Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,

I refer to my email dated 9 March 2016 sent at 4.46 p.m. to Cassie Plant who was associated with a treatment injury claim 10031989043 for which I include the full email for your reference. Please refer to original copy of Casies email that should be saved on the ACC Eos System for the names of the third party treatment providers concerned for whom I have redacted their full names in respect of their privacy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Re: Mr David Lawson - Claim:10031989043 ACCID:K1335320

From: David Lawson ([email address])
Sent: Wed 9/03/2016 4:46 p.m.
To: Cassie Plant ([email address]);

Hi Cassie,

Thanks for your email.

It would be appreciated if you could please confirm the answers to the following questions which your email did not address;

I have looked into the treatment ACC claim records under 10031989043 that was submitted electronically by Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX on 22/07/15, which were generated on 12 August 2015, and throughout the records provided to me by ACC I have been unable to locate any reference to XXXXXX XXXXXX-XXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy under ACC's electronic claim records generated up until 12/08/15 for claim no 10031989043.

I also have a copy of Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX printed version of the treatment injury claim that was provided to me at the consult, which has no reference to XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy.

It would be appreciated if you could confirm how you established that XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy was the treatment provider associated with the lodgment of the treatment injury claim in the first instance, since XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy were not noted on the physical record provided to me by my GP and does not appear on any of the claims records of the Print Claim File for TI claim number 10031989043 that was supplied to me last year via C/D format.

It appears that you must of had contact with Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXX so as to establish who the treatment injury provider was that was named in the Treatment Injury, for you to have been able to established;

1. That XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy was the treatment provider involved, and
2. To be able to establish that XXXXXX XXXXXX was in fact not a registered acupuncturist.

Can you please confirm whether you had contacted Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX to establish the treatment provider between 22/7/15 (being claims registration, and when you sent the claim to Dunedin Reg Assessment). If so can you please advise what was discussed and arrange for a copy of the recorded telephone conversation between yourself and Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX, if such a conversation or copies of any other form of communication took place between yourself and Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX and or XXXXX XXX XXXXXXX staff.

If no contact was made with Dr XXXXXXXX regarding the treatment injury claim…can you please confirm to me how you made the connection that XXXXXX XXXXXX of XXXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy was the treatment provider concerned and then how you established that he was not a registered acc approved acupuncturist.

Can you also please confirm whether you had checked whether XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXXX and XXXXXX Physiotherapy were registered acc treatment physiotherapy provider prior to transferring the treatment injury out of treatment Injury claims unit.

I look forward to receiving your timely response.

Kind regards,
David Lawson

to which Casie Plant replied;

Good Afternoon David

The claim was transferred to another department originally as in our system is states how did the accident happen? “having acupuncture - deeper needle into neck-painful at time-didnt say anything r side cervical spine- had intense headache and tingling r cheek and back to ear.. ongoing pains and numbness***Receiving med treatment***Medical treatment”. As it stated acupuncture I assumed you had this done via a acupuncturist, which we don’t consider as registered health providers so I transferred the claim to be considered as a personal injury caused by accident. David Wheeler – Team Manager Henderson Branch contacted me and advised me that the acupuncture was carried out by a phsyio which we consider as a registered health provider, so I requested the claim to be transferred back to the Treatment Injury Centre. Therefore after it was assessed by a clinical advisor until a decision was made. A physiotherapist is considered a registered health provider so an injury caused from treatment from a registered health provider can be considered for cover.

Many Thanks

Since Cassie Plant's answer in her email dated 9 March 2016 failed to answer the following questions regarding decisions that she made on matters relating to me when initially handling Treatment Injury Claim 10031989043, I request subject to Section 23 of the Official Information Act 1982 that Cassie Plant provide a written statement in answer to the following questions that were not answered in Casie's email of 9 March 2016 noted above.

1)

It would be appreciated if you could confirm how you established that XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy was the treatment provider associated with the lodgment of the treatment injury claim in the first instance, since XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy were not noted on the physical record provided to me by my GP and does not appear on any of the claims records of the Print Claim File for TI claim number 10031989043 that was supplied to me last year via C/D format.

2)

Can you please confirm whether you had contacted Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX to establish the treatment provider between 22/7/15 (being claims registration, and when you sent the claim to Dunedin Reg Assessment).

3)

If so can you please advise what was discussed and arrange for a copy of the recorded telephone conversation between yourself and Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX, if such a conversation or copies of any other form of communication took place between yourself and Dr XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX and or XXXXX XXX XXXXXXX staff.

4)

If no contact was made with Dr XXXXXXXX regarding the treatment injury claim…can you please confirm to me how you made the connection that XXXXXX XXXXXX of XXXXXX X XXXXXX Physiotherapy was the treatment provider concerned and then how you established that he was not a registered acc approved acupuncturist.

