Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) Correspondence

Abstract

Correspondence of a patient with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) contending malpractice and assault by an Atos Healthcare nurse.

This page is published in the public domain and is uncopyrighted. Feel free to copy. See Copyleft (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/)


This website provides information on how Atos runs its business, extracts from the Contract between the DWP and Atos including the MEDICAL CONDITIONS that mean a face to face medical assessment is not always necessary, ASSESSMENTS AND POINTS, the breaches of Contract that occurred in my case, my unsound medical report and the correspondence showing how difficult it is to obtain justice or advice.

The Government is inviting the public to submit petitions. Search epetitions.direct.gov.uk for "DWP" or "Atos" or "disabled" to list relevant petitions including Stop and review the cuts to benefits and services which are falling disproportionately on disabled people, their carers and families (http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968).

Other ongoing petitions are Petition against constant vilification of sick and disabled claimants and Petition to "Sack Atos Immediately" .

The DWP occasionally consults the public http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/.

Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) Correspondence

Letters Emails and Dates

You can click on a date to link to the item on this page.

Nursing & Midwifery Council14 September 2010DocumentToFormal Complaint against Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews.
 16 September 2010LetterFromAcknowledge Complaint against Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews.
 20 September 2010LetterFromRequest for signed consent.
 3 December 2010LetterFromPassed to Investigating Committee.
 24 March 2011LetterFromDate of panel of Investigating Committee.
 17 May 2011LetterFromInvestigating Committee note Atos has investigated.

Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC)

Extract from email to NMC - 14 September 2010

This email provides evidence against Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews. The evidence is in the form of the Microsoft Word format document that is needed to be completed. The NMC website is http://www.nmc-uk.org/.

Reporting a nurse or midwife to the NMC

This is the information we need to know so that we can consider your referral and do something about it. If you need help filling in this form please call 020 7462 5810 or 5811 and we will do our best to help you. If you are an employer making a referral about a nurse or midwife then please refer to Advice and information for employers of nurses and midwives.

If you require this form in large print then please send your request to fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org. If you need more space, feel free to use a separate piece of paper. A large print or audio version is available from the NMC on request.

Section 1: About you

Your name Mr B...
Correspondence address ...
Your daytime telephone number ...
Your email address ...

Section 2: About the incident

Who was the nurse or midwife involved? (Please give the name of anyone involved. If you don't know their name, please provide us with any information that would help us find out who they are. This might include the shift they were working or a description of what they looked like.)

Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews, Nursing and Midwifery Council Practioner PIN is 97C0338E but Atos Healthcare says she is registered as Miss Tanya Catherine Waddington She works for Atos Healthcare.

Hilary Brierley, DWP Commercial Management of Medical Services confirmed in a letter dated 3 September 2010 that Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews "scutinised my case and thus made the decision that a face to face assessment was necessary".

Hilary Brierley, DWP Commercial Management of Medical Services
Department for Work and Pensions, Commercial Directorate

Commercial Management of Medical Services.
Room 306,  Norcross Governnment Buildings,
Norcross Lane, Thornton, Lancashire FY5 3TA

Phone number 01253 611553
Website      www.dwp.gov.uk

DWP Ref 2848/2895/CE117034

When did the incident(s) take place? (Please give exact dates and times, if possible.)

15 June 2009 or the days following.

Where did the incident(s) take place? (Please provide the name and address of the hospital, nursing home or place where the incident occurred. If you know the name of the specific ward/department/unit that would also be helpful. If there are more than one place where incidents took place then please provide the name and address or location of all places.)

Atos Healthcare centre that processed my ESA50 application. Location known to Atos Healthcare and which has not been disclosed to me. A desensitized version of this ESA50 document is published on my website http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosformesa50.html

What happened? (Please describe what happened. There may not have been one major incident but, rather, a series of smaller things over time.)

Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews undertook work that is required to be undertaken by a Medical Advisor registered with the GMC.

I refer you to the Contract (Final Version - 15 March 2005) between the DWP and 
Atos Origin which contains the following.
 
Appendix 1 of Schedule 4 Section 4.12 lists cancer as a medical condition that must 
be referred to a Medical Advisor (GMC registered) for advice. 
 
Schedule 1 Definitions defines:-
 
"Further Medical Evidence"
means medical evidence obtained from a third party such as, but not exclusively, 
a general practitioner or a hospital practitioner and includes, but is not limited to, 
written factual reports, hospital case notes including radiological and pathological 
investigations.
 
