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Dominion Post
May 10 2003
Abuse victims denied help over ACC diagnosis demands
by Fran Tyler
Counsellors
are refusing to take on ACC clients because the corporation is demanding that
they class sexual abuse and rape victims as mentally ill before they can get
counselling.
ACC has told counsellors that sensitive claimants – victims of sex abuse and
sex attacks – must have a "diagnosable mental illness".
In a letter to the Counsellors Association in March, ACC chief executive
Garry Wilson said: "ACC has a very clear legal responsibility to only
purchase appropriate and necessary service for sexual abuse claimants who
have suffered a diagnosable mental illness as a consequence of their abuse
event."
The move has angered counsellors and some are refusing to label sexual
assault and rape victims as mentally ill. The decision has left many regions
without counsellors.
Association of Counsellors representative Lorraine Jans said labelling someone as
mentally ill could have severe repercussions for them and could affect future
job applications.
"We are having to say these people are mentally ill – they aren't, most
are suffering the after-effects of trauma," she said. "If you were
the victim of sexual assault or rape are you going to want to be told that
you are mentally ill too?"
ACC was now paying to send counsellors to Northland, Gisborne, the West
Coast, Timaru and Oamaru to plug the gaps.
Ms Jans, Taranaki's only ACC accredited child sexual abuse counsellor, knew
of eight to 10 counsellors in that area who had refused to work with ACC
clients. She has a waiting list of a month and a caseload of 20 ACC clients.
It was unlikely the shortage could be quickly alleviated. It took three years
for counsellors to complete their educational qualification and a further two
years of training to meet ACC standards for registration, she said.
Wellington
counsellor Adrienne Dale said six people contacted her each week for help,
but ACC's additional paperwork requirements meant she had to turn them away.
ACC said the shortage of counsellors was due to an increase in sensitive
claimants. Spokesman Fraser Folster said publicity by Christchurch
law firm Wakefield Associates on the reintroduction of lump sum payments had
led to a 38 per cent increase in sensitive claims in the past two years.
In response to the association's concerns about diagnosis, Mr Folster said
there was no requirement for a diagnosable mental illness. "We do,
however, require a clinically significant mental injury."
The corporation had put in place initiatives to increase the pool of
counsellors and bring down waiting times. These included a newspaper
advertising campaign and offers of ACC registration to counsellors not
registered with the corporation.
"ACC is aware that counsellors may not always be immediately available
in some locations for sensitive claims . . . but the corporation rejects
suggestions that ACC form-filling can be blamed for counsellors having less
time for clinical work."
The latest figures showed claims had increased "sharply" in the
past two years. In the year to March 31, 2001, ACC had received 4893 claims;
that had risen to 6779 for the 12 months ending March 31 this year.
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