Readers of this blog over time will be familiar with Dr. Peter Jansen’s work, and may even have their own opinions about his clinical and medico-legal expertise. You may have even expressed some of those opinions to friends and colleagues. I have.
You are entitled to do so, and to be fair, it would be possible to argue that aspects of his expertise in the area of Sensitive Claims have been questioned in the Independent Clinical Review of Sensitive Claims. The review seemed to think ACC hadn’t done a great job of designing or implementing the changes to the Sensitive Claims Scheme:
“…evidence obtained from presentations and submissions was that implementation was poorly planned without adequate consideration of the impact on clients and the Pathway was introduced prematurely and precipitously.” (Paragraph 83, pg. 29 Clinical Review of the ACC Sensitive Claims Clinical Pathway, 2010.)
And leading that project was Dr. Jansen’s job.
My last blog (Progress Report: Through the Looking Glass 23/02/11; see below) also highlights possible concerns about the Clinical competence of ACC’s Clinical directorate and Senior Medical Advisor specifically in the area of Sensitive Claims. I also called for a position of no confidence in the ACC’s Clinical Directorate, and it’s Senior Medical Advisor, Dr. Peter Jansen.
You may not be aware that quite a few bloggers, who have also been directly affected by these changes, have also expressed their opinions about ACC’s clinical expertise.
Like Jax for instance. She’s still waiting to find out if ACC are going to fund her treatment, some two years on from when she first applied, and understandably she’s pretty pissed off about it. She expressed those feelings in her blog, including voicing her opinions about Dr. Jansen.
However it seems that Dr. Jansen has decided that the best way to address her concerns is to sue her, and that he believes his damaged reputation, as a consequence of her blog, is worth $250,000. Who knew his reputation was worth that much?
This is actually unbelievable.It makes you wonder how it is that ACC allow their Senior Medical Advisor to allegedly breach the Privacy Act and mount a bullying legal campaign against an understandably aggrieved and traumatized woman, who has been denied her right to counseling support by the new pathway, designed and implemented by Dr. Jansen.
As the story unfolded it became apparent that both the minister and ACC wanted to distance themselves from this matter. The Minister’s statement that this is a matter between two “individuals” has once more shown this Government’s cowardice and lack of interest in the plight of our countries most vulnerable citizens.
It is also beyond rational belief that the ACC’s press release states that Dr. Peter Jansen is taking this action as a private citizen, and so it’s none of their business either. So, he was criticized in his role in ACC, by a client of ACC, allegedly used his position at ACC to gain information about a client to mount legal action, and… ACC has no comment?
Sorry, they’re “investigating.” I’m sure that will be thorough and impartial.
If you want to support Jax, I suggest you pop on over to her blog site here and follow her story as she tries to fight these bullying tactics.
Over the next few weeks she’s really going to need our help. And I absolutely believe she deserves all the support and compassion we can all offer. Whilst some might find her approach abrasive, I believe there is little doubt she is at least half right. I also suspect that there will be others that come forward, with similar stories to tell.
n the meantime I agree with ACC Aclaim Otago. Dr. Jansen must now resign. His ongoing involvement with any aspect of client’s treatment is unsafe and untenable, and makes a mockery of the ACC’s attempts to improve the service offered to Sensitive Claimants.