5)

Can you also please confirm whether you had checked whether XXXXXX XXXXXX and XXXXXX and XXXXXX Physiotherapy were registered acc treatment physiotherapy provider prior to transferring the treatment injury out of treatment Injury claims unit.

In addition to the above questions please also ask Cassie Plant to provide a written statement under section 23 of the Official Information Act 1982 in answer to my following question;

6)

If Cassie Plant did not check with my GP prior to transferring this Treatment Injury Claim outside of the treatment injury unit, why did Cassie Plant not check with my GP first, given that my GP lodged the claim as a treatment injury and could have provided this information to Cassie Plant straight away.

Under s16(2) of the Official Information Act, my preferred way of receiving a response is by email to the address from which ACC received the original request, not by post".

To maintain the privacy of the GP and Physiotherapist concerned on the FYI in your response, I am happy for you to refer to each, as the GP for the doctor and the physiotherapist as the physiotherapist for whom administered the acupuncture.

I appreciate your time and assistance.

Yours faithfully,

David Lawson

Dear Government Services,

Thank you for your response.

The decisions that apply to my request for valid answers and a written statement from Cassie Plant as strictly requested in my OIA request 1982, is based on Cassie Plant transferring a claim that had been lodged through the Treatment Injury Portal, and the associated decisions that Cassie Plant made that fell between Cassie taking receipt/allocation of the treatment injury claim, and forwarding the treatment injury claim out of the Treatment Injury Unit.

23 Right of access by person to reasons for decisions affecting that person
(1) Subject to section 6(a) to (d), section 7, section 9(2)(b), and section 10 and to subsections (2), (4), and (5), where a department or Minister of the Crown or organisation makes, on or after 1 July 1983, a decision or recommendation in respect of any person, being a decision or recommendation in respect of that person in his or its personal capacity, that person has the right to and shall, on request made within a reasonable time of the making of the decision or recommendation, be given a written statement of—

(a) the findings on material issues of fact; and
(b) subject to subsection (2A), a reference to the information on which the findings were based; and
(c )the reasons for the decision or recommendation.

(2)

The right conferred by subsection (1) may be exercised only by a person who is—
(a) a New Zealand citizen; or
(b) a permanent resident of New Zealand; or
(c ) a person who is in New Zealand; or
(d) a body corporate which is incorporated in New Zealand; or
(e) a body corporate which is incorporated outside New Zealand but which has a place of business in New Zealand.

These decisions Cassie Plant made or did not make in relation to processing the treatment injury claim involve me directly and therefore were validly raised in my OIA Request of 18 April 2016, and since ACC has not sought to rely on subsection 2(A), I respectfully request that ACC revisit my original OIA request and provide the official information requested in full in my requested dated 18 April 2016, under urgency within the next 5 working days.

Yours sincerely,

David Lawson

For the attention of Mr Paul Holmes, ACC Head of Privacy and Government Services.

I am writing to seek ACC Government Services formal apology and explanation as to why an ACC Government Services staff member has lied and misrepresenting the facts of the processing and timing of ACC staff members involvement of treatment injury claim 10029250341 being removed from the treatment injury centre and held by David Wheeler at the local Henderson branch for 20 days unactioned, and then David Wheeler only returning the treatment injury claim to the treatment injury centre following me having made enquiries to the treatment Injury Centre as to why I had not received confirmation from ACC acknowledging my lodgement on 22/07/15 of treatment injury claim number 10029250341.

In ACC's response dated 21 June 2016 to my OIA request dated 19 May 2016, the ACC Government Services respondent stated that, and I quote;

" Around an hour later the claim was transferred back to Ms Plant"

after stating that Ms Plant had transferred the treatment injury claim to Dunedin for Assessment.
Ms Plant transferred the treatment injury claim out of the treatment injury centre at 10.14 am on the 23/07/15.

If ACC's Government Services staff members account was based in fact then treatment injury claim number 10029250341 would have been returned to the treatment injury centre on or just after 11.14 on the 23/07/15. This was by no means the truth, since treatment injury claim number 10029250341 did not in fact return to Cassie Plant until some time on the 12 August 2015 as per the events outlined below.

This was over 21 days after Cassie Plant transferred the treatment injury claim out of the treatment injury centre, not having either contacted my GP for clarification regarding the physiotherapists involvement with ACC as an approved ACC treatment provider or even googled the treatment provider to find out whether they do ACC approved work. Better still Casie could have checked my other claims and noted that the physiotherapist had been treating me.

Ms Plant received the Treatment Injury Claim from Gurpreet Parmar Dunedin REG- Administration on 23/07/15 at 9.48 am.

