Leaked: draft blueprint for future recruitment to ACC sensitive claims unit

A blog post from The Standard by QOT

It has recently come to the attention of the recruitment team that employees working within the sensitive claims unit may not be fully aware of the expectations of their role and the unit in general.

Given our unstated practice of never correcting the behaviour of current employees, given this will very likely incite them to leak even more sensitive material to external parties, the [redacted] Committee has determined the following policy:

1. Review current recruitment processes for the sensitive claims unit and institute a holistic end-to-end process for ensuring global best practice is implemented within the recruitment framework
2. Allow natural attrition to gradually downsize the potential risk profile of future incidents through replacing sub-optimal occupants of roles within the unit.

New recruitment procedure

The [redacted] Committee has determined that the following additional steps will be mandated in the recruitment process for the sensitive claims unit.  The new process will be in place as of 1 March 2013 notwithstanding current recruitment underway.

1. Candidates will be asked to confirm that they realise they are applying for a role within the sensitive claims unit.
2. Candidates will be asked to explain in their own words the implications of the name “sensitive claims unit”.
3. Candidates will be asked if they understand what “sensitive” means.  If a satisfactory answer is given in (2), recruiters may choose to skip this step.
4. Candidates will be placed in a scenario dealing with a medical report submitted relating to a sensitive case.  They will be given the options of:

a.  Filing the report as provided by the medical practitioner
b.  Filing the report as provided by the medical practitioner in the bin
c.  Randomly amending the report and making no note of the changes made
d.  Deliberately amending the report and making no note of the changes made
e.  Spinning round and round in their chair for an hour then go for drinks without locking their workstation.

Only candidates who answer (a) or (e) will be progressed to further stages of the recruitment process.

~

H/T: Aww on Open Mike

http://thestandard.org.nz/leaked-draft-blueprint-for-future-recruitment-to-acc-sensitive-claims-unit/

Knee-jerk privacy measures put ACC staff under more stress

A press release from the Public Service Association

The Public Service Association says ACC has introduced a range of knee-jerk processes around privacy which are only serving to put staff under more pressure.
An independent report into privacy breaches has blamed systematic weaknesses and says a culture change is needed from the top down.
“Frontline ACC staff have been working in a high pressure environment due to cost-saving driven restructuring. They are the ones dealing with the fallout from poor management and privacy breaches which happened at much higher levels of the organisation,” says PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff.
“What they are currently facing is a kneejerk response from ACC which will do nothing to change the top down culture outlined in the report.”
ACC staff are reporting that a range of new checks and procedures have been introduced which they were not consulted about and which are having an almost unmanageable effect on their workloads and ultimately their service to clients.
“In its haste to clamp down on privacy breaches ACC is not giving frontline staff the support they need and is transferring a culture of fear down through the organisation,” Richard Wagstaff says.
The PSA says it is good to see the independent report into the privacy breaches acknowledging the need for strong leadership, clear policy and more support for staff.
“ACC should use it as a turning point to make meaningful change throughout the organisation. Staff want to ensure that everything is done to protect client privacy and rebuild public confidence in ACC. They want to be part of the solutions,” Mr Wagstaff says.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1208/S00383/knee-jerk-privacy-measures-put-acc-staff-under-more-stress.htm

ACC faces new privacy breach claim

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

The Accident Compensation Corporation is investigating another potential privacy breach which may be similar to the gaffe that saw details of thousands of claimants sent to Bronwyn Pullar last year.
This week, a member of the online ACC claimants' discussion group ACCforum posted that they had requested their "IT Sweep" - a record of which ACC staff had accessed their electronic file. However, with that information they also received "a list of names regarding review dates and reason for review and claim numbers".
After the post generated a strong response from other members, the claimant offered an assurance they would not share the data with anyone else and were now being advised by a lawyer.
Almost a year ago, ACC claimant and former National Party insider Bronwyn Pullar was mistakenly sent a file containing information about thousands of other claimants whose cases had been reviewed in the previous year. ACC plunged into a far-reaching scandal after Ms Pullar went to the media with the file this year.
Yesterday, ACC's privacy officer, Miriama Alexander, responded to the ACCforum post. "If you've received information not about you, ACC needs to recover the information so we can contact the clients whose information has been released. We'll also advise the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of any breach," she wrote.
Last night, an ACC spokeswoman confirmed the corporation was investigating the potential breach, but had been unable to identify the claimant.
Since the Pullar affair came to light in March, ACC has been hit by a string of further privacy breaches. Last month, the Herald reported that a former Auckland builder was sent a document about a Te Atatu brain injury victim among papers about his own case.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10825889

ACC needs to refocus

A press release from Acclaim Otago

The documents released by Green Party MP Kevin Hague yesterday show case managers have specific targets to achieve. “This is especially concerning if it means that claimants are cut off from receiving justified entitlements when it is not clinically appropriate to do so,” said Dr Denise Powell, president of Acclaim Otago.
"There is the potential for such incentives to be twisted and the losers are those injured people who don’t receive appropriate and timely rehabilitation,” she said.
“We are also concerned about a small number of assessors who seem to be used rather extensively by ACC, and often produce reports that go against all previous clinical investigations and diagnoses."
“The pendulum of ACC’s focus needs to swing back towards the real rehabilitation of injured New Zealanders, and away from the “actuarial release” mantra of the last few years” Dr Powell concludes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00303/acc-needs-to-refocus.htm

ACC claimants removal motive denied

A news report from Radio New Zealand

ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart denies he was put in the job to move claimants off the scheme, despite a large drop in the number of long term claimants in the last year.
Official documents have revealed that some ACC staff have performance targets linked to the number of claimants they move off the books.
Mr Stewart told Morning Report that the number of long term claimants has dropped by 1200 to about 10,400 since November. He said ACC has two priorities: to rehabilitate claimants and to manage finances, but only 20% of its staff incentive relates to rehabilitation.
Mr Stewart, who has resigned from ACC after nine months in the role, acknowledged that people's trust in the corporation needs to be improved.

