Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

(asked on 23rd February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 103610 on the satisfaction ratings for disability benefit assessments, whether her Department has ever requested an independent audit of the satisfaction surveys of disabled people’s experiences carried out by Atos, Capita and Maximus.


Answered by
Chloe Smith Portrait
Chloe Smith
This question was answered on 3rd March 2022

The customer satisfaction target for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment providers, Independent Assessment Services (IAS) and Capita, is 90%. The customer satisfaction target for the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assessment provider Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), is 92%.

A full breakdown of answers to each question is available upon request from IAS and Capita. For CHDA, a full breakdown is provided on a quarterly basis. The department reviews, in detail, the responses to the questions which contribute to the score against the customer satisfaction target.

The department has not requested an independent audit of the providers’ customer satisfaction surveys. This has not been considered necessary given that the IAS, Capita and CHDA surveys are undertaken by independent third parties in line with the requirements of their individual contracts.

The third parties conducting the surveys endeavour to contact PIP and WCA customers shortly after their assessment but before a decision has been made on their claim by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).


This enables their satisfaction with the assessment experience to be measured before benefit entitlement decisions.

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