SCHEDULE 4 SECTION 4.1 PART 2
 
4.5      Basis of Medical Advice
 
4.5.1 The CONTRACTOR shall ensure that wherever possible all medical reports
         and medical advice:
 
4.5.1.1  is evidence based, that is, there is a consensus of critically evaluated,
         published medical evidence in support of the advice provided by the
         CONTRACTOR;
 
4.5.1.5  is based only on documents that are consistent with one another as to
         the evidence they contain;
 
4.5.1.7  takes full account of and records the effects of pain, fatigue and
         medication on the Claimant's functional capacity or care needs;
 
4.19.1 When obtaining Further Medical Evidence, the CONTRACTOR shall make it 
        clear to  the author of that evidence that all evidence may be given to the
        Claimant and that the only information that can legally be withheld from the
        Claimant is that which may be harmful to the Claimant's health.

Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews FAILED to read in the ESA50 I supplied that I have a primary brain tumour (cancer). Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews FAILED to comply with the Contract and hand over my case to a Medical Advisor registered with the GMC. I attended the face to face assessment which caused me actual injury. It was only later when I obtained under the Freedom of Information Act an extract of the Contract between the DWP and Atos that I found Atos and Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews had acted illegally. For reasons that have not been explained she acted as if she was a qualified doctor. Subsequently an Atos Medical Advisor registered with the GMC contacted my GP and Consultants and Atos has agreed a face to face assessment was not required.

Section 3: Witnesses

Did anyone else see what happened? (Were there witnesses? Do you know their details?)

Hilary Brierley, contact details as above, has given evidence in writing to me, the Chief Executive of JobCentre Plus and to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions that Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews was responsible for deciding that a face to face assessment was necessary.

Section 4: Your action

Have you complained to anyone else about this? (You might have complained to the hospital or home. There are independent complaints systems available locally. If you have contacted any of these people/bodies, please provide us with their names and addresses or telephone numbers).

I have completed all the complaints and appeals procedures that I am aware of. I have complained to Atos Healthcare, the DWP, the Chief Executive of the DWP, my MP for ... The Honourable ... MP and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The delays have been cause by my health which is getting worse and the reticence of the DWP and Atos Healthcare to provide information.

All correspondence, desensitized is published on my website. http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatos.html

I hope you will consider the evidence, take appropriate action and advise the DWP to remove "approval" from Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews. It is a disgrace that a nurse feels free to take actions that best medical practice reserves for a GMC registered doctor. I have requested compensation for the injuries sustained by the illegal actions of Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews from the DWP and Atos Healthcare.

Signed 
Mr B... 
Dated 
14 Sept 2010

Section 5: Consent to disclose

We will need to send a copy of your referral to the nurse or midwife involved and possibly their employer as well. Please sign and date the boxes below to give us your consent to do this. We are unlikely to be able to take your referral any further if you do not sign and date this section of the form.

I agree that the NMC can disclose my referral and any associated information to the nurse or midwife named in this form. I also agree that any healthcare provider holding relevant information about my referral (including medical or nursing notes) may disclose that information to the NMC in pursuit of my referral.

Signed

Mr B...

Dated

14 September 2010

Section 6: Document checklist

Please complete this document checklist. It will help us to make sure that we have received the documents that you have supplied to us.

Please state in the boxes in the second column how many of the documents you have enclosed

Evidence that the matter has been investigated locally - Yes

Copies of witness statements - N/A

Copies of relevant medical records - N/A

Consent to approach employer for further information to assist our investigation - YES

Other (Please specify):

Correspondence published on:- http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatos.html - Yes

Section 7: Next steps

Thank you for completing this form. Please seal it in an envelope and post it to:

Triage Manager
Fitness to Practise Department
Nursing and Midwifery Council
61 Aldwych
London
WC2B 4AE

You can also email the completed form and any attachments to fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org or alternatively if your referral is urgent you can fax it to 020 7636 6282. Please note that we will not be able to consider your referral until we receive all supporting documents.

We will write to let you know we have received your referral and that we are considering it. We will then keep you informed about what is happening. If the nature of your referral falls outside the NMC's remit, we will put you in contact with the appropriate body.

Extract from letter from NMC - 16 September 2010

Acknowedge complaint.

Nursing & Midwifery Council

Private and confidential

       16 September 2010
       Tri/ack/...
       Our ref: ..../2010
       Direct line: 020 7462 8863

       Fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org

Dear Mr B...

Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews

Thank you for your recent referral to the Nursing and Midwifey Council (NMC).

Your correspondence has been passed to the Triage Team within the fitness to Practise department. All new cases go through an initial assessment process. This includes looking at the nature of the allegations and deciding whether we need any further information from you to proceed.