Gurpreet Parmar had held the treatment injury claim since 11.40 am on the 22/07/15. Ms Plant then transferred the treatment injury claim out of the Treatment Injury Centre where Ms Plant works as a Case Administrator, to Dunedin REG-Cover Assessment, where it was received by Jamie Bulk who allocated the claim to Morgan Finlayson also at the Dunedin REG-Cover Assessment.

The reason Ms Plant used to transfer the Treatment Injury Claim outside of the treatment injury unit has been supplied to me on C/D Disc received in September 2015 which notes on Page 25 of the 42 pages of the 3.02: PRINT CLAIM FILE - 10031989043, Activities, Contacts which reads and I quote;

……………Party: Mr David Lawson……………………Contact Date/Time: 23-07-2015 10.27
………..Reason: Contact with Internal Party
Discussion with: Casie Plant
……Description: Sent claim back to Dunedin Reg Cover Assessment "Claim needs to be considered under PICBA acupuncturist is not a registered health provider"

Contact Method: Other Direction: Internal
File Name <no file name recorded>

Morgan Finlayson received the Treatment Injury Claim from Jamie Bulk at 10.26 on 23/07/2015 and then the next day at 10. 54 on 24/07/2015 Morgan Finlayson transferred the Treatment Injury Claim to Team Manager David Wheeler at the Henderson Branch.

The real reason my Treatment Injury Claim was not transferred back to the Treatment Injury Centre was supplied to me to me on C/D Disc received in September 2015 which notes on Page 25 of the 42 pages of the 3.02: PRINT CLAIM FILE - 10031989043, Activities, Contacts which reads and I quote;

……………Party: Mr David Lawson……………………Contact Date/Time: 23-07-2015 10.27
………..Reason: Contact with Internal Party
Discussion with: Morgan Finlayson
……Description: "CVR: Triage(Claim Update) Claim Transferred to another unit~Successful ^client case managed-transferred claim to branch.
Contact Method: Other Direction: Internal
File Name <no file name recorded>

Therefore the real reason for Treatment Injury Claim 10031989043 was transferred from the Dunedin REG -Cover Assessment Branch to David Wheeler at the Henderson Branch was because ACC Henderson were case managing my claims without my knowledge and not because the treatment injury provider was not an ACC registered treatment provider.

David Wheeler was the Team Leader of the case manager that exited me using the the principles outlined in the Riley Report dated 16 February 2009, by using non compliance in place of honoring 2 GP referrals to orthopedic surgeons for the assessment of cervical and thoracic injuries, which ACC has refused to fund let alone investigate.

Treatment injury claim number 10029250341 was then held unactioned by David Wheeler for a full 20 days. David Wheeler held the treatment injury claim under the pretense that the treatment provider was not an approved ACC treatment provider. David Wheeler was well aware that the physiotherapist who conducted the acupuncture was an approved ACC treatment provider since they had overseen an ACC approved Functional Rehabilitation Program for my primary injury.

David Wheeler without my knowledge had been overseeing correspondence since 23/12/14 as my case managers Leanne MacDonnell's team leader who Leanne MacDonnell noted in my case notes for 23 December 2015 the following;

Party: Mr David Lawson Contact Date/Time: 23-12-2014 11:24
Reason: Contact With Internal Party
Discussion with: Leanne MacDonnell
Description: IMPORTANT : Any contact from client must be referred to David Wheeler
Contact Method: Original Direction: INTERNAL
File Name: <no file name recorded>

On 23/1/15 the treatment provider provided an email to myself and Leanne MacDonnell that included the acknowledgement of the adverse reaction that his deeper acupuncture had caused;

"I XXX XXXXXcan confirm on XX/XX/XXXX David was having acupuncture treatment and suffered an adverse reaction (increase in severity of symptoms and referral into head/face and shoulder which was not recorded at the time." Signed and 23/01/14.

The physiotherapist also commented in an email to myself and ACC Case Manger Leanne MacDonnell as follows;

I apologise for this adverse reaction. Adverse reactions are rare occurrences and I did not identify that you had suffered this at the time. The session was on the 28/07/2015. I needled the same muscle each time-Upper trapezius muscle, on this occasion I perhaps over stimulated the tender muscle (“Ahshi”) points. I have amended your notes and attached.

With David Wheeler overseeing all correspondence David Wheeler was well aware on or slightly after the 23 January 2015 that the physiotherapist was not only an acc treatment provider they had acknowledged that the adverse reaction had occured in response to their deeper acupuncture.

