A reminder about the option of making a Treatment Injury Claim to ACC in New Zealand

This is just a reminder for NZ ETS patients who have made an official complaint about their surgeon or who are considering doing so.

Here in New Zealand, the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) essentially deals with investigating complaints and 'educating' medical practitioners if they deem it necessary. The HDC does not pay any sort of compensation to patients, even if they find a medical practitioner has not provided a reasonable standard of care to the patient.

To seek financial compensation for injuries/health conditions caused by a medical treatment, a patient needs to make a Treatment Injury Claim to ACC.

See more info here:

http://www.acc.co.nz/PRD_EXT_CSMP/groups/external_claims_care/documents/form/wcm2_020603.pdf

The Kiwi ETS Group contacted ACC in early 2010, to ask them some basic questions about the Treatment Injury Claim process. At the time, ACC informed us that seven people in New Zealand had to date made treatment injury claims in relation to sympathectomy surgeries, and six of those seven claims were accepted.

Want to make yourself heard, officially?

I thought it was time to start putting some information on here about the legal options for people who have had bad outcomes from ETS surgery.

In brief, your options are:

-Make a complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner

-Make a 'Treatment Injury' claim to ACC

-Take your surgeon to court

Click here for links to information on 'How to Complain About a Doctor' and 'How to be Aware of and Enforce Your Rights as a Patient'.

I will add more on this topic later.

For now, know that there are options available to you, and as ACC recently informed me, at least seven people right here in New Zealand have already made treatment injury claims in relation to their sympathectomy surgeries. Six of these seven claims were accepted.