After the initial assessment, a case officer will write to you and guide you through the rest of the process.

The assessment process may take up to 21 days. If you have not heard from us by 18 October 2010, please call us on 020 7462 8863 or email using the address shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

..., Case Manager, Fitness to Practise Directorate


61 Aldwych London WC2B 4AE
T +44 20 7462 5800 

www.nmc-uk.org

The nursing and midwifery regulator for England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands.

Extract from letter from NMC - 20 September 2010

Request for a consent form.

Nursing & Midwifery Council

Private and confidential

       20 September 2010
       Tri/Publicl/.../..../2010
       Direct line: 020 7462 5897
       Email: ...@nmc-uk. org

Dear Mr B...

Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews

I write further to our letter of 16 September 2010.

I have now had the opportunity to assess the information which you provided. At this stage, I am considering referring your complaint for consideration by the Investigating Committee.

The Investigating Committee is a panel made up of both lay and registrant members who will assess your concerns and decide if they raise a question of impairment of fitness to practise which needs to be investigated further. In order for them to consider your complaint fairly they will require some further information and I have listed this below.

Before the panel considers the case, Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews must be shown the complaint and given the opportunity to respond to the allegation. For this reason, I need your consent to the disclosure of your complaint and the supporting documentation. I appreciate that you may feel reluctant and nervous about letting me send your information to Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews. However, we may not be able to proceed with your complaint if you do not consent. I enclose a consent form for you to complete and return to me.

During the course of this investigation, I may need to contact Atos Healthcare for more information about the matters you have raised. If so, I will have to tell them about the concerns you have raised with the NMC. The form mentioned above has a separate space for you to consent to my contacting anyone who I believe can give me information relevant to the case.

Information required

  • Copies of any correspondence or documentation from any local investigation into the matter

  • Consent to my sending the nurse or midwife concerned information you have provided to me and consent to my telling other people about the concerns you have raised with the NMC if I believe they have information relevant to the case

  • Your consent to the holder of your nursing and/or medical records to send me copies of those records that are relevant to your allegation (see separate consent form).

Please let me have this information by 4 October 2010 as I am unable to progress the case without it.

If you have any questions or need more time, please call me on the number shown at the top of this letter. If emailing, please use the address also shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely

..., Case Officer, Fitness to Practise Directorate

Enclosures
Consent form for the NMC to disclose information
Consent form for others to disclose information to the NMC
Self-addressed envelope

61 Aldwych London WC2B 4AE
T +44 20 7462 5800 

www.nmc-uk.org

The nursing and midwifery regulator for England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands.

The "Consent for the NMC to disclose information" form contained the following.

  • I/We consent to the NMC disclosing information about my/our allegation to other people for the purposes of gaining information about the case.

  • I/We consent to the NMC disclosing my/our allegation and supporting information the NMC receives to the nurse/midwife concerned.

  • I/We consent to the NMC approaching Atos Healthcare and other relevant organisations for the purposes of gaining information about the case.

The "Consent to disclose information to the NMC" form contained the following.

  • I consent to disclosing my care records and any associated documentation to the NMC.

I attached the following.

  • Copy of the 3 September 2010 letter from Hilary Brierley, DWP Commercial Management of Medical Services. http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatosletters.html#DWP20100909F

    I highlighted the following.

    Q7. We advised in the letter dated 11 January 2010 Ref: FOI 1144-2419 that the HCP who scrutinised your case and thus made the decision that a face to face assessment was required was Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews All HCP's are monitored by random quality audit to ensure that their work meets the required quality standards. However Atos Healthcare has confirmed that Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews work on this particular case was not reviewed or checked by her manager or others responsible for quality, audit and compliance.

  • Copy of the 28 October 2009 letter from the Minister for Disabled People. http://www.whywaitforever.com/dwpatoslettersgov.html#MIN20091028F

    I highlighted the following.

    .. may be pleased to learn that we already screen the information provided by customers before deciding whether a face to face examination is required. The precise circumstances for exemption are prescribed in the regulations and include terminally ill people who are fast-tracked onto the higher rate of benefit. Every effort is made to identify potentially exempt cases by liaising with the GP or specialist before contacting the claimant. This ensures that where at all possible, severely ill peopIe are not troubled by the assessment and in particular do not have to undergo a medical examination unnecessarily.

I pointed out all correspondence is published on this website. I further pointed out that the originals of the ESA50, the Contract between the DWP and Atos Origin and all letters can be obtained from the DWP and Atos.

Extract from letter from NMC - 3 December 2010

Passed to Independent Investigating Committee.

