Call for bipartisan agreement on ACC

An article from the Otago Daily Times by John Gibb

Only a bipartisan political agreement about how ACC will operate in future can ultimately restore the public's trust and confidence in the corporation, Dunedin ACC campaigner Dr Denise Powell says.
Recently-released figures showing rapidly dropping numbers of Otago long-term ACC claimants over the past year and growing review applications by claimants challenging ACC decisions were a "wake-up call" over ACC's future, Dr Powell said.
"It's like a line in the sand," she said.
"It's reached the point where the person in the street is asking what's going on."
Otago Daily Times inquiries show the number of long-term claimants in Otago fell more than 15%, from 1199 on June 30 last year to 1014 at the equivalent date this year. This was the biggest one-year change in long-term Otago long-term claimant numbers for at least five years.
ACC officials recently said "long-term claimants" had been receiving weekly earnings-related compensation for a year or more. The number of reviews of ACC decisions sought by Otago-based claimants rose at least 5%, from more than 430 on June 30 last year to more than 450 at the same stage this year, other figures show.
Dr Powell said the community's faith that individuals would receive their fair entitlement under the scheme had been badly shaken, and ACC had been used as a "political football" for too long, including during recent cost-cutting.
ACC figures indicate national long-term claimant numbers fell more than 3600, or 25%, to about 10,626 over the past three financial years. Government officials have also highlighted the need to maintain the scheme's financial viability.
ACC officials say the national "long-term claims pool" has been reducing for several reasons, and improved "focused rehabilitation" by ACC within their first year of weekly compensation payments meant fewer people were becoming long-term claimants.
At an Institute of Actuaries of Australia conference in Brisbane late last year, a New Zealand actuary who has worked closely with ACC, said there was "constant tension between the two sides of politics" in New Zealand, which was reflected in the ACC scheme. Labour governments typically increased access to benefits, but this had been "to some degree reversed" under National, since 2009, given concerns about ACC finances, the actuary said.
In a recent letter to the ACC board, accompanying the latest service agreement signed between the Government and ACC, ACC Minister Judith Collins emphasised the need for the board and management to "rebuild" public trust in ACC and ensure individual claimants received their fair entitlements. She also expected the board to "monitor carefully the numbers and outcomes" of claims disputes, and wanted to see "more disputes resolved satisfactorily" without the need for formal independent resolution.
Dr Powell noted that a broad agreement between the Government and the Opposition had developed about the way much of the KiwiSaver superannuation scheme was operating. If public trust in ACC was to be restored, as Mrs Collins had sought, an agreement between New Zealand's main political parties about how ACC would operate in future was ultimately needed, she said.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/221091/call-bipartisan-agreement-acc

© Allied Press Ltd 2012

Acclaim Otago launches independent ACC survey

A press release from Acclaim Otago (Inc)

As a support group for injured people, Acclaim Otago is concerned that there is very little in the way of current and independent data available that accurately describes aspects of an injured person's experience with ACC.
Acclaim Otago’s president, Dr Denise Powell says, “This is especially obvious when talking about rehabilitation and Vocational Independence. We are hearing anecdotally, that people are being exited from ACC without first receiving meaningful rehabilitation”.
ACC has recently said that "rehabilitation always comes first" but Dr Powell says “We have no simple way of finding out if this is correct or not. ACC does not currently keep data that identifies what happens once a person exits the scheme and we believe that is a huge gap. This survey aims to find out what happens to people who are clients of ACC.”
“We hope to use the survey results to make recommendations that will substantially improve the experience of injured people in New Zealand. We believe any improvements we can identify to the scheme will benefit not just the ACC and their clients, but potentially generations of New Zealanders to come” Dr Powell states.
The survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ACCLAIMsurvey1
Or by clicking the link on Acclaim Otago’s webpage www.acclaimotago.org
Or from Acclaim Otago’s Facebook page

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1207/S00123/acclaim-otago-launches-independent-acc-survey.htm