On 20 July 2015, two days prior to lodging the treatment injury claim for TI claim number 10029250341, and 4 days before David Wheeler received the treatment injury claim outside of the treatment injury centre, I had forwarded David Wheeler a copy of the Treatment Injury Claim that I was lodging, which included the treatment providers acknowledgement and acceptance of the treatment injury.

On 21 July 2015, one day before I lodged the treatment Injury claim for TI claim number 10029250341 and 3 days before David Wheeler received the treatment injury claim outside the treatment injury centre, I emailed Davide Wheeler direct and

: David Lawson: Request for all future communication to be in writing and request under Privacy Act 1993.
David Lawson
[email address];[email address][email address]
Dear David/Leanne,

I refer you to XXx XXXXs correspondence and attached addendum received 23 Jan 2015.

It would be appreciated if you could contact XXX XXXX and request XXX's correction of the incorrect date on his attached addendum's which should read 23/01/15, not 23/01/14. I also respectfully ask for legal reasons that you request XXXX's assistance in ensuring that the amended addendum are forward back to me on XXXXXXX XXX XX x corporate letterhead and personally signed by XXX XXXX.

I appreciate your assistance.

Regards,
David Lawson

The following addendum was included in an attachment that I returned to David Wheeler to obtain correction of;

"I XXX XXXXXcan confirm on XX/XX/XXXX David was having acupuncture treatment and suffered an adverse reaction (increase in severity of symptoms and referral into head/face and shoulder which was not recorded at the time." Signed and 23/01/14.

and a copy of the ACC registered physiotherapists email of 23/01/15 was included which again included the following admission by the treatment provider;

I apologise for this adverse reaction. Adverse reactions are rare occurrences and I did not identify that you had suffered this at the time. The session was on the 28/07/2015. I needled the same muscle each time-Upper trapezius muscle, on this occasion I perhaps over stimulated the tender muscle (“Ahshi”) points. I have amended your notes and attached.

Therefore the correct response by Mr David Wheeler at the ACC Branch and the team leader overseeing my case management from 26 March 2015 and reviews on behalf of ACC, was to have had returned the treatment injury claim back to the treatment injury centres Cassie Plant upon receipt of the TI Claim from the Dunedin Reg Assessment team.

This did not happen though, and in addition to this, David Wheeler who had been overseeing my claims since the 23 December 2014, would have been instrumental in not having saved in full three statutory declarations and attachments to my correct claims files, the Statutory Declarations contain several relevant emails that ACC staff should have saved to ACC's Eos System, but had instead chosen to breach ACC's internal policy and not save them, thus prejudicing me on so many levels.

David Wheeler's inaction in processing my requests for additional covers associated with to accidental injuries ensuring that additional classes of injuries which had been applied for through my GP to ACC on 24/12/14, and then by myself on 17/2/15 and then again by my GP on 26/03/15, had still not been processed by 11 August 2015, which of course means that with ACC not approving cover I was unable to have any orthopaedic assessment covered for funding of the accidents and injuries yet to have had been accepted.

And on top of that he held back the processing of a treatment injury claim unactioned for 20 working days, and had I not have had found out that David Wheeler had taken possession of the treatment injury claim outside of the treatment injury centre, he would have had of retained the claim unactioned for a longer period.

Following my conversation with ACC's Rohan Hutchenson, Rohan alerted David Wheeler to the fact that I had made enquiries about why I had not received confirmation from ACC or the treatment injury claim lodged under TI Claim Number 10031989043.

David Wheeler then had the audacity to pretend that he had the authority to have had processed a treatment injury claim outside of the ACC treatment Injury Centre in his email dated 10 August 2015. David Wheeler even goes on to say in his email;

"Once the consent form has been returned, I will arrange for the collection of the medical notes relating to this injury event and will then review the information and make a decision on cover."
This was the Team Leader of my case manager for whose highly questionable decisions I was seeking review of and David Wheeler had an active oversight in the pending reviews.

David Wheeler's full email reads as follows;

From: [email address]
To: [email address]
Subject: Mr David Lawson - Claim:10031989043 ACCID:K1335320 Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 22:39:21 +0000
Good Morning David,

ACC have received a further claim for your 10031989043 which occurred on 25/07/2014 resulting from acupuncture treatment.

At this point the claim requires further information before we can make a decision on cover. In order to obtain this primarily from your GP and the treating physiotherapist (if you can advise who this was please) I require to gain your consent to do so. I have attached a the ACC6300 Authority to collect medical and other records for you to complete and return at your earliest convenience.

Once the consent form has been returned, I will arrange for the collection of the medical notes relating to this injury event and will then review the information and make a decision on cover.

I will keep you informed with respect to the progress of this claim as we move forward.

