Physiotherapy New Zealand Trust and

Auckland Private Physiotherapist Practitioner’s Association. (PNZT & APPPA)

20 August 2009

MEDIA RELEASE

ACC Budget Blow-Out Not Physiotherapy

The over $3 billion dollar ACC Budget Blow-out as stated by ACC Minister Nick Smith is not the fault of the patients or physiotherapy profession.

Physiotherapy Trust NZ Chairman Malcolm Hood said tonight :

“The fault lies directly with ACC which was warned in 2002 by the Institute of

Economic Research, the Department of Labour and vocal

Physiotherapists (members of the PNZT) who stated then:

“A rollout of the Endorsed Provider Network[EPN] experiment will lead to increased rehabilitation costs,...it is an unsustainable experimental model.”

Mr Hood said that with total disregard to the advice, ACC rolled out the EPN, an experiment intended to limit patient rehabilitation and shut down legal recourse from patients who did not rehabilitate in accordance with ACC’s rules.

“History shows the EPN has been a failure--and ACC has blown out its budget.”

PNZT & APPPA outlined the five cornerstone Pillars of the Woodhouse Report which

made ACC a world-renowned rehabilitation, insurance and compensation system---

Community Responsibility: (collective, not individual, insurance).

Comprehensive Entitlement: (regardless of the origin and nature of

the injury.)

Complete Rehabilitation: (fullest possible restoration of potential.)

Real Compensation: (for the period of lost income, with recognition that

permanent impairment is a loss in itself.)

Administrative Efficiency: ( levy-payers and Government should get

value for money.)

“ ACC management, have eroded three of these pillars to the point of ACC

collapsing“ Mr Hood said.

“NOT the Physiotherapy Profession”

Administratively ACC costs about half a billion dollars

each year to run and yet --

There is virtually no lump sum compensation for injured people (Pillar 2).

Complete Rehabilitation (3) was discarded at the time of the EPN.

Now Pillar 4 (Comprehensive Entitlement) is strained to the maximum, they say.

“ Woodhouse was also vehement that for injured New Zealanders legal costs and

drawn-out litigation must be eliminated in order for the scheme to work. Since the

EPN, high costs of legal & other associated overheads have escalated in the form of Formal Reviews, and litigation at all levels of our Courts. ACC is at breaking point,” they say.

Reducing by 33% the dollars spent on physiotherapy rehabilitation is not solving

the root cause of problems or reducing the announced $3 billion

that has been lost through mismanagement.

Blaming injured people and the profession that treats them for fundamental

ACC management failures is not the way to start solving a self inflicted poor

performance.

“PNZT calls for the immediate appointment of an ACC independent Watchdog.

Rehabilitating people once and properly through modern Applied Physiotherapy is a far more cost effective policy than any other method yet proposed.”, said Hood.

ends

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