09 June 2020
Anthony Jordan
[FYI request #12638 email]
Tēnā koe Anthony
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-004588
Thank you for your email of 17 April 2020, asking for the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1/ Please provide a copy of the complaint made by the ACC to MCNZ, including any extra
comment that would identify the ACC's concerns.
Please Note: DO NOT provide the name of the individual or the Clinic/Agency/Company/DHB etc,
ie supply a Redacted copy of ACC's complaint
2/ The Outcome of the ACC's complaint was a Performace Assessment (?).
a) what did the performance relate to
b) of what concern was it to the ACC whether the Psychiatrist was performing well
3/ Please provide a copy of all written and verbal correspondence between the ACC and MCNZ
regarding the Psychiatrist complaint.
Including the subsequent report/follow up from MCNZ
Please Note: DO NOT provide the name of the individual or the Clinic/Agency/Company/DHB etc,
ie supply a Redacted copy of ACC's complaint
4/ Please provide the ACC's intention (if any) if any ongoing concerns ie, is the ACC satisfied with
the reported outcome of Performance
5/ What were/are the Psychiatrist's specialty/specialties in Psychiatry? ie examples of this could
be Primarily PTSD, Primarily Mood/Anxiety Disorders, Primarily TBI/Post Concussion related,
Primalrly Pain management, etc
Background information about complaints regarding providers
Before responding to your questions, we are providing you with some information about how ACC
manages complaints about health care providers, including when a complaint is subsequently referred
to the Medical Council of New Zealand (Medical Council).
As noted in our response of 18 May, complaints made to ACC about providers may be made through
more than one channel. For example, they can be sent to (and resolved by) our Claims Management or
Customer Resolutions teams. Where appropriate, complaints or concerns can be escalated to ACC’s
Strategic Partnerships & Performance team. From here, if we have concerns of a risk of harm to the
public a notification can be made to the appropriate regulatory authority such as the Medical Council.
GOV-004588
Once ACC has notified the regulatory authority of our risk of harm concerns the regulatory authority
determines what action(s) should be taken in response to the notification.
The complaint referred to in your request
Prior to our notification to the Medical Council of our risk of harm concerns, a sample of anonymised
client cases was reviewed by two external expert peers of the health practitioner concerned. We asked
them to provide independent clinical comment of the treatment provided.
Both experts reviewed the same cases and provided ACC with a report for each case. These reports
were summarised and the identified risk of harm concerns were notified to the Medical Council.
The peer reviewers examined all aspects of the health practitioner’s clinical practice including:
assessment; diagnoses and treatment; ongoing clinical input; goal setting; patient safety and the
standard of clinical record keeping.
As the reports reviewed by the external experts are very detailed and include a significant amount of
information about individual ACC clients, we are declining to provide you a copy of these reports in
order to protect our clients’ privacy. In doing so, we considered the public interest in making the
information available but determined it did not outweigh the need to protect the privacy of our clients.
This decision is made under section 9(2)(a) of the Act.
ACC’s overall concerns regarding this health practitioner were identified as follows:
• assessment reports evidencing deficiencies and inadequacies in their content and composition
• management plans were inappropriate to the underlying conditions and were based on
incomplete examinations and inaccurate diagnosis formulation
• diagnostic inadequacies and failure to adhere to practice guidelines
• overall pharmacological treatment of clients represented a marked departure from expected
standards
• incorrect and consistent variance in opinion from radiological investigations and to the findings
reported by the neuro-radiologists
• fostering of dependencies in the client to the health practitioner.
Performance Assessment by the Medical Council
Following the notification made to the Medical Council a Performance Assessment was conducted.
Performance Assessments arranged by the Medical Council are completed by its Performance
Assessment Committee. Details about what the Performance Assessment Committee examines and
reports on, are available on the Medical Council’s web
site: www.mcnz.org.nz/our-standards/fitness-to-
practise/conduct-and-competence-concerns/performance-assessment-committee/. We were advised of the outcome of the Performance Assessment, by letter, in July 2019. We are
refusing to provide a copy of the Medical Council’s letter as it was provided to ACC in confidence. In
doing so, we considered the public interest in making it available and determined it did not outweigh
the need to withhold it. Likewise, we determined that releasing this information would likely prejudice
the supply of similar information, and it is in the public interest that such information should continue to
be supplied so ACC can make robust decisions. This decision is made under section 9(2)(ba)(i) of the Act.
However, we can advise that the Medical Council (following their review of the Performance
Assessment Committee’s report) determined that no further action was required.
Accident Compensation Corporation
Page 2 of 3
GOV-004588
ACC’s intentions regarding any ongoing concerns
Before responding to your question about ACC’s intention regarding any ongoing concerns, we would
first like to refer you to the Ombudsman’s guide Making official information requests. This is available
on the Ombudsman’s website, here:
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/resources/making-official-
information-requests-guide-requesters. Under the Act, a distinction exists between a request for information already known and held by an
agency (official information), versus a request for an agency to form an opinion or provide an
explanation or comment, and thus create new information to answer a request (not official
information).
This question asks ACC to provide an opinion and is therefore not considered official information under
the Act. Accordingly, we are refusing to respond to it.
Provider performance
ACC expects providers of treatment services under the Cost of Treatment Regulations to:
• provide ACC clients with services that are goal oriented, based on evidence and clinically
justified
• comply with their professional standards and ethics.
More information about ACC’s expectations regarding the performance of providers working under Cost
of Treatment Regulations can be found in
Working together, A handbook for providers working under
the Cost of Treatment Regulations. A copy of this handbook can be found on the resources page of ACC’s
website by searching
cost of treatment regulations: www.acc.co.nz/resources/#/.
The provider’s specialty
The provider is a registered medical practitioner with the specialty of psychiatrist, who provides
psychiatric services to injured clients specifically including clients with traumatic brain injuries.
How to contact us
If you have any questions, you can email me at
[email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman.
Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800
802 602.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Sasha Wood
Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement & Support
Accident Compensation Corporation
Page 3 of 3