Listen to more from Ralph Stewart on Morning Report

Advocacy groups are calling for a review of the cases of everyone who was taken off the scheme in the past year to see whether those decisions were justified.
A lawyer specialising in ACC cases, John Miller, says the bonus scheme is yet another example of the corporation having its priorities wrong.
Another lawyer, Peter Sara, says the policy is unprofessional and immoral.
ACC Minister Judith Collins says she doesn't have a problem with people being encouraged into work.

Listen to more on Morning Report

© 2012 Radio New Zealand

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/108904/acc-claimants-removal-motive-denied

ACC bonus pay for claimant cull

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

Cabinet minister Judith Collins has admitted that ACC staff get higher pay for kicking long-term claimants off the corporation's books but defends the strategy as "a good thing" because it gets the clients back to work.
The financial incentives are just one of a number of tactics - including handpicking medical assessors - that ACC has adopted to improve its bottom line, Green Party MP Kevin Hague alleges.
ACC documents obtained by Mr Hague yesterday showed case managers' pay was bumped up when they exceeded management targets, including reducing the number of long-term claimants being paid weekly compensation. Their pay was reduced if they failed to meet those targets. The performance-pay structure amounted to "a bonus - or a disincentive if they don't kick them off as fast as ACC would like", said Mr Hague, the Greens' spokesman on ACC. The performance-pay plan also applied to team leaders, technical claims managers and branch managers.
Ms Collins said that while meeting targets for the number of long-term claimants on ACC's books was among the criteria staff pay was linked to, it was only one component.
"If they do well in the rest of their framework then that shouldn't affect their remuneration," the ACC Minister said.
She said measures that helped ACC encourage people back into work where appropriate were "a good thing".
"I don't see any problem with that, but where I do see a problem is if anyone's being forced off ACC when they're simply not able to work, and I think that's a different thing all together," Ms Collins said.
But Mr Hague said the performance pay increased the risk that "we end up with decisions about whether or not someone is entitled to compensation being driven by the financial interests of the case managers and their managers rather than the clinical needs of the claimants, which is the basis they should be made on".
He said the information he obtained yesterday under the Official Information Act was unsurprising given "we've known now for quite some time that ACC has been pursuing a deliberate strategy of targeting these long-term claimants".
The performance-pay scheme "works hand in glove with ACC's use of medical assessors whom they have handpicked on the basis of being likely to give ACC the decision they would like, and that would be in the financial interest of the case managers".
Responding to Mr Hague's questions in Parliament yesterday, Ms Collins said ACC used specialist, independent vocational rehabilitation services and clinicians, "and that is quite different from the case managers".
ACC's strategy around long-term claimants dates back three years when the corporation identified them as a threat to its long-term financial sustainability. A 2009 Executive Leadership Team Issues Paper by senior manager Phil Riley outlined a tougher new approach to long-term claims, including a "culture change" he said should foster "a stronger balance by staff between customer focus and scheme-liability management, and increasing personal responsibility by clients".
Mr Riley estimated that the strategy could reduce ACC's liabilities by $900 million to $1.4 billion by next year.
Yesterday, Mr Hague said: "This sort of scheme is symptomatic of a sick culture within ACC. ACC needs to return to being an organisation that focuses on prioritising claimants needs."
In 2010 and again this year, the Herald ran a series of articles about the ACC's hard line with claimants, particularly those making claims for surgery. During the series, more than 400 people complained about their ACC cases.
Some lawyers and independent orthopaedic surgeons criticised ACC over its crackdown on surgery access. They alleged it relied on brief, weak opinions from its doctors, some of whom had retired from treating patients and were often not specialists in the areas they advised on.

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814678

Question to Minister

3. KEVIN HAGUE to the Minister for ACC: Can she confirm that staff in ACC’s Recovery Independence Service teams receive more or less remuneration dependent on whether the proportion of people receiving weekly compensation is less or more than specified duration targets?

Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister for ACC) : I have today been advised that within the performance framework for the Recover Independence Service team, there is a component related to net entries to the long-term claim pool. I have also been advised that the component related to that number was approximately 15 percent of how a case-managed performance is measured. If a case manager performs well against the other 85 percent of their targets, they may still be entitled to a performance-based pay increase.
Kevin Hague: What is the clinical basis for these targets, if any at all?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I do not think I can answer that, because it is very much an operational issue, but I can say that ACC has advised me that it uses specialist, independent vocational rehabilitation services and clinicians to help people return to their pre-injury occupation wherever possible.
Kevin Hague: Does the Minister accept that having a financial incentive to terminate claimants’ compensation is likely to make case managers more inclined to terminate compensation for more claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: If the member wants to put it like that, I can understand why he would be concerned. But we can look at it another way, which is a financial incentive to help people get back to independence and get back to work. I would say that was probably a good thing.
Kevin Hague: What safeguards, if any at all, are there to ensure that staff financial incentives do not lead to clinically inappropriate decisions to terminate compensation?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I am advised that ACC uses the specialist, independent vocational rehabilitation services and clinicians, and that these people are independent, and that that is quite different from the case managers.
Kevin Hague: Is she aware that the rates of successful challenges of ACC decisions continue to rise in both the decision review process and in the District Court, and does she agree that that is indicative of something badly wrong in ACC decision-making?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I think what it does indicate is that Dispute Resolution Services is clearly quite independent of ACC, as is, obviously, the District Court. There may well be instances—as in ACC previously—where they believe that there are too many decisions being reversed on the basis that someone is clearly making the wrong decisions, the wrong call. That tells me that these are made by independent clinicians. Actually, I think it would be a bad thing if every dispute that was sent to, for instance, Dispute Resolution Services for ACC was upheld. That would tell me that the service was either not independent or that nobody was actually checking to see whether or not people can work.
Kevin Hague: What other ACC staff or contractors have financial incentives to deny claims or reduce compensation or rehabilitation services to ACC claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I do not have that information.
Kevin Hague: Has she now received enough information about ACC’s disastrous claims management processes to ask the Auditor-General to bring forward her investigation of ACC’s claims management processes?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I have not actually received enough information to do that. I am aware that the Auditor-General is undertaking her review, and I am prepared to wait for that review.
Kevin Hague: I seek leave to table a document. It is a document from ACC in response to an Official Information Act request from a member of the public. It sets out the key performance indicators for staff in the Recover Independence Service teams.
Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection.

Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.

Andrew Little: What incentives are there under the ACC performance framework for Recover Independence Service staff to ensure that ACC meets its statutory obligations in relation to treatment, compensation, and rehabilitation?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I have been advised by ACC that the performance framework relates to 10 percent of performance against organisational goals, which clearly would include what that member has just asked; 10 percent against team goals, again; 30 percent against organisational values, which are clearly those matters he has raised; and 50 percent against personal goals. The 50 percent of personal goals includes 25 percent case-management quality, 10 percent customer service, and 15 percent net entries to the long-term claim pool.
Andrew Little: How effective is the new regime for vocational rehabilitation, which is intended to assist some claimants to return to work, or to recover their independence, given that there is a new layer of administration to pay for, called lead providers, and front-line service providers are complaining of being paid less and spending less time with claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I am sorry, could the member repeat his question? I did not catch all of it.
Mr SPEAKER: I ask the member, please, to do that.
Andrew Little: How effective is the new regime for vocational rehabilitation, which is intended to assist some claimants to return to work—namely, to recover their independence—given that there is a new layer of administration to pay for, called lead providers, and front-line service providers are complaining of being paid less and spending less time with claimants?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I have been advised by ACC, when I have been around visiting its offices, that what has been necessary is to actually bring in lead providers to maintain the quality of assistance that is given in terms of the claimants, because before they had a large number of providers, and very little ability to supervise the quality. So it has been, I think, cut down to about six lead providers, and that seems to be working quite well.

http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Business/QOA/4/3/4/50HansQ_20120621_00000003-3-Accident-Compensation-Recover-Independence.htm

ACC pay shouldn’t be tied to cutting claimants entitlements

A press release from the Green Party by Kevin Hague

ACC claimants should not lose their entitlements so that ACC team managers and their staff can get bonus payments, Green Party ACC spokesperson Kevin Hague said today.
Documents released under the Official Information Act show that ACC staff working with people receiving tong term claim payments have specific targets they have to achieve. Those same worker’s remuneration is tied to achieving these targets.
“ACC staff are paid a flat rate which can go up or down depending on how they perform,” said Mr Hague.
“It is completely unacceptable that one of the performance mechanisms for ACC staff receiving pay is how many claimants are cut off from receiving their entitlements.
“Incentivising the withdrawal of financial support for claimants will inevitably lead to this occurring before it is clinically appropriate in some cases.
“It is also important to note that staff failing to meet ACC’s self-imposed targets to move claimants off ACC may be penalised financially.
“This sort of scheme is symptomatic of a sick culture within ACC.
“ACC needs to return back to being an organisation that focuses on prioritising claimants needs,” said Mr Hague
“The Green Party has proposed a ‘Rehabilitation Plan for ACC’, that would see ACC return to its original Woodhouse principles of being a client focused organisation.”
Note: Green MP Kevin Hague is asking question three in the House today on this issue.

The Green Party ACC rehab plan

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1206/S00308/acc-pay-shouldnt-be-tied-to-cutting-claimants-entitlements.htm

Wider ACC inquiry needed

A press release from the Labour Party by Andrew Little

The Minister of ACC must look at a wider review of the organisation to fix long-standing problems and reassure the public, says Labour’s spokesperson for ACC Andrew Little. His comments follow new revelations in the Bronwyn Pullar case, as discussed on the current affairs programme 60 Minutes, last night.
“The programme revealed that it was ACC managers who raised the issue as to whether the personal details of 6500 ACC claimants, mistakenly sent to Ms Pullar, might be used improperly by her. They sought assurances from Ms Pullar that this would not happen.
“In their report to the Minister of ACC on 16 March, ACC officials said Ms Pullar threatened to disclose the information and prompted the Corporation to refer the matter to the Police.
“The TV programme also showed the difficulties that Ms Pullar has been dealing with in ACC with a medical officer expressing highly prejudicial non-medical views about Bronwyn Pullar’s claim.
“There is enough in the public arena now for the Minister of ACC, Judith Collins, to take action to fix the problems in ACC,” Andrew Little said.
“We know from the swift dismissal by the Police last week of ACC’s complaint, that no threat or extortion took place. Yet the Minister was advised differently.
“The report from ACC to the Minister was clearly wrong and it isn’t credible for ACC’s Chairman and CEO to say otherwise. The Minister has to take action so we can be assured she values accurate advice from the Corporation.
“Judith Collins must consider holding a wider review of the way ACC handles difficult cases.
“I know from the letters and files I am receiving, that Bronwyn Pullar’s case is far from isolated, and many people are having trouble getting the attention they need free from prejudice and the penny-pinching culture of ACC,” Andrew Little said.