Kind regards
David Wheeler| Team Manager| ACC Henderson
DDI +64 9 822 5845 Extension: 95845
111-115 Lincoln Rd, PO Box 93-107, Waitakere City, 0650 NZ
ACC cares about the environment - please don't print this email unless it is really necessary. Thank you

Only due to my challenges to David Wheeler about his highly unethical involvement in my treatment injury claim was it then returned to the treatment injury centre 21days following being sent out of the treatment injury centre. Here is Casie Plant's email confirmation dated 12 August 2014 that the treatment injury claim should be returned to the treatment injury center (21 days later and not 1 hour as ACC Government Services has incorrectly and unethically claimed;

From: Cassie Plant
Sent: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 9:41 a.m.
To: David Wheeler
Subject: 100 3198 9043 Mr David Lawson
Hi David

If the acupuncture was carried out by a physiotherapist then please transfer the claim back into the department Treatment Injury Centre and we will assess the claim.

Contact method:
Many Thanks

Party: Mr David Lawson...............................................Contact date/time: 12-08-2015 09:53
Reason: Contact With Internal Party............................Last update date/time: 12-08-2015 09:53
Discussion with: Cassie Plant
Description: From: David Wheeler
Sent: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 9:53 a.m.
To: Cassie Plant
Subject: RE: 100 3198 9043 Mr David Lawson

Hi Cassie,
Thanks for that. I have transferred the claim to Treatment Injury Centre
Thanks
David Wheeler' Team Manager' ACC Henderson
DDI +64 9 822 5845 Extension: 95845
111-115 Lincoln Rd, PO Box 93-107, Waitakere City, 0650 NZ
ACC cares about the environment - please don't print this email unless it is really necessary. Thank you.

A copy of the internal transfers is copied from the C/D disk that was supplied in September 2016
that shows clearly with David Wheelers and Casie Plant's emails of 12 August 2015 that the treatment injury was not returned to Casie Plant within or just over an hour later and it took 21 days to be returned to the treatment injury centre.

Managing Site Managing Staff Owner Role Transferred By Transfer Reason Start Date
.........................................................................................................................End Date
..........................................................................................................................----........
.........................................................................................................................22/07/2015
.........................................................................................................................11:40.......
Dunedin.........................................................Gurpreet Parmar........................22/07/2015
REG -................................................................................................................11:40
Administration...................................................................................................22/07/2015
..........................................................................................................................11:43.........

Treatment Injury..............................................Gurpreet Parmar.........................22/07/2015
Centre................................................................................................................11:43.........
...........................................................................................................................23/07/2015
...........................................................................................................................9:48...........
Dunedin ............................................................................Cassie Plant........... 23/07/2015
REG - Cover .....................................................................................................9:48...........
Assessment...................................................................................................... 23/07/2015
..........................................................................................................................10:14..........

Dunedin............Jaimee Bulk. Claims Officer .Jaimee Bulk...............................23/07/2015
REG - Cover.......................................................................................................10:14........
Assessment........................................................................................................23/07/2015
............................................................................................................................10:14.........

Dunedin.........Morgan Finlayson.Claims Officer.Jaimee Bulk.............................23/07/2015
REG - Cover................................Assessment.....................................................10:14.........
Assessment..........................................................................................................23/07/2015
..............................................................................................................................10:26.........

Henderson Branch...............................................Morgan Finlayson....................23/07/2015
..............................................................................................................................10:26.........
...............................................................................................................................24/07/2015
...............................................................................................................................10:54.........
Henderson Branch.David Wheeler .Team Manager .David Wheeler Department..24/07/2015
...........................................................................................................Allocation.....10:54.........
.................................................................................................................................---.............

This is a copy of Mr David Wheelers email sent to me on the 12 August 2016, being 20 Days after Morgan Finlayson sent David Wheeler Treatment Injury Claim 10031989043.

Mr David Lawson - Claim:10031989043 ACCID:K1335320
David Wheeler
Wed 12/08/2015 9:53 a.m.'[email address]'
Good Morning David,
 
Just to confirm that I have confirmed with the Treatment Injury Unit that your claim should be considered as a Treatment Injury claim.  Your claim has now been transferred back to the Treatment Injury Unit who will complete the cover investigation.
 
Kind regards
 
 
 

David Wheeler| Team Manager| ACC Henderson
DDI +64 9 822 5845   Extension: 95845
111-115 Lincoln Rd, PO Box 93-107, Waitakere City, 0650 NZ
ACC cares about the environment - please don't print this email unless it is really necessary.  Thank you.
 
I would therefore appreciate ACC Government Services full apology and explanation as to why this ACC Government Services Staff Member has lied in a public forum and in doing so attempted to undermine my credibility and correct recount of the events as they happened.

I await your timely apology posted to this website with urgency.