Nursing & Midwifery Council

Private and confidential

         3 December 2010
         Tri/Refer IC/.../.../2010
         Direct line 020 7... ....
         Fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org

Dear Mr B...

Re: Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews

After careful consideration of your concerns I have passed your case about Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews to case progression team A for referral to the Investigating Committee.

The Investigating Committee is independent from the NMC and is made up of both lay and nurse / midwife members. A panel of the committee will consider the case and decide whether the nurse or midwife has a "case to answer" that their fitness to practise is impaired it is important to recognise that at this stage the Investigating Committee panel does not decide whether any facts are proved in the case, the panel is looking simply to see whether there is sufficient evidence to justify referral for a hearing. If the panel decides there is a case to answer it will refer the case to the Conduct and Competence or Health Committee.

To decide whether there is a case to answer. The Investigating Committee panel meets in private to discuss the papers. The case progression team will prepare the papers for the panel and invite Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews to provide their comments for the panel's consideration. We aim to bring the case to the panel in ten weeks from the date of this letter.

At this stage, one of my colleagues will write to let you know the date when the Investigatlng Committee panel will consider the case.

If you have any questions about the process or if you have not heard from us within the time-line I have described, you should call ... on 020 7... .....

Yours sincerely

... 
Case Officer
Fitness to practise

61 Aldwych London WC2B 4AE
T +44 20 7462 5800 

www.nmc-uk.org

The nursing and midwifery regulator for England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands.

Extract from letter from NMC - 24 March 2011

Panel of Independent Investigating Committee will consider the case.

Nursing & Midwifery Council

Private and confidential

         24 March 2011
         IC/ref1/.../2010
         Case Officer: ...
         Direct line 020 7... ....
         Fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org

Dear Mr B...

Re: Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews

I am writing to let you know that a panel of the Investigating Committee will consider this case on 11 May 2011. This is a private meeting and no one is required to attend. I will write to let you know the decision within the week following the panel's consideration.

Please feel free to call me on the number at the top of this letter if you have any questions. Please note that from Monday 11 April 2011 my new telephone number will be 020 7... 5.... If emailing, please use the address also shown at the top of this letter.

... 
Case Officer
Fitness to practise

61 Aldwych London WC2B 4AE
T +44 20 7462 5800 

www.nmc-uk.org

The nursing and midwifery regulator for England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands
Registered charity in England and Wales (1091434) and in Scotland (SC038362)

Extract from letter from NMC - 17 May 2011

Panel of Independent Investigating Committee do not consider the case but consider whether the matter is "easily remediable". Clearly a nurse can read and next time she can both read and apply the correct action.

Nursing & Midwifery Council

Private and confidential

         17 May 2011
         IC/ref2/.../2010
         Case Officer: ...
         Direct line 020 7... ....
         Fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org

First class post

Dear Mr B...

NMC and Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews

I am writing to tell you that the Investigating Committee panel has considered this referral and has decided there is no case to answer,

Reasons for decision The panel considered the documentation submitted by the referrer. The allegations relate to a failure to appropriately read information on an ESA50 form and reach a decision without the need to conduct a face to face assessment with the client. The panel note that this and other issues have been investigated by the registrant's employer. Under case law the panel are required to consider whether the alleged misconduct is easily remediable and whether it has been remedied. In addition, the test the panel are required to apply is whether the registrant's fitness to practise is currently impaired rather than was impaired in the past. The panel considers that the alleged misconduct is easily remediable. The registrant's employer regularly conducts audits of the assessments undertaken by all Health Care Practitioners and this has highlighted no concerns about the registrant's current skills and assessment abilities.

Taking all of these factors into consideration the panel believe that there is no real prospect that the Conduct and Competence Committee could find the registrant's fitness to practise to be currently impaired by this allegation.

If you have any questions, please call me on the number shown at the top of this If emailing, please use the address also shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely

... 
Case Officer
Fitness to practise

61 Aldwych London WC2B 4AE
T +44 20 7462 5800 

www.nmc-uk.org

The nursing and midwifery regulator for England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Islands
Registered charity in England and Wales (1091434) and in Scotland (SC038362)

The NMC accepts the assurance of Atos Healthcare that Atos Healthcare has investigated the matter, conducts audits and has no concerns about Nurse Mrs Tanya Catherine Andrews.

This does not appear to be the independent inquiry I was expecting.

On the positive side Atos Healthcare has been required to account for their actions. This has incurred them small costs but has damaged their reputation further. The nurse involved and the colleagues she associates with will be aware that she has faced the Conduct and Competence Committee panel and hopefully will serve as a warning to their actions.