, not only to what xxxx xxxxxxxx sets out in his emails, but also to the information contained in the links that he includes in his emails.
I am concerned at what Mr xxxxxxxx has told me with regard to Lima V2. It was apparently originally developed and used in the US in the 1990s. This led to complaints that large numbers of insurance claims made to Unum Provident were improperly rejected. This has formed the basis of large numbers of court claims resulting in hundreds of million dollars of payouts. Are you aware of this?
Could you update me please on the percentage of assessments which are overturned on appeal? Please provide figures for those both with and without representation on appeal. What assessment did you make at the start with regard to the percentage of cases which would be overturned on appeal?
xxxx xxxxxxxx informs me that a company called Unum Provident “has been convicted of major fraud and banned from trading in many States in the US” up until 2008. He states that this company has been advising the DWP on welfare reform since the early 1990s. He also states that the current Atos Chief Medical Officer, Mike O’Donnell, had been Chief Medical Officer of Unum from March 2000 to September 2010. Is all this true? Can you let me know exactly what the Government knows about the position relating to Unum Provident and its relationship with Atos healthcare?
I look forward to your full response as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Norman Lamb MP
Member of Parliament for North Norfolk
Dictated by Norman Lamb and signed in his absence
Copy to Steve Webb MP
FFS, we are working our balls off with limited resources that sustenance benefits leaves us with, fighting for our very existence and that of others and the best he can do is write a bloody letter to Maria Miller, (somebody who has had the above information sent to her by numerous people), asking her if she’s aware of it and tells me he’ll let me know what she says ???
What’s up with him using his staff, staff that he gets generous expenses to pay their wages to check up on what we are saying and then when he knows it to be fact, (which is so easy to check up on), pass the information on to his mate Cleggy and tell him to ask Cameron the next time they are sharing a flute of champers and a few canapés WTF is going on and what’s he going to do about it, it beggars belief, what are we paying these people for ???
What do you think ?
In his past like he used to be the LibDem Health Spokesman that guy !
Wooooo, a lot of people from Redmond, WA reading this – Yes, we are talking about you !!!
And Seattle, WA, interesting is it ???
P – Contacting your MP – Is it Worth It ???
He’s effing Batman compared to my MP ( Libdem Alan Beith)… ;(
No it is NOT worth emailin your MP (specially if they are conservascum) Mine – She just replies with ”If you are truly disabled then you have nothing to worry about then”
Bunch of waste of space nothings who dont care – Know they not that it takes ONE illness or accident to put THEM where we stand today – Then they will see how they let us down!
When I emailed mine about something she denied receiving it, despite autoresponse showed it went to one of her aids, and so when I wrote to her with my complaint , she denied receiving a page – the complaint page despite it was sent by recorded delivery and she made reference to something which was on the alleged lost page.I told her if the officials are not going to play by the rules, then neither am I. I called her a liar
Is it worth it, even though Maria Miller may have been sent the information by members of the public having to explain them to an MP should be interesting. The response you receive to letters depends on the MP though, as in all professions there are good ones and bad ones.
It would help if the idiot man took the time to understand what he’s writing about before offering Maria Miller a get-out clause. Unum Provident no longer exist. With the change in name to Unum Insurance, the new company now refuses culbability for the past, and I can guarantee that Maria Miller will dismiss this letter as she does all others.
Mo Stewart
All that was explained to him Mo, plus he’s had enough information sent so that he does not have to ask Maria miller the facts, they are staring him and all the other MP’s in the bloody face but they are all in denial about it.
I think I will write to him since it’s my research he’s challenging – but after I get some sleep. That trip to Norfolk has had lasting implications and my friend and I wer up till 5am getting tah tletter & report out to the sorting office, thanks to Phil’s help. Once my brain is working again, I’ll write the idiot man a letter. The Lib dem conference this year should be interesting but I bet they’ll ban the media and press again, just like last year… Meanwhile, now I’ll be sending my report out by email too, just in case the post doesn’t work 🙂
Sadly, I think the Lords will be flooded with input from the public and there can be no guarantee that any of them will bother to read the report but I thought it was worth the effort.
I think it is amazing that you got his attention. My MP just keeps trying to refute everything I say by repeating the official line. But I see what you mean, in some ways your MP reacted the same way as mine – he didn’t actually look into it himself. He hasn’t challenged the Disabilities Minister in any way and given her a change to deny everything. Still, you’ve worried him and that is progress!!
The LibDems are going to really struggle in the next general election and need every vote they can get, (with them being almost wiped out in Scotland already). I am considering standing against my LibDem MP in the next general election and have already been in discussion with others about making this a national thing, people standing against all sitting LibDem MP’s unless they stand up for us on this issue.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B-spAvZZrSMeOTRjZWNmMGItNDJjYi00NGY0LWFkMWItMzViMzAxOTdjZjI5&hl=en_GB
Just in case they have failed to see the writing on the wall. This ‘coalition’ is their ‘implosition’ – to coin a new word! Turn back now or drink of the poisoned chalice:
William Shakespeare wrote:
“But in these cases
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice
To our own lips.”
Macbeth, Act 1 Scene VII
And TWO WEEKS AFTER THIS LETTER NORMAN LAMB IS ON THE PANEL of this UNUM event at Lib Dem Conference fringe:
Alarm clock Britain’ (Speaker/Artist(s) Info: Unum)
Alarm clock Britain’
Speaker/Artist(s) Info Norman Lamb MP; Teresa Perchard, Director of Public Policy, Citizens Advice; Nick Pearce, Director, IPPR; Peter O’Donnell, Chief Financial Officer, Unum. Chair: Patrick Hennessy, Sunday Telegraph.
Time Tuesday September 20, 2011 6:15pm – 7:30pm
Venue Hyatt Regency: Fortissimo 2 Bridge Street, Birmingham B1 2JZ
Type LibDem → Panel
Host Organization(s) IPPR, Unum
Tags Refreshments
The themes are linked to this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12149705
What a COINCIDENCE?! WTF! MORE LIKE!
LINK : http://my.fringelist.com/event/e44ad0ddcc22b408db9afcf114fbf19c#