Yours sincerely,

David Lawson

Dear Government Services,

I refer to your response dated 22 July 2016 which I have copied in below and for which I had asked to be returned by the FYI site and thank you for highlighting the correct claim number misquoted in my previous correspondence. I have redacted the name of the physiotherapist for privacy reasons in my reply.

I have replied to your letter because of the following reasons;

1). My correspondence is obviously registering my displeasure with the actions of Mr Wheeler and how ACC instead of addressing the full account of what happened which is outlined in my correspondence to ACC dated June 2016, and ACC's response to this....and yet it is my understanding that best practice complaint resolution would have seen your response dated 22 July 2016, being received by myself with confirmation within your letter of the available organisation/s that I can escalate my complaint to outside of ACC,and I am left wondering why this information has not been pro-offered by Government Services as a matter of due course.

2. To address Government services intentional omission of the facts that are held on my ACC records that support my advice to Government services about the actions of Mr David Wheeler, and his knowledge of who the treatment provider was, that he knew that he was a registered treatment provider who was using acupuncture, prior to my lodging the treatment injury claim, because he was supplied with a copy of the ACC Treatment injury form that I had pre prepared for my GP, and the attached details associated with the TI claim by email on the 20 July 2014.

I request that ACC Government Services now review my claims records for the entries that have been scattered throughout other claims numbers for the dates that I have registered David Wheeler's activities that have occurred prior to the 22 July 2015 when my GP registered the claim.

I have provided new information to you in advising the claims numbers that reflect Mr Wheelers involvement in this instance and have re-quoted my accurate account of events from my correspondence dated 22 June 2016. Prior to each passage I will place in brackets the claim number where the associated records for your further review can be found;

I quote from my reply to Government Services dated 22 June 2016, with my reporting of events coming straight from the records on my claims file that are available to Government services. I ask that you reconsider you approach in this instance and investigate the following actions that provide the evidnce that Mr Wheeler was fully aware that the treatment injury claim should have been returned to teh Treatment injury center at the point that it was recieved by him;

(10031989043) "Therefore the real reason for Treatment Injury Claim 10031989043 was transferred from the Dunedin REG -Cover Assessment Branch to David Wheeler at the Henderson Branch was because ACC Henderson were case managing my claims without my knowledge and not because the treatment injury provider was not an ACC registered treatment provider.

David Wheeler was the Team Leader of the case manager that exited me using the the principles outlined in the Riley Report dated 16 February 2009, by using non compliance in place of honoring 2 GP referrals to orthopedic surgeons for the assessment of cervical and thoracic injuries, which ACC has refused to fund let alone investigate.

(10031989043 )Treatment injury claim number 10031989043 was then held unactioned by David Wheeler for a full 20 days. David Wheeler held the treatment injury claim under the pretense that the treatment provider was not an approved ACC treatment provider. David Wheeler was well aware that the physiotherapist who conducted the acupuncture was an approved ACC treatment provider since they had overseen an ACC approved Functional Rehabilitation Program for my primary injury.

(10018973176) David Wheeler without my knowledge had been overseeing correspondence since 23/12/14 as my case managers Leanne MacDonnell's team leader who Leanne MacDonnell noted in my case notes for 23 December 2015 the following;

Party: Mr David Lawson Contact Date/Time: 23-12-2014 11:24
Reason: Contact With Internal Party
Discussion with: Leanne MacDonnell
Description: IMPORTANT : Any contact from client must be referred to David Wheeler
Contact Method: Original Direction: INTERNAL
File Name: <no file name recorded>

(10018973176) On 23/1/15 the treatment provider provided an email to myself and Leanne MacDonnell that included the acknowledgement of the adverse reaction that his deeper acupuncture had caused;

"I XXX XXXXXcan confirm on XX/XX/XXXX David was having acupuncture treatment and suffered an adverse reaction (increase in severity of symptoms and referral into head/face and shoulder which was not recorded at the time." Signed and 23/01/14.

The physiotherapist also commented in an email to myself and ACC Case Manager Leanne MacDonnell as follows;

I apologise for this adverse reaction. Adverse reactions are rare occurrences and I did not identify that you had suffered this at the time. The session was on the 28/07/2015. I needled the same muscle each time-Upper trapezius muscle, on this occasion I perhaps over stimulated the tender muscle (“Ahshi”) points. I have amended your notes and attached.

With David Wheeler overseeing all correspondence David Wheeler was well aware on or slightly after the 23 January 2015 that the physiotherapist was not only an acc treatment provider they had acknowledged that the adverse reaction had occured in response to their deeper acupuncture.

