10 June 2012

Minister must rein in ACC

Tonight’s 60 Minutes programme which featured Bronwyn Pullar, struck an all too familiar chord with long term ACC clients says Denise Powell, spokesperson for Acclaim Otago.

“We congratulate Bronwyn for having the fortitude to withstand immense media and personal pressure and still tell her story”.

“In our view this was not just a story about Bronwyn Pullar,” says Dr Powell. “Rather she used her experience to expose some of the all too frequent practices that have unfortunately turned our world class accident compensation scheme into an insurance based risk and liability balance sheet where injured people are seen as liabilities rather than people.”

The questionable independence of some assessors was also highlighted and “ACC needs to be far more transparent when it comes to medical and Vocational Independence assessments,” Dr Powell says.

“ACC minister, Judith Collins must take control immediately and send the board a very clear message about the unacceptable practices currently infesting the scheme. Nothing less will do,” said Dr Powell.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>