Comments 'embarrassing' for ACC

An article from the Otago Daily Times by John Gibb

Recent comments by an ACC senior manager about sharply reducing long-term claimant numbers have been "very embarrassing" for the commission, a Dunedin lawyer says.
Peter Sara said the ACC had clearly not expected comments by ACC general manager Denise Cosgrove at an Institute of Actuaries of Australia conference in Brisbane would later be made widely available via internet and podcast.
Ms Cosgrove said ACC had faced major financial and other challenges but had since cut claims costs by $3.2 billion. ACC managers had "taken the low-hanging fruit", but now faced more complex claims which made rehabilitation and return to work "a bit harder", the conference transcript said. There had been targets for "actuarial release" and "stellar results", but there had also been adverse media coverage of issues such as "sensitive claims", involving sexual abuse, and elective surgery, she said. ACC administrators had done the right things but had "moved too fast and didn't take the sectors with us", the transcript said.
Mr Sara said he was a "very strong supporter" of ACC but was "appalled" by Ms Cosgrove's comment about "low-hanging fruit", made at the conference last November.
Dunedin ACC campaigners say the comments initially "flew under the radar" but have sparked parliamentary debate and media coverage since Green Party ACC spokesman Kevin Hague tabled in Parliament last month a transcript.
Mr Sara said many vulnerable, injured people had been viewed as "ripe for the picking" and had been removed from ACC scheme coverage in recent years, but in many cases rehabilitation had not been achieved. ACC's practices needed an "extreme makeover" if it was to recapture the public trust which had been lost, he said.
Darryl Frank, a Pricewaterhouse Coopers actuary, who has worked closely with ACC, told the conference there was "constant tension between the two sides of politics" in New Zealand and "differences in political ideologies". Labour governments were "typically increasing access to benefits" but this had been "to some degree reversed" by the National-led Government since 2009, given concerns about ACC finances, he said.
Dr Denise Powell, the president of Acclaim Otago, an ACC claimant support group, said a mask had slipped and the "incredibly blatant" truth had been revealed about the removal of large numbers of long-term claimants from ACC coverage in order to meet political objectives. She had listened to the conference on a podcast, and recalled "being quite shocked, sitting there with my mouth open".
Approached for comment, ACC lead media adviser Stephanie Melville said the term "low-hanging fruit" had been "used to describe the first raft of improvements"- that is "initiatives to yield rapid positive results to systems and process".
"It does not refer to individual clients or any attempt to stop people making claims."
No client was denied ACC help "before they're ready for vocational independence", she said.

© Allied Press Limited 2012

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/215256/comments-embarrassing-acc

479 Otago names on ACC email

An article from the Otago Daily Times by John Gibb

The names of 479 Otago ACC claimants appear on a list of 6725 people mistakenly emailed to Auckland claimant Bronwyn Pullar late last year, in a major privacy breach.
The names of 137 people with "sensitive claims", involving rape and sexual abuse, were also included in the national list. Several ongoing high-level inquiries, including by the Privacy Commissioner, were sparked by the email mistake. The Otago Daily Times, through an Official Information Act inquiry to ACC on March 16, sought the number of Otago claimants involved.
Dr Denise Powell, the president of Acclaim Otago, an ACC claimant support organisation, said the figure obtained by the ODT this week showed the privacy issue clearly affected many Dunedin and Otago people as well as thousands of ACC claimants elsewhere in the country. It is understood the 479 Otago people had initiated about 700 Otago-related reviews of previous ACC decisions in the 12 months ending on June 30 last year.
Dr Powell said the 479 figure revealed the remarkably large number of people in Otago who had been dissatisfied with previous ACC decision-making in a single financial year.
"It makes it very real," she added.
Under New Zealand's official information legislation, requests for such information must be answered within 20 working days, with a time extension allowed in some cases, but "you must be told of the extension and the reasons for it", the Ministry of Justice advises. The ODT has also made a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsmen over the delays.
The delays were drawn to ACC's attention on May 24, but despite apologies and explanations about an oversight and administrative pressures, more than a further month went by before the information was provided.
In a letter to the ODT this week, ACC government services adviser Jon-Paul Bignold "sincerely apologises" and "sincerely regrets the undue delays" in handling the request.
"Unfortunately these delays were caused by administrative errors that resulted in your request remaining unanswered," Mr Bignold said.
Other ACC officials were approached yesterday to respond to criticism of the delays, and ACC trust issues, but no further comment was immediately available.
The emailed information sent to Ms Pullar involved a spreadsheet listing the names of ACC clients, relating to claims going through the Disputes Resolution Services Ltd review process between July 1, 2010, and June 30 last year. The spreadsheet had earlier been sent internally to dozens of ACC managers throughout the country.
Dunedin lawyer Peter Sara said a "significant number" of Otago people had been affected by the privacy breach, and he believed ACC had later deliberately "done a go-slow " over the release of the information sought by the ODT. A great deal of work, and not just offering some "bland phrases", would be needed if the public's trust in ACC was to be restored, Mr Sara said. And ACC administrators should be more mindful about "accountability to the Fourth Estate", he said.