(please refer to Party Level Records dated 24/07/2015 X2 entries which states in Party list docs: 20/7/15 - Copy of Email sent to GP from client re GP Visit to lodge new claims ACCID: K1335320) .On 20 July 2015, two days prior to lodging the treatment injury claim for TI claim number 10031989043, and 4 days before David Wheeler received the treatment injury claim outside of the treatment injury centre, I had forwarded David Wheeler a copy of the Treatment Injury Claim that I was lodging, which included the treatment providers acknowledgement and acceptance of the treatment injury.

(I would appreciate you doing a full email sweep, and check of David Wheeler's email records to establish where and what he and Leanne MacDonnell did with the following email correspondence which was sent to both of them on 21 July 2015) advise me why it is not saved in my party records of under claim number 10018973176)
On 21 July 2015, one day before I lodged the treatment Injury claim for TI claim number 10031989043 and 3 days before David Wheeler received the treatment injury claim outside the treatment injury centre, I emailed David Wheeler direct and

: David Lawson: Request for all future communication to be in writing and request under Privacy Act 1993.
David Lawson
[email address];[email address][email address]
Dear David/Leanne,

I refer you to XXx XXXXs correspondence and attached addendum received 23 Jan 2015.

It would be appreciated if you could contact XXX XXXX and request XXX's correction of the incorrect date on his attached addendum's which should read 23/01/15, not 23/01/14. I also respectfully ask for legal reasons that you request XXXX's assistance in ensuring that the amended addendum are forward back to me on XXXXXXX XXX XX x corporate letterhead and personally signed by XXX XXXX.

I appreciate your assistance.

Regards,
David Lawson

The following addendum was included in an attachment that I returned to David Wheeler to obtain correction of;

"I XXX XXXXXcan confirm on XX/XX/XXXX David was having acupuncture treatment and suffered an adverse reaction (increase in severity of symptoms and referral into head/face and shoulder which was not recorded at the time." Signed and 23/01/14.

and a copy of the ACC registered physiotherapists email of 23/01/15 was included which again included the following admission by the treatment provider;

I apologise for this adverse reaction. Adverse reactions are rare occurrences and I did not identify that you had suffered this at the time. The session was on the 28/07/2015. I needled the same muscle each time-Upper trapezius muscle, on this occasion I perhaps over stimulated the tender muscle (“Ahshi”) points. I have amended your notes and attached.

Therefore the correct response by Mr David Wheeler at the ACC Branch and the team leader overseeing my case management from 26 March 2015 and reviews on behalf of ACC, was to have had returned the treatment injury claim back to the treatment injury centres Cassie Plant upon receipt of the TI Claim from the Dunedin Reg Assessment team."

ACC Government services disingenuous response to my correspondence dated 22 June 2016, and refusal to investigate the actions of and information received by Mr Wheeler prior to the 22 July 2014, which I have accurately portrayed above, and on 22 June 2016, also predicating the misleading idea that Mr Wheeler was first informed what the name of the treatment provider was on 11/08/15, when he had been informed by email on 20/07/15 which he filed away to party records 4 days later on the 24/07/15, and placed the email sent to both Leanne MacDonnell and himself somewhere that I have yet been able to trace.)

My response above to your misleading account (copied in full below) by way of omission for the actions of Mr Wheeler in taking possession of a treatment injury claim, when he was fully aware of all details regarding the name, treatment provider status, and acknowledgement by the treatment provider concerned that an adverse reaction had been acknowledged and accepted by the treatment provider, prior to having had accepted the claim from Dunedin ex the treatment injury centre by receiving my email of 20 July 2014 and saving it to the party level records the day after he took possession of the treatment injury claim via Dunedin via the treatment injury unit

"22 July 2016

David Lawson [email address] Dear Mr Lawson

Official Information Act request

We refer to your email of 22 June 2016, which was posted on the FYI website, regarding the time and date your file was transferred.

Our response

Given the concerns you have raised we have carefully reviewed both the earlier correspondence on this matter as well as the relevant records in EOS. In doing so we have identified that your query relates to your claim 10031989043 (the claim), and not 10029250341 as stated in your 22 June email. We deal with the various matters

arising from your query below.

Transfer of your treatment injury claim

Our review of our records has disclosed the following chronology of events:

9:48am, 23 July 2015: The Treatment Injury Cover Assessment Team

(Treatment Injury) transferred the claim to the Dunedin Registration Centre (DRC), in order for the DRC to reallocate the claim to another branch. This was done on the understanding that the treatment provider was an acupuncturist and so not a registered health provider under the Accident Compensation Act 2001. On that basis, your claim was deemed to be outside of the treatment injury provisions of the Accident Compensation Act 2001.

10:27am, 23 July 2015: DRC transferred the claim to Henderson Branch for case management.