http://www.labour.org.nz/news/wider-acc-inquiry-needed

Sensitive claims sent to branch offices - ACC

An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett

Hundreds of sensitive ACC claims - those related to rape and other sexual abuse - have been transferred out of the corporation's Sensitive Claims Unit to case managers in regional branch offices, the corporation has said.
Claimant advocacy groups are shocked by the move they say was made without consultation and in some cases without fully informing claimants.
Claims related to rape and sexual abuse are managed by the standalone Wellington based Sensitive Claims Unit (SCU) because of their "highly personal nature", ACC says.
The corporation has been under fire since claimant Bronwyn Pullar revealed a privacy breach in which the ACC sent her a file identifying sensitive claimants. The breach also raised concerns that sensitive claims information was being shared with ACC staff outside the SCU.
But after weeks of rumours that some sensitive claims were being handled outside the unit, ACC claims management general manager Denise Cosgrove said 12 case managers from elsewhere in the corporation had been seconded to the SCU.
"These seconded staff were located throughout New Zealand, near to the approximately 250 clients with long-term sensitive claims they were looking after."
The case managers are in 12 regional offices and had been dealing with sensitive claims since last November.
Ms Cosgrove said all the seconded staff underwent intensive training in sensitive claims management, including training around preserving client privacy.
"In addition, access protocols were agreed for claims and no paper files were transferred," she said.
Ms Cosgrove said care was taken to ensure clients were properly advised of the change.
But ACC claimant advocates Denise Powell, of Acclaim Otago, and Auckland-based Kyle MacDonald, said they only became aware of the move after one claimant learned by accident her new case manager was based in a branch office.
"That was quite upsetting for her."
Ms Powell understood affected claimants were advised they had new case managers, "but ACC didn't necessarily state that their case manager was no longer based in Wellington".
"My understanding was the SCU was set up to be a stand-alone unit and was specifically isolated from the mainstream of ACC in order to ensure the utmost protection of those people's information and identity," she said.
Mr MacDonald, who is a member of the Sensitive Claims Advisory Group, which ACC regularly meets with, said the corporation never raised the change with his organisation. "The reality is 250 claimants are now being managed outside of the Sensitive Claims Unit in regional branches by case managers who are not sensitive claims specialists."

© 2012 APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10809718

Legal row over ACC blog

An article from Stuff by Kirsty Johnston

A senior medical officer in ACC's sensitive claims unit has made legal threats to a blogger who posted information about his employment history, in the wake of a mass privacy breach.
Peter Dodwell, the branch medical advisor of the unit that deals with rape and abuse victims, was fired from his previous job in Australia over a privacy issue.
Both Dodwell and ACC's senior medical advisor, Peter Jansen, have threatened legal action against blogger Kyle Macdonald, a psychotherapist who regularly speaks out against the corporation.
The revelations come as the Auditor General prepares to investigate ACC's governance, adding to an inquiry by the Privacy Commissioner into a breach that saw 6000 patient files - including 131 from the sensitive claims unit - released to claimant Bronwyn Pullar.
Documents show that in March 2008 Dodwell was sacked from his role as chief medical officer at HealthQuest, the medical screening body for all public servants in Australia, after an internal investigation into his behaviour. The investigator, former NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Madden, found Dodwell had inappropriately passed on information to the Education Department about a teacher it intended employing, saying she was being investigated by police for defamatory website postings about him.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, there was no evidence the teacher was being investigated by police.
Madden said Dodwell passed on the information in an attempt to adversely influence the department's decision to employ her.
"The way in which he [ Dodwell] went about informing the Department of Education was inappropriate and not reasonable behaviour of a public official," the report said.
Madden said the teacher had no opportunity to defend herself against  Dodwell's claims, and he should be disciplined for breaching privacy restrictions. He was later fired.
After Mr MacDonald posted a link to the SMH story, and an opinion of its contents on his blog, he received a letter from Dodwell's lawyer requesting parts be changed or removed because they were defamatory. The letter was similar to one MacDonald received from Jansen in 2010 about a defamatory blog post and tweet, which he removed for fear of legal action.
Jansen was the senior ACC manager at the centre of another defamation case last year, involving a blogger who was also claimant of the Sensitive Claims Unit. The blogger, known as Jax, was under the police witness protection programme for sexual abuse at the time, and alleged her ACC file had been accessed by someone within ACC in order to find her contact details.
MacDonald said the threats against him, in his view, were another example of how ACC bullied critics and "whistleblowers" who had genuine concerns about the organisation.
Dodwell was hired to provide expert opinion about claims and treatment decisions, he said.
"I thought the information should be in the public domain, given someone with that kind of history is in a clinical role. The reality is that it's a political position, so the public have a right to express their views."
MacDonald said the fact Dodwell had a history with privacy issues was important given the recent breach and his role in sensitive claims.
"Privacy is important for people with a sensitive claim. Lack of it can cause emotional harm, but it can also be dangerous for people who are in hiding because of sexual abuse," he said.
In a statement, an ACC spokeswoman said: "The importance of confidentiality is vital to the good faith employment relationships between ACC and its staff. Consequently it would be inappropriate for ACC to comment on any individuals employment matters."
But ACC said that Dodwell had provided a complete CV to ACC when he applied for the job.
Dodwell himself said he disclosed, directly to his ACC manager, details of the matter that led to his dismissal in Australia.
As for the legal action, ACC said it had no role when an employee "acting independently or out of personal motives" initiated legal communications, proceedings or actions with an external party.
Dodwell argued there was no legal action "either taken or threatened".
"The letter acquainted Mr MacDonald with inaccuracies in his article, and invited him either to remove certain specified passages or to amend his article to reflect the true situation," he said.
Jansen said the material on McDonald's blog "seriously defamed" him. He wouldn't answer a question asking if he thought his actions were appropriate.

