Sexual abuse survivors are being retraumatised by ACC's new "sensitive claims" process, an independent review has found.© 2010 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd
The agency tightened criteria for sexual abuse victims last October, limiting ACC-funded counselling to those clinically diagnosed with a mental injury resulting from abuse. As a result, sensitive claims submitted to ACC halved.
After protests, ACC Minister Nick Smith set up an independent review panel in April to assess the new process. Last month, ACC accepted an interim recommendation from the panel that sensitive claimants should receive 16 initial counselling sessions immediately.
The panel has now issued its final report, which found the criteria changes had led to long waiting times for claims to be processed, retraumatising vulnerable victims and prompting many to give up seeking help..
It was particularly worried about the time taken to process claims from children and teenagers – up to 10 months.
Relying on a clinical diagnosis meant many people were now being denied treatment, and ACC and counselling services needed to agree on other ways to identify whether a person had a "mental injury". The changes were "poorly planned".
Dr Smith said ACC would put its recommendations in place.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4114385/ACC-changes-adding-to-abuse-victims-trauma
It would be nice if Dr. Disley or someone from the panel were to manage the monitoring group Nick Smith is putting in place that are meant to ensure the recommendations are implemented. It's just after the 'steering group' that ACC set up in the first place that implemented the pathway and got it so wrong, how can anyone trust ACC to get it right?
ReplyDeleteAlso why have the Management of the SCU not been asked to resign, namely Peter Jansen, if Nick Smith is so upset with them? The report is scathing of the whole pathway and requires new management for positive change to occur.
I agree totally. Aside from Jackass Jansen resigning, there are a significant number of senior managers in ACC that should be doing the same thing. I would also have to say that the staff at the SCU are also as equally as culpable and they are the ones on the ground who supported the new guidelines as well; the SCU who delayed and denied, to all sensitive claimants for nearly a year. What about the fact that the CM's communication abilities and treatment of sensitive claimants has negatively impacted on them?
ReplyDeleteWhat is one to do about them? They should the 'right' thing (if that's ever possible) and actually resign as well.
In fact, the entire sensitive claims unit should be shut down - lock, stock and barrel and be started again - with new staff who are not tainted by the warped 'visions' of Dr Felicity Goodyear-Smith or those of Jackass Jansen's.
Again, where is the Medical Council in all of this?
Senior Management at the sensitive claims unit - Jeanie Robinson (Branch Manager), the team Manager's, including the warped opinions of the technical claims managers, senior policy analysts. All are as guilty as each other in my honest opinion and the sensitive claims unit should close and shut down - forthwith, so that sensitive claimants suffer no longer due to incompetence of these staff.
ReplyDeleteI like the analogy of ACC being the fox to look after the chickens in regards to ACC claimants. This current management team can not, and will not change their thinking easily. Any senior manager who is willing to say how much money has been spent on individual claimants, has lost any empathy towards the people that they are meant to be supporting.
ReplyDeleteIt is the culture within ACC SCU that needs to be addressed.
I agree with you castorgirl. However I believe that none of the current Team that exists within the sensitive claims unit as it currently stands, will ever be able to make the changes that are required of them that will have a positive 'spin-off' for claimants.
ReplyDeleteI liken it to the 'deinstituinalization' era of the late 80's and early 90's - specifically in this instance with reference to the closure of the large Psychiatric hospitals,where the 'old school' nurses were moved into the new hospital based settings. Although this 'new'system was not perfect(and still isn't), a high number of the 'old school' nurses just could not cut it with the new way of working that was required of them; again a high number of them left, disillusioned and unable to function as nurses in this field again. I think of Lake Alice and Tokannui as good examples of this, but there are more. The focus on clients and empowering them as the centre in the delivery of human and health services just could not be worked into so much of their own long held entrenched ways of working. They lost control of how they controlled people in their treatment - and the sensitive unit staff are absolutely no different; they do NOT want to give up their power and control base from which they currently work from.
I see the same occurring at the sensitive claims unit, where so many of the Team and Case Manager's (amongst others) who are so entrenched in a particular way of working, that no matter how much of the current culture that anyone tries to change, none of them will be able to actually work according to the changes required of them through the Review Panel's recommendations.
I believe those opportunities have long gone for them to change the way they work and they should do the decent thing and resign. At the top level, many others need to go also - including Dr Jansen.
No matter who 'monitor's these changes and recommendations, they are past it - for ever.
I reiterate that the SCU needs to be shut down and hopefully none of these people at the unit will ever show their faces again in any field of the human and health services. The damage they have done are immense.
I read in the report that even with the Review Panel, they refused to provide information to assist with the Pane. What does that tell you? For me I also liken it to the abusers - perpetuating secrets and maintaining those secrets, along with their power and control over vulnerable and so often, powerless people