Administrative transfers irk ACC claimants

Levels of "frustration and mistrust" have been increased by transferring the administration of more than 250 Dunedin-based long-term ACC claimants to offices in Alexandra and Timaru, critics say.

Denise Powell, who is the president of Acclaim Otago, an ACC claimant support group, said group members found that some good relationships with Dunedin-based case managers had been damaged after other officials took over the files.

There had also been increased "frustration and mistrust" among some claimants.

Acclaim Otago officials said many long-term claimant files which had been transferred out of the city were being handled by members of ACC's recently established Recover Independence Service unit based at Alexandra and Timaru.

More than 40 long-term ACC claimants in Otago had been asked to undergo further medical assessments or other tests in recent months, in what some critics say is a "return to the bad old days" of removing claimants from the scheme.

Claimants had been adversely affected less by the physical distance between Dunedin and the other centres, than by the associated "psychological distance", with some claimants no longer having such a close connection with case managers, Mrs Powell said.

Dunedin resident Mel Hollis, a long-term recipient of ACC weekly earnings-related compensation, said he had actually had a better relationship with his new case manager after his file had been transferred to the Alexandra office in 2007.

His file had been recently transferred to the Timaru office.

He worked full-time for more than 30 years until his lungs were badly damaged by a neurotoxic condition arising from work-related solvent exposure.

Mr Hollis, who is also the Otago representative of Sniftaas (Inc) NZ, a national support group for the chemically injured, said he was concerned about the extra difficulties that some claimants, including people who were poor and less articulate, would have in liaising with more distant case managers.

ACC officials recently noted that ACC board chairman John Judge had said that ACC needed to change if it was to remain viable.

This included ensuring that ACC assistance went only to those who needed it, officials said.

ACC Alexandra branch manager Peter Neilson said that 40 Dunedin claims were being managed at Alexandra, where some Dunedin cases had been handled since 2007.

The cases of a further 213 Dunedin-based clients had been sent from Alexandra or Dunedin to Timaru for "ongoing management".

These were long-term clients who had been receiving weekly compensation for two and a-half years or longer.

Asked about communication difficulties, Mr Neilson said there were none of those suggested.

Clients could contact their case manager by free phone, email, mail or direct phone line.

If clients wanted to meet their case managers about a specific issue it was customary to make an appointment to allow the case manager to be fully prepared.

Short-dated appointments were made if there was an urgent need to meet face to face, and this was the case for all clients, irrespective of where they were managed.

john.gibb@odt.co.nz