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6746061/Legal-row-over-ACC-blog

ACC 'VIP claims' policy under fire

An article from the Otago Daily Times by John Gibb

In the spotlight over confidentiality breaches and allegations of preferential treatment, ACC has come under renewed attack over suggestions its "VIP claims" handling policy delivers better protection for the privacy of powerful decision makers, including MPs, judges and ACC board members.
Dr Denise Powell, president of Acclaim Otago, a support group for ACC claimants, said that if VIPs had an accident, they received "preferential treatment within ACC".
The corporation's delegation manual stated that these claims were to be handled differently, she said.
"If the service provided by ACC is world leading, why would the manager of the ACC service centre have to handle the VIP claim, rather than the service centre staff?" she asked.
"What is it about ACC's 'normal' service that is insufficient for VIP treatment?"
Dr Powell said while it appeared ACC staff had been instructed to "try everything" to "exit" people from ACC, regardless of whether they had been successfully rehabilitated, "VIP status" seemed to be focused on "insulating those with influence over ACC; those who make the law, interpret the law and oversee its application".
"By wrapping them in cotton wool, ACC prevents them from being subjected to their 'try-everything' approach that results in so much heartache to ordinary New Zealanders," she said.
Asked whether its VIP approach amounted to preferential treatment, an ACC spokeswoman said the practice for claims "categorised as VIP on ACC's registration and claim management systems" followed "the standard allocation and management processes applied to all claims".
"The only difference being security rights and who can make decisions on the claim," she said.
VIP claims would be dealt with in the same way as other claims, but the final decision would be taken at a more senior level, rather than by more junior staff. She confirmed "security rights" referred to "extra measures to maintain VIP confidentiality".
Dr Powell said it was time "such anomalies within ACC" were investigated and explained. New Zealand was a nation that prided itself on fairness and equality.
"The very mechanisms like ACC, that were designed to promote fairness and rehabilitation for everyone, should never have been allowed to be used to give preferential treatment to one group of New Zealanders over another," she said.

© Allied Press Limited 2012

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/203833/acc-vip-claims-policy-under-fire

ACC privacy breach to be investigated

An article by Amelia Romanos from the New Zealand Herald

ACC Minister Judith Collins has asked for an urgent report into allegations that private details of thousands of ACC claimants were sent to an unauthorised recipient.
Some 9000 ACC claimants, including sexual abuse and rape victims, had their details emailed to someone who should not have received them, Fairfax Media reported. The details include full names and the nature of individual's claims - including those of 250 people handled by the ACC's sensitive claims unit.
Ms Collins this morning asked ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart for a report into the matter.
ACC's senior managers were reportedly informed about the breach three months ago but made no effort to investigate or ensure the information went no further.
Before management was informed, former ACC Minister Nick Smith and the board were told about problems with the corporation's privacy processes. A board member raised the issue at a higher board level, leading to a meeting between the email recipient and ACC management in December.
The allegations have sparked calls for an independent inquiry, with Green Party ACC spokesman Kevin Hague expressing particular concern about ACC's apparent lack of action.
"It appears the ACC board and the minister have known about the privacy breaches for some time but have done nothing about them," he said. "We need to know what the board knew, what the minister knew, and why they have not acted. Only an independent investigation can achieve that."
Mr Hague said there appeared to be a "lax privacy culture" in the organisation, which undermined the trust New Zealanders needed to have in the scheme. He noted that claimants who had had details about sensitive claims released would need support and possibly compensation.
A spokesperson said the ACC took all privacy complaints "extremely seriously", however there was no formal complaint.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff told the Dominion Post the breach was likely one of New Zealand's most serious.