© Allied Press Ltd 2007

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/214978/479-otago-names-acc-email

ACC must improve their decision-making

A press release from Acclaim Otago (Inc)

“In the last 12 months, we have seen an increase in the number of people winning at both the review and appeal stage” says Dr Denise Powell, president of Acclaim Otago (Inc). “We are extremely concerned that ACC seems be making reckless decisions especially as they relate to the exiting of people from the long term claims pool”.
In the house today, Prime Minister John Key referred to the appropriate process available for people to challenge ACC decisions, that they believed to be incorrect. “What Mr Key is not acknowledging is the very real stress that having to fight for entitlement has on people.”
Dr Powell claims that a significant number of people who lose their entitlement don’t actually follow through with the review and appeal process because of physical, mental and financial restraints. “While technically ACC is correct when they say the review process is ‘free’, in reality it is a litigious environment. ACC has the use of taxpayer’s funds to hire outside legal representation, which they do, as well as having an in house legal team, which is blatantly unfair.”
The disentitled client on the other hand often has just lost their income and has to rely on family and friends to pay for legal representation. While costs can be awarded at both review and appeal, the levels of those are nowhere near what the actual costs are to have appropriate representation. Powell gives an example to illustrate her point, “We have a member who has just won back their entitlement to weekly compensation after pursuing justice through the review and appeal process. The legal bill amounted to over $30,000 and the emotional toll was huge. Unfortunately, such stories are all too common.”
"ACC should be making robust decisions based on people’s clinical presentation and need rather than saying to clients, 'If you don’t like our decision you can take it to review' because in reality that process should not abdicate ACC from making good decisions in the first place,” Dr Powell concludes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1206/S00374/acc-must-improve-their-decision-making.htm

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

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

ACC VIP details sought

A news report from Radio New Zealand

A lawyer for ACC claimants is seeking more details of what advantages are reportedly given to VIPs.
Acclaim Otago has complained that higher-status decision makers and greater privacy are offered to VIPs than to the majority of ACC applicants.
According to leaked material, judges, Members of Parliament, the Governor General and members of the ACC Board have a special category in an ACC manual.
The manual reportedly says decisions for the claimants should be made by an ACC manager, not a case worker.
ACC was unable to comment on Monday night but earlier reports said ACC felt VIPs needed more privacy for security reasons, especially for judges.

© 2012 Radio New Zealand

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/102397/acc-vip-details-sought

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 must protect data, lawyer says

