Disclosure of Submissions by the ACC to Ombudsman to assist formal investigation Re: ACC assessor Safety etc

Anthony Jordan made this Official Information request to Office of the Ombudsman

The request was refused by Office of the Ombudsman.

From: Anthony Jordan

Dear Office of the Ombudsmen,

Would your office please confirm whether or not the ACC have disclosed information or verbatim copies of submissions for any investigation relating to ‘Safety of Assessors’.

Would your office please confirm the earliest dates and also the latest dates the ACC disclosed any such information.

Yours faithfully,

Anthony Jordan

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From: FYI Requests

Dear Mr Jordon

 

I refer to your email request for Official Information in relation to the
disclosure of submissions by the ACC to Ombudsman to assist formal
investigations.  I regret the delay in dealing with this matter.

 

As you may be aware, information obtained by the Ombudsmen in exercising
their functions is not subject to the Official Information Act 1982. 
Moreover, section 18(2) requires every investigation by an Ombudsman to be
conducted in private. This means that this Office is unable to comment on
your request for information in relation to the disclosure of submissions
by ACC for any investigation relating to ‘Safety Assessors’.

 

I regret I am unable to assist you with your request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Tracey Harlen LLB

Principal Advisor

Office of the Ombudsman | Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata

 

DDI 04 4627861 | Phone 04 473 9533 | Fax 04 471 2254

Email [1][email address] |
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz

PO Box 10152, Level 14, SolNet House, 70 The Terrace, Wellington

 

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DE Sheridan left an annotation ()

What do you mean by safety?
Perhaps you need to reword the request.

If you want to know how ACC insures that it's Assessors (Medical or otherwise) are fully qualified, and up to date - you should ask ACC about that specifically.

A responsible and accountable business in the rehabilitation field like ACC (which includes a lot of litigation) would reasonably be expected to have up to date records on the training, work history and continuing education of its various assessors - because that constitutes evidence of their expertise.

These people often have an intimate relationship with claimants (asking personal things about them and laying their hands on them).

The least ACC should do is to have a yearly updated curriculum vitae (including training, work history and continuing education) on assessors - and not wipe their hands of their responsibility.

The long term consequences of ACC using an assessor who is not expert or is suspect in some way is serious, not just in terms of ACC's accountability - but in terms of the consequences on individuals who might have been assessed by a person who is not the expert they claim to be, or otherwise has a dubious history that would make them inappropriate as an assessor.

Complaints about Assessors should be treated seriously by ACC. ACC should record and follow up every complaint - not just make routine excuses and fob claimants off. ACC should have a public record of complaints of all types (no names given). That way patterns are likely to become apparent - and problems can be identified and fixed rather than denied and perpetuated.

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