A nurse who used to work for government contractor Atos has apologised after describing how she was forced to “trick sick people out of their benefits”. Joyce Drummond from Glasgow, told the Daily Record of the “unfair” ways health professionals were forced to grade benefits claimants. “Atos went by the philosophy that if you had a finger and could push a button, then you could work,” she told the newspaper, labelling their grasp of disability “ridiculous”. She told the newspaper if a woman wore makeup or dressed nicely, this would count against their claim for benefits. If a person could care for a child or even a pet they were “marked down" too, she said. “If they smiled whilst talking, I had to mark down that they smiled spontaneously and were therefore not depressed” she told the Daily Record.

“It was so unfair. There could be a very depressed or ill person sitting in front of me but on paper, thanks to the leading questions I had to ask, they could be judged fit to work.” A disabled person must reach a score of 15 otherwise Atos claim you are fit for work. Although Atos do not make the final decision over whether disabled people should claim benefits, they provide recommendations on the basis of tests like the one Ms Drummond described.....Read more here: Atos Nurse Joyce Drummond Apologises Over 'Ridiculous' Disability Benefits