An article from the Otago Daily Times by By John Gibb

Dunedin lawyer Peter Sara is urging a "culture change" over privacy issues at the ACC after the names of several hundred Otago claimants were included in an email mistakenly sent to Auckland resident Bronwyn Pullar late last year.
Acclaim Otago, a group supporting Otago ACC claimants, has written to Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff voicing its concern about wider privacy practices at ACC and offering to make some input during the commissioner's inquiry into privacy issues at ACC. ACC needed to tighten up its privacy practices, so that all electronic data involving clients was encrypted and password-protected, Acclaim Otago president Denise Powell said recently.
ACC has apologised for the email privacy breach, which involved the names of 6725 ACC claimants throughout the country, including 137 people with "sensitive" claims, involving rape and sexual abuse. The emailed information involves a spreadsheet listing the names of ACC clients and client reference numbers, relating to claims going through the Disputes Resolution Services Ltd review process, apparently between July 1, 2010 and June 30 last year. The spreadsheet had earlier been sent internally to ACC branch managers throughout the country.
It is understood more than 700 Otago reviews were considered in that 2010-11 period, and it is believed at least 400 Otago people were named in the list. The ODT has made an Official Information Act request to ACC to obtain the exact number of Otago people involved. A much smaller group of "sensitive" Otago claimants were also named.
Mr Sara, who has been dealing with ACC cases for more than 30 years, said ACC needed to take concrete action to prevent such privacy breaches being repeated. In recent years, when ACC client file material was sent to him at his request, some information about other clients had been wrongly included about six times a year. He believed that up to 200 of his own clients' review claims could have been referred to on the Auckland email list.
An ACC spokeswoman noted that ACC had provided an interim report to ACC Minister Judith Collins. The Privacy Commissioner and ACC were working together to develop terms of reference for a substantive review of both the incident and ACC's privacy operating practices, the spokeswoman said.
Dr Powell has recently received her own letter of apology, signed by Denise Cosgrove, ACC general manager, claims management. Ms Cosgrove said ACC took the collection and storage of its clients' information "very seriously", and apologised for Dr Powell's name being accidentally disclosed in the Auckland email.

© 2012 Allied Press Ltd

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/202962/acc-must-protect-data-lawyer-says

MPs, judges, and ACC board members have “VIP” status at ACC

A press release from Acclaim Otago

Parliament has been focussing this week on an allegation that a Minister of the Crown's involvement in an individual ACC case has resulted in preferential treatment.
"It is important to note that ACC already gives preferential treatment to an established list of VIPs," says Dr Denise Powell, president of Acclaim Otago.
“ACC has a policy on “VIPs” that includes all Members of Parliament, Members of the Judiciary and ACC Board Members and their immediate families. If a VIP suffers an accident, they get preferential treatment within ACC”.
Dr Powell backs up her claim with a section from ACC’s own Delegations Manual, which provides delegations from the Board of ACC to the Chief Executive and staff pursuant to Clause 25 of schedule 5 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001 and section 73 of the Crown Entities Act 2004. The delegation manual states at 7.13.1 that these claims are to be handled differently.
“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? What is it about ACC's ‘normal’ service that is insufficient for VIP treatment?" asks Powell.
“Perhaps it is because their privacy is more important” she muses.
"It appears that ACC staff have been instructed to 'try everything' to 'exit' people from ACC, regardless of whether they have been successfully rehabilitated." Powell continues "The VIP status seems 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."
Dr Powell believes it is time such anomalies within ACC are investigated and explained. “New Zealand is a nation that prides 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. The fact that this list was promulgated by those within ACC illustrates the need for a fresh and independent look at the Corporation and how the scheme is being managed," she concludes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1203/S00303/mps-judges-and-acc-board-members-have-vip-status-at-acc.htm

ACC client privacy is the real issue

A press release from Acclaim Otago

News that either the Minister for ACC, Judith Collins or someone within ACC itself leaked details about the meeting between ACC and the person who released a spreadsheet containing the information about nearly 7000 ACC clients to the media last week has compounded the real issue. The fact that the woman’s name as well as details about her injury are now public, would appear to be yet another breach of privacy and has further angered clients and their advocates.
“What we are seeing is further examples of what really is the issue in this whole saga,” states Dr Denise Powell, president of a support group for injured people, Acclaim Otago.
“At the heart of this story is the fact that people’s privacy was breached by ACC in what ACC have admitted was normal practice”. ACC admit there was a long-standing practice of the circulation of spreadsheets to dozens of ACC managers so they could compare their branch’s performance against others. “In the first instance it is not necessary to include people’s names in such data”, states Powell “and secondly the fact that ACC considered this acceptable is extremely concerning, more so because that information included names of people managed by the Sensitive Claims Unit. It is vital that there are robust security measures in place in an organisation such as ACC which holds huge volumes of personal information, much of it sensitive”.
Dr Powell states that Acclaim Otago intends writing to the Privacy Commissioner asking to have input into developing the Terms of Reference and outlining their concerns directly. “Consumer input is imperative, as it is their privacy that needs to be protected. We should keep our eyes on the real issue here and that is that clients’ privacy has been a concern for many years. What this current situation has done is highlight where there are deficiencies and we now have the opportunity to help ensure that such breaches do not happen again,” Dr Powell concludes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1203/S00221/acc-client-privacy-is-the-real-issue.htm