© Copyright 2012, APN Holdings NZ Ltd

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10791694

ACC privacy breach may spark comp claims - Greens

An article from the Dominion Post by Phil Kitchin

A privacy breach which saw details of more than 9000 ACC claims erroneously released could lead to claims for compensation, say the Greens.
Private details of more than 9000 ACC claims – some featuring well-known people – have been emailed to a person who should not have received them, in what is being described as one of the worst privacy breaches in New Zealand history.
The details included personal information on nearly 250 clients from ACC's most secure unit – the sensitive claims unit. Full names, the nature of each claim and dispute, and individual claim numbers were among the information revealed.
The Greens were calling for an independent investigation into the breach.
ACC spokesman Kevin Hague said claimants who had their details passed on would need support and "possibly compensation depending on the nature of the breaches".
"It appears the ACC board and the minister have known about the privacy breaches for some time but have done nothing about them.
"We need to know what the board knew, what the minister knew, and why they have not acted. Only an independent investigation can achieve that."
Senior management at ACC were told three months ago that they had possibly made the biggest privacy breach in New Zealand history, but they have made no effort to investigate or contain the breach with the recipient.
Some of the names in the huge files were public figures, the recipient said, and they also included victims of violent and sexual crimes. Without going through all the files, the recipient recognised at least 10 people on the lists.
The sensitive claims unit is a special unit containing ACC's most sensitive claimants, including sexual abuse and rape victims.
Before the warning to ACC management, ACC's board and former ACC minister Nick Smith were told about systemic failures of the corporation's processes for respecting the privacy rights of claimants.
The board was given an example of a branch medical adviser who covertly communicated with an ACC assessor providing false information to manipulate a medical report in ACC's favour.
A board member was sufficiently alarmed by the allegations to raise the matters at a higher board level, which resulted in a meeting between the recipient of the information and ACC management in December.
At the meeting, the recipient and their advocate told ACC's national manager of recovery independence services, Philip Murch, that ACC had potentially caused the biggest privacy breach in New Zealand's history.
Hague said there seemed to be a "lax" privacy culture at ACC which undermined the trust New Zealanders had in the scheme, he said.
"In addition to privacy breaches, it appears ACC staff are covertly communicating with advisers to manipulate medical reports in ACC's favour.
"Such behaviour is probably unlawful, and is miles away from the premise of a no-fault public scheme."
Hague said the Government's push to cut costs could behind the "negative behaviour" at the Corporation.

SENSITIVE DETAILS
ACC was told that its own staff emailed the recipient sensitive details of thousands of claims, which could result in thousands of complaints because of incompetent privacy management practices. ACC was told it would be horrified to know what material it had fired off.
But in spite of the general warning to the board and the explicit disclosures in December – including a formal written complaint – ACC management have not investigated the privacy breach with the recipient.
The same details also appear to have been sent to more than 50 ACC managers, most of them not from the sensitive claims unit, raising questions about the security of information supplied to the unit.
Personal information held by the unit is not supposed to be divulged to anyone outside the unit without the permission of the client.
The recipient, an ACC client, did not want to be named because they feared being swamped by telephone calls from other ACC clients concerned their details have been distributed nationwide.
The recipient blacked out all personal details of claimants when providing documents to The Dominion Post.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said if the emailed data involved personal details of thousands of people the breach was likely to be one of New Zealand's most serious.
She expected government agencies to adhere to her office's notification guidelines, which include contacting those whose privacy has been breached, getting the information back, minimising harm and making sure it did not happen again.
New Zealand laws are behind other jurisdictions in not providing for mandatory reporting of data privacy breaches and her office is developing a view on the need for there to be consequences for data breaches.
An ACC spokeswoman said the corporation took all privacy complaints "extremely seriously" but it had received no formal complaint.
ACC had implemented several safeguards to "ensure all client information is protected and managed correctly".
In 2010, ACC apologised after it admitted sending up to 2000 companies private information about workers' accidents that should have gone to other employers.
The information included names, descriptions of accidents, injuries, treatment and ACC payments.
A Petone business owner blew the whistle after she was sent private details about a Whanganui man she did not know, who had suffered a fall.

© Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6563083/ACC-privacy-breach-may-spark-comp-claims-Greens

Privacy breach on 9000 ACC claims

An article from the Dominion Post by Phil Kitchin

Private details of more than 9000 ACC claims – some featuring well-known people – have been emailed to a person who should not have received them, in what is being described as one of the worst privacy breaches in New Zealand history.
The details included personal information on nearly 250 clients from ACC's most secure unit – the sensitive claims unit. Full names, the nature of each claim and dispute, and individual claim numbers were among the information revealed.
Senior management at ACC were told three months ago that they had possibly made the biggest privacy breach in New Zealand history, but they have made no effort to investigate or contain the breach with the recipient.
Some of the names in the huge files were public figures, the recipient said, and they also included victims of violent and sexual crimes. Without going through all the files, the recipient recognised at least 10 people on the lists.
The sensitive claims unit is a special unit containing ACC's most sensitive claimants, including sexual abuse and rape victims.
Before the warning to ACC management, ACC's board and former ACC minister Nick Smith were told about systemic failures of the corporation's processes for respecting the privacy rights of claimants.
The board was given an example of a branch medical adviser who covertly communicated with an ACC assessor providing false information to manipulate a medical report in ACC's favour.
A board member was sufficiently alarmed by the allegations to raise the matters at a higher board level, which resulted in a meeting between the recipient of the information and ACC management in December.
At that meeting, the recipient and their advocate told ACC's national manager of recovery independence services, Philip Murch, that ACC had potentially caused the biggest privacy breach in New Zealand's history.
ACC was told that its own staff emailed the recipient sensitive details of thousands of claims, which could result in thousands of complaints because of incompetent privacy management practices. ACC was told it would be horrified to know what material it had fired off.
But in spite of the general warning to the board and the explicit disclosures in December – including a formal written complaint – ACC management have not investigated the privacy breach with the recipient.
The same details also appear to have been sent to more than 50 ACC managers, most of them not from the sensitive claims unit, raising questions about the security of information supplied to the unit.
Personal information held by the unit is not supposed to be divulged to anyone outside the unit without the permission of the client.
The recipient, an ACC client, did not want to be named because they feared being swamped by telephone calls from other ACC clients concerned their details have been distributed nationwide.
The recipient blacked out all personal details of claimants when providing documents to The Dominion Post.
Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said if the emailed data involved personal details of thousands of people the breach was likely to be one of New Zealand's most serious.
She expected government agencies to adhere to her office's notification guidelines, which include contacting those whose privacy has been breached, getting the information back, minimising harm and making sure it did not happen again.
New Zealand laws are behind other jurisdictions in not providing for mandatory reporting of data privacy breaches and her office is developing a view on the need for there to be consequences for data breaches.
An ACC spokeswoman said the corporation took all privacy complaints "extremely seriously" but it had received no formal complaint.
ACC had implemented several safeguards to "ensure all client information is protected and managed correctly".
In 2010, ACC apologised after it admitted sending up to 2000 companies private information about workers' accidents that should have gone to other employers.
The information included names, descriptions of accidents, injuries, treatment and ACC payments.
A Petone business owner blew the whistle after she was sent private details about a Whanganui man she did not know, who had suffered a fall.

