The vast majority of assessments are still not recorded and auditing the reports may not pick up discrepancies between what a claimant has said or done in an assessment, and what is recorded in the report. We recommend the Department instructs providers to record assessments by default, with a clear opt-out rather than opt-in option, as recommended by the previous Committee and endorsed by all three 92 Health assessments for benefits current contractors. This will ensure that an objective rec...

The vast majority of assessments are still not recorded and auditing the reports may not pick up discrepancies between what a claimant has said or done in an assessment, and what is recorded in the report. We recommend the Department instructs providers to record assessments by default, with a clear opt-out rather than opt-in option, as recommended by the previous Committee and endorsed by all three 92 Health assessments for benefits current contractors. This will ensure that an objective record of assessments exists, providing reassurance to claimants and enabling quality auditing. This should be included in the new contracts for assessments Type: recommendation | Number: 21 | Paragraph: 98 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: The Department remains committed to improving the health assessment process. Since the Work and Pensions Committee Report in 2018, the Department has worked closely with providers to test and implement the audio recording of health assessments