hi, i had my pip ass, today it went ok i think the man who did the assessment for atos, when i asked him said he was trained in mental health, although he didnt actually give me a job title ie CPN etc. this was encouraging because when i was describing how i was coping with my day to day needs as a result of my mental health he seemed to be sympathetic and actually offering some words of his own when i was struggling to fully describe my feelings,, all good, however later on in the process when we got to the "moving about " bit he asked me what length of time i thought i could walk for, now having read some of the posts on here it seems that this is now part of the assessment even though it does not feature on the original form i told him i could not walk even a few metres without being in chronic pain, when i said i didnt recall there being a part on the form about time related walking, he said " no there isnt this is just something i like to use to give me a better idea about your problems" it was as much as i could do to not call him a liar there and then and say that i knew this was common but not official practice and it wasnt just something he used. isnt it a sad state of affairs when you have got people who are genuinely ill who are too afraid of the consequences of speaking out about what i would call devious and plain dishonest practices carried out on behalf of and probably encouraged by this goverment department