© 2012 Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6563083/Privacy-breach-on-9000-ACC-claims

ACC Minister needs to sort out culture in his corporation

A press release from the Labour Party by Carmel Sepuloni

Nick Smith must take action to ensure ACC is focused on delivering vital counselling and support services to sexual abuse victims instead of defending senior advisers who threaten legal action against those who raise concerns, says Carmel Sepuloni.
“The situation where ACC’s senior medical adviser Peter Jansen slapped a $250,000 lawsuit on a sexual abuse victim over her blog should never have been allowed to happen.
“Labour understands this is not the first time that employees/contractors to ACC have taken this approach to critics of ACC’s changes to counselling services for sexual abuse victims.
“The ACC Minister claims Peter Jansen is acting as a private individual rather than an employee of the corporation. But Peter Jansen is in fact taking legal action against people who criticize his actions as an ACC adviser. You cannot separate the two.
“As Minister, Nick Smith should have been advised about the legal action. Clearly there is poor communication between him and his own officials.
“This whole debacle is a symptom of a culture that Nick Smith has defended and continues to defend within the corporation. He should stand up and say publicly that this kind of behavior from the ACC adviser is unacceptable.”

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1104/S00355/acc-minister-needs-to-sort-out-culture-in-his-corporation.htm

Smith bills public for waitress

An article from the Sunday Star Times by Jonathan Marshall

ACC Minister Nick Smith - annual salary $240,000 - got taxpayers to foot a $600 bill to have a waitress attend a dinner party in Wellington.
The dinner for members of ACC's board was held at Smith's ministerial home. The bill from Rough Edges Catering, issued to Smith and his wife, detailed "private catering" - a three-course dinner served up by a waitress who worked a four-hour shift. The $607.50 bill - which covered nine people - was split between ACC and Smith's ministerial office.
Smith defended the expenditure, saying that while he was capable of cooking, his time was better used conversing with ACC's board. He personally paid for the wine consumed during the dinner party.
Details of the dinner were contained in a bundle of credit card statements from ACC's chief executive, Dr Jan White. In the 24-month period ending in June, White racked up $33,646 on the corporation's plastic, with thousands going on dinners at top Wellington and Auckland restaurants including Logan Brown, Capitol, Vivo Wine Bar, The Yacht Club and One Tree Grill.
Revelations of big spending within the corporation's top-floor office come at a time Smith himself has said spending at the agency is out of control. When told about some of White's biggest restaurant bills, he reiterated that he expected restraint to be exercised.
ACC issued a statement defending the dinners, saying the corporation has a policy of recognising good workers. Spokesman Laurie Edwards said ACC was "extremely conscious of delivering value for money" and "that is why in the last year we have managed to cut $35 million from our administration budget".
In December last year, White spent $13,553 on four dinners, in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin. Her reconciliation form said the meals were to acknowledge "achievers" within ACC. Dinners for staff leaving included a farewell for Gerard McGrevy at Vivo Wine Bar (costing $756), for Graeme Osbourne at Zibibbo Restaurant ($790) and for Ian Simpson in March at Logan Brown ($1095). ACC did not disclose the quantity of alcohol consumed at each meal and the corporation did not respond when asked for them.
Not all of White's dining experiences came at a high cost to taxpayers - in March last year she spent just $12.50 at Central Otago's Tin Goose cafe.

© 2010 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4048609/Smith-bills-public-for-waitress