11:19am, 11 August 2015: You emailed David Wheeler, Henderson Branch, following a discussion you had with someone at the Client Contact Centre.

Your email to Mr Wheeler included an attachment that confirmed that the treatment provider was Mr Daniel Harvey, and that he was a physiotherapist. This email is on page 11 of the Claim Summary Report of 25 January 2016.

2:03pm, 11 August 2015: Mr Wheeler left a message on the Treatment

Injury's voice mail system. He noted -treatment provider is a registered physiotherapist. Query whether claim should be considered for cover by Treatment Injury Unit.' This contact note is on page 10 of the Claim Summary Report of 25 January 2016.

9:40am, 12 August 2015:Ms Cassie Plant, Treatment Injury, emailed Mr Wheeler stating, 'If the acupuncture was carried out by a physiotherapist then please transfer the claim back into the department Treatment Injury Centre and we will assess the claim'.

9:48am, 12 August 2015 Henderson Branch transferred the claim back to Treatment Injury.

The events outlined above demonstrate that we became aware that the claim involved a physiotherapist (and accordingly a registered health care provider) by

virtue of you contacting us on Il August. It was as a result of the information you provided about the treatment provider that the claim was returned to Treatment Injury. Following your email, Henderson Branch contacted the Treatment Injury Centre with this information. Treatment Injury then asked that the claim be transferred back to them.

Treatment Injury acknowledged your claim on 17 August, noting:

'Weve been told you were injured while being treated by a registered health professional. This means we will consider your claim as a treatment injury claim.'

Details of the injury claim

Although you had identified XXXXX XXXXXXXXX as the physiotherapist linked to your injury claim, this particular detail was not specifically noted in Eos when the claim was transferred back to Treatment Injury for their consideration. The fact that the treatment provider was a registered health professional was the reason for the transfer.

On 8 September 2015, ACC received the treatment injury claim form from your GP, as well as the relevant medical notes. This information, which included details on the health provider linked to the injury, enabled ACC to consider cover on the claim.

Timing of returning the claim back to Treatment Injury

You are correct in noting that our statement that the claim was transferred from the Dunedin Registration Centre back to Ms Plant in around an hour was incorrect.

The action that occurred in 'around an hour' was in fact the transfer of the claim from the Dunedin Registration Centre to the Henderson Branch.

We wish to assure you that our earlier statement was merely down to an oversight which was due to the timing with which some records had been entered in EOS. We apologise for this error. It is certainly not the case that we wrote that statement to

deliberately misrepresent the facts or to discredit you.

Your questions regarding the transfer of the claim 10031989043 have now been fully addressed. ACC will not be acknowledging or replying to any future correspondence from you on this subject.

Yours sincerely

Government Services"

I await your reply, following the new information I have provided to you as to where David Wheeler had saved the information which you have not reviewed prior to responding to me on 22 July 2016 and also confirmation of the names of the regulatory organisations to whom I can progress my request for an independent investigation of Mr Wheeler's actions which were highly inappropriate.

Yours sincerely,

David Lawson

Dear Government Services,

I refer to the letter provided to my email address from Government Services today which reads;

11 August 2016

David Lawson [email address]

Dear Mr Lawson

I refer to your email of 23 July 2016, in which you have set out a complaint in regards to David Wheeler's dealings with your treatment injury claim (10031989043).

Noting that you want this matter investigated further, Government Services has referred your complaint to Customer Resolution team for them to respond to you.

Further information on making complaints to ACC can be found on our website at the following link:

http://www.acc.co.nz/makinq-a-claim/help...

Yours sincerely

Government Service

In my previous FYI request to which you have responded to as above I requested the following;

I await your reply, following the new information I have provided to you as to where David Wheeler had saved the information which you have not reviewed prior to responding to me on 22 July 2016 and also confirmation of the names of the regulatory organisations to whom I can progress my request for an independent investigation of Mr Wheeler's actions which were highly inappropriate.

Your letter does not provide me with the names of the regulatory organisations to whom I can progress my request for an independent investigation of Mr Wheelers actions which were highly inappropriate.

Can you please confirm whether the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Auditor General are the more appropriate regulatory bodies that can independently investigate Mr Wheeler's actions, additional to you returning the request for investigation back to ACC's non independent Complaints Unit now called Customer Resolution Team.

For my records can you please also advise if the Customer Resolution team is in fact the ACC Office of the Complaints Investigator team, and whether there has been a recent rebranding exercise within ACC and associated change of name, or whether there are two units...the Customer Resolution Team and the Office of the Complaints Investigator Team operating separately of each other.

I thank you for your time.

Regards
David Lawson.
Yours sincerely,

David Lawson