Independent investigation of ACC only option

A press release from Acclaim Otago

The announcement this morning a huge breach of privacy by the Accident Compensation Corporation resulted in over 9000 names being sent to a person who was not entitled to receive them, has angered both ACC clients and their support people. The Minister for ACC has called for a internal inquiry into the situation but Dr Denise Powell, president of Acclaim Otago says “A full independent inquiry into the privacy breach reported this morning is the only way to identify what happened and to ensure that such an event never happens again”. “In the era of electronic communication and the ease with which information can be shared, there is absolutely no excuse for such a large corporation that holds highly sensitive and confidential information to not have the appropriate safeguards in place” she said. “ACC has an obligation to ensure clients’ information is held in a secure manner with access only allowed on an authorised basis”. People’s privacy is protected under various New Zealand laws and conventions that New Zealand is a signatory to. “This breach and the fact that senior managers were advised of it apparently over 3 months ago and yet chose to do nothing, shows how blasé some parts of ACC have become towards the privacy of injured people in New Zealand.
We need to identify who was responsible for this breach and hold ACC accountable for the lack of procedure and protocol which allowed it to happen in the first place” Dr Powell concludes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1203/S00150/independent-investigation-of-acc-only-option.htm

Call for resignation of ACC’s senior medical advisor

A press release from Acclaim Otago (Inc)

“If the ACC is to retain credibility, Peter Jansen needs to resign,” said Denise Powell, spokesperson for Acclaim Otago.
“Acclaim Otago has absolutely no confidence in a senior medical advisor who is closely associated with the sensitive claim pathway fiasco of last year. In our opinion he has clearly demonstrated his extremely poor decision making skills and there is an obvious lack of understanding or empathy with survivors of sexual abuse.
“We call for Peter Jansen’s immediate resignation, anything less will make a mockery of ACC’s genuine attempts to correct the mistakes made with the hasty and ill advised introduction of the Sensitive Claims Pathway led by Jansen.”

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1104/S00205/call-for-resignation-of-accs-senior-medical-advisor.htm

External review of ACC needed to restore faith

An article from the Otago Daily Times by John Gibb

Dunedin ACC campaigner Denise Powell says ACC's credibility has recently "taken a hammering" over some controversial elective surgery decisions, and an external review is needed to restore public faith in the corporation.
Mrs Powell is president of Acclaim Otago, an ACC claimant support group, and is also a member of the ACC Consumer Outlook Group, a liaison body which brings together ACC claimant support groups and others, with ACC management.
ACC has already begun an internal review of elective surgery, but, at a meeting in February, COG members urged ACC to consult more widely.
Elective surgery is also likely to be discussed at COG's next meeting, in Wellington today.
Dr Barbara Disley, a former senior Mental Health Commissioner, last year led an external review of "sensitive claims pathway" changes involving ACC's dealings with sexual abuse victims, which found some shortcomings and made 14 recommendations.
Mrs Powell said it seemed "very lottery-like" whether injured ACC claimants gained elective surgery, given suggestions that many people had been affected by degenerative processes and were effectively denied ACC cover.
Current decisions over surgery might be accurate, but the general public did not have "a lot of faith" in them.
An external review, such as over sensitive claims, was needed, she said.
Phil Riley, ACC external claims management national manager, said ACC expected the internal review to be completed at the end of this month.
Stakeholder groups had taken part, and the initial consultation had been extended, with 500 clients also surveyed.
He thanked everyone who had given ACC feedback.
ACC Minister Nick Smith has previously dismissed the idea of holding an external review into surgery issues.

© Allied Press Ltd 2010
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/155963/external-review-acc-needed-restore-faith