A disabled man killed himself as a direct result of being found fit to work by the government’s disability assessors, a coroner has ruled. In a report to the Department for Work and Pensions, the coroner for inner north London demanded it take action to prevent further deaths.

Michael O’Sullivan, a 60-year-old father of two from north London, was moved from employment support on to jobseeker’s allowance despite providing reports from three doctors, including his GP, stating that he had long-term depression and agoraphobia and was unable to work. He killed himself at his home on 24 September 2013.

Previously, the loss or reduction of benefits have been cited by coroners as a factor in deaths and suicides of claimants. However, this is believed to be the first time the work capability assessment (WCA) process has been blamed directly for a death. The case came to light when Disability News Service reported on the coroner’s report.

In a document marked “sensitive”, the coroner Mary Hassell told the DWP she had concluded that the “trigger” for O’Sullivan’s suicide was his fit for work assessment.

“During the course of the inquest, the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concerns. In my opinion, there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken,” she wrote in the document, known as a Prevention of Future Deaths or regulation 28 report.

At an inquest last year, Hassell said O’Sullivan had been suffering from long-term anxiety and depression, “but the intense anxiety which triggered his suicide was caused by his recent assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions [benefits agency] as being fit for work and his view of the likely consequences of that”.

The inquest heard that the DWP assessing doctor, a former orthopaedic surgeon, did not factor in the views of any of the three doctors treating O’Sullivan. The coroner said O’Sullivan was never asked about suicidal thoughts, despite writing them down in a DWP questionnaire.

Under a heading marked “matters of concern” in her report to the DWP, Hassell said the assessing doctor did not take into account the views of the three doctors but said the “ultimate decision-maker” would do that.

“However, the ultimate decision-maker (who is not, I understand, medically qualified) did not request and so did not see any reports or letters from Mr O’Sullivan’s general practitioner (who had assessed him as being unfit for work), his psychiatrist or his clinical psychologist,” she wrote.

“In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe that you and Jobcentre Plus have the power to take such action.”

In its 16-page response to the coroner’s report, the DWP admitted it had got it wrong. It said its policy to request further evidence when a claimant mentions suicide on claim forms was “regrettably not followed in this case”.

It said the WCA process remained under “continual review and development”, including through five independent reviews, and concluded: “We have noted the issues in this case and will continue to monitor our policies around assessment of people with mental health problems while we await the outcome of related litigation.”

The DWP has conducted at least 60 internal investigations into suicides linked to benefit changes since 2012. Last month DWP data showed that nearly 90 people a month died after being declared fit for work and losing their benefits between 2011 and 2014.



A DWP spokesman said improvements had been made to the system since the coroner’s report. The spokesman said: “Following reforms to the work capability assessment, which was introduced in 2008, people are getting more tailored support to return to work instead of being written off on long-term sickness benefits as happened too often in the past.”