New figures suggesting a high level of dissatisfaction with ACC decisions among some Otago claimants show the corporation has "a huge mountain to climb" to regain lost confidence , Dunedin ACC campaigner Dr Denise Powell says.
Earlier inquiries by the Otago Daily Times showed the names of 479 Otago ACC claimants appeared on a list of 6725 people mistakenly emailed to Auckland claimant Bronwyn Pullar late last year, in a major privacy breach.
Several ongoing high-level inquiries, including by the Privacy Commissioner, have been sparked by that email mistake.
The 479 Otago claimants had all applied for reviews of ACC decisions, to be undertaken by Dispute Resolution Services Ltd, under ACC's legislated appeal system, in a single financial year, ending on June 30 last year.
Further ODT inquiries under the Official Information Act show that, as of June 30 last year, there were only 1137 long-term ACC claimants in Otago.
ACC critics say various forms of cost-cutting and the "exiting" of large numbers of former long-term claimants from ACC coverage have contributed to a huge surge in review numbers in recent years, and a big backlog in ACC-related court cases.
ACC figures indicate long-term claimant numbers fell by more than 3600 or 25% to about 10,626 over the past three financial years.
Government officials have also highlighted the need to trim excessive costs and maintain the scheme's financial viability.
Dr Powell, who is president of Acclaim Otago, a support group for ACC claimants, described as "stunning" figures obtained by the ODT, showing the relatively large number of reviews in Otago, compared with the number of long-term ACC claimants.
The figures indicated there was "huge scepticism" among ACC claimants and to restore public confidence, ACC had to show its recent decision-making had been "robust" and "fair".
"That's a huge mountain to climb."
There were some encouraging signs, in the latest service agreement recently signed between Government and ACC, that the Government wanted to restore "trust and confidence" in ACC, partly by ensuring claimants received their correct entitlements.
Another priority had been to reduce the number of review hearings, and resolving oravoiding disputes by other means.
But if trust was to be fully restored, ACC should also initiate an independent review of its decision-making over the past three years, to ensure some form of redress for the many claimants who had been unfairly removed from coverage, she said.
Many "exited" claimants had subsequently had their claims upheld on review, or later won court appeals, but the emotional and financial cost had been too great.
She noted ACC figures which showed 33% of reviews (23 of 69) of decisions by ACC's Recover Independence Service (RIS) in the past financial year had been upheld in the clients' favour, as had 27% (104 of 381) the previous year.
ACC officials said "long-term claimants" were clients who had been receiving earnings-related compensation for 52 weeks or more.
The RIS had been established to "proactively manage" all claims involving more than 2.5 years of weekly compensation payments, and aimed, where possible, to achieve "a successful return to work or vocational independence" for such clients.
The national "long-term claims pool" had been reducing for several reasons, and RIS decisions were involved in only a "very small number" of the total review applications.
Improved "focused rehabilitation" by ACC for people within their first year of weekly compensation entitlement meant fewer people were becoming long-term claimants.
People were helped to rejoin the workforce "when medical evidence shows that this can be achieved safely", ACC officials said.
ACC Reviews
• Number of reviews of ACC decisions sought nationally in year ending June 30 last year: 8543Number of reviews sought involving hearing venues in Dunedin, Alexandra and Invercargill that year: 321; 109, 250.
• Number of reviews of ACC decisions sought nationally in 12 months ending June 30 this year: 8720.
• Number of reviews sought involving Dunedin, Alexandra and Invercargill hearing venues that year: 320, 133, 309.
• Number of long-term ACC claimants in Otago in year ending June 30 last year: 1137.
• Number of long-term ACC claimants in Otago in year ending June 30 this year: 1014.