Sexual abuse treatment in shambolic disarray

An article from the Nelson Mail by Susan Hawthorne

"If this is supposed to be the gravy train, I'm on the wrong train." So said a colleague of mine about her experience of being part of the so-called "sexual abuse industry".
I echo her comments, applicable now to an even greater extent with the introduction last October of the New Pathway in the Sensitive Claims Unit of ACC. As a provider of treatment for injury from sexual abuse I am seen to benefit from this industry. It is, however, this experience which enabled me (and others) to predict with sickening foreboding likely developments if the proposed changes to the service went ahead. Every effort was made to warn the Minister of ACC, Dr Nick Smith, that the changes would be disastrous. He chose to rely on his policymakers, who appear to be pursuing ideological agendas which are favoured by this Government.
Chaos reigns in the SCU with staff overwhelmed, with therapists demoralised and many withdrawing their services, with potential clients left totally bewildered and lost. A tiny fraction of new claims only has been accepted since October. It has taken the independent review panel appointed by the Minister to intercede last week on behalf of clients to force the reinstatement of 16 hours to support each new claim. There is much confusion about who can submit claims, who can provide treatment or what will happen next if more sessions are needed. Apart from one media release, no further information has been forthcoming from ACC.
As ACC Minister, Dr Smith spent considerable time and energy blaming the previous minister for allowing policymakers to make apparently unwise property purchases and investments. Under his watch, the SCU has been all but destroyed.
Dr Smith has continued to claim that this process was begun under Labour. Indeed Massey University was asked to develop guidelines as a basis for therapy for treatment of sexual abuse. Under the current National Government, the guidelines were so badly misused that the authors of the report wrote to every newspaper in the country to distance themselves from the new pathway.
Dr Smith has repeatedly stated that "These changes are not about saving money." Presumably this is correct, as the result of deciding to require assessment for mental disorder for each new claim is that psychiatrists and psychologists have been flown around the country at vast expense to establish that the claimant is mentally ill rather than mentally injured. This gives each person accessing the service a mental diagnosis which goes with them for the rest of their lives. This policy still applies.
ACC is taking months to communicate decisions about whether they will or will not pay for sessions for clients in the system. Therapists face the dilemma of continuing to work at the risk of not being paid, or breaking our own ethical codes by stopping work with clients and leaving them feeling abandoned, isolated and unsupported.
For years now, sexual abuse clients have been specifically excluded from accessing mental health services because funding for their treatment was available though ACC. A proportion of our population has been abused, through no fault of their own and which untreated, can detrimentally affect them as individuals, as partners and as parents for the rest of their lives. The apparent overall plan under National is to cut back on social services to the community. Many such cuts are under the radar except for those people directly affected. More radical changes have been promised in their second term, should they win the next election.
Many therapists with specialist skills and years of experience in the treatment of sexual abuse have withdrawn their services and will not work for ACC again while current conditions apply.
Regrettably I am one of these. I am off the train.
(Susan Hawthorne is a registered psychotherapist, a member of the NZ Association of Psychotherapists, and a campaigner against injustice.)

© Fairfax New Zealand Ltd 2010
http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/nelson-mail-the/mi_8062/is_20100821/sexual-abuse-treatment-shambolic-disarray/ai_n54911803/

ACC reverses sex abuse decision

A news report from the NZPA

Victim advocates are relieved to see a reversal by ACC on its decision to cut funding for sexual abuse counselling, but the Greens say independent reviews should also follow other changes the Crown organisation has made.
Last October ACC cut counselling for victims of rape and other sexual abuse "sensitive claims", and funding was restricted to those with a diagnosed mental injury resulting from sexual abuse or assault, sparking outrage and protests from victim advocates. But it back-tracked yesterday and said from next week people with a new ACC sensitive claim, or with a new claim already in the system but awaiting a decision, would be able to access up to 16 hours with a counsellor.
ACC said the decision was made after concerns were expressed and followed advice from an independent panel appointed by ACC Minister Nick Smith to review the sensitive claims pathway in light of advice he had got from clinicians.
Dr Smith said the 16 hours was an interim provision, and a long-term plan would be made after the final report from the panel was released in mid-September. He said while he had been careful not to interfere with what was a clinical matter, he didn't think ACC had managed the issue well.
The Mental Health Foundation, Human Rights Commission and National Council of Women NZ (NCWNZ) all expressed relief over the u-turn today, although the organisations have raised questions as to whether the 16 hours will be enough for some victims.
NCWNZ national president Elizabeth Bang said the situation showed how critical it was to test new policy approaches before rolling them out. She said savings made during the nine month "experiment" would no doubt be spent on an envisaged influx of claimants. "Again, ACC will need to ensure they have sufficient staff on deck to manage the opening of the flood-gates," Ms Bang said.
Green Party ACC spokesman Kevin Hague said the u-turn "strongly suggested" that all changes ACC has made to its cover, entitlements and assessment criteria needed to be independently reviewed. "An independent review is needed to ensure ACC is doing its job and not causing re-victimisation of accident victims," Mr Hague said. He said Dr Smith had introduced other changes to ACC over the past two years which were not supported by evidence.
Labour's ACC spokesman David Parker said it was unacceptable that Dr Smith was pointing the finger at the ACC board over the sexual abuse funding issue. "The minister was repeatedly and clearly warned by clinicians and the Labour Party that his changes were so obviously wrong. Why have a minister if he will not take responsibility in the face of prior warnings?"

© 2010 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4018575/ACC-reverses-sex-abuse-decision

NCWNZ welcomes ACC announcement but still cautious

A press release from the National Council of Women

The announcement by ACC, that it will provide immediate relief to new and yet unapproved sexual abuse survivors, has come as a relief to the National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ).
“We cannot state enough just how critical it is that new policy approaches are tested before being rolled out,” says Elizabeth Bang, NCWNZ National President. “A pilot for the ACC clinical pathway should have been undertaken, and the opportunity for culturally appropriate consultation promoted and supported by ACC.”
NCWNZ is aware that ACC is actively taking steps to begin addressing the other issues associated with the clinical pathway and some providers have been contacted regarding their participation.
“In the long-run, the savings that have been made during this nine-month experiment, will undoubtedly be expended as ACC injects funding through to assist, what we envisage will be an influx in claimants,” says Elizabeth Bang. “Again, ACC will need to ensure they have sufficient staff on deck to manage the opening of the flood-gates.”
The most important test of how effective consumers and providers were in their consultations with the ACC Independent Review Panel will be determined by what has been captured in the final report to the Minister of ACC.
“Once the report is made public and the Minister of ACC, and ACC itself, have responded to the report’s recommendations, then we will know what work is left to do to ensure the current discrimination has been dealt with,” concludes Elizabeth Bang.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1008/S00146/ncwnz-welcomes-acc-announcement-but-still-cautious.htm