HAVE YOU HAD ISSUES WITH UNFAIR, UNREASONABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE HDC DECISIONS? AN ADVOCATE SEEKS CONFIDENTIAL FEEDBACK – ANY COMMENTS ARE WELCOME WHILE YOUR PRIVACY IS ENSURED
On this blog we have covered some topics relating to the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) and how a number of decisions made by that Officer or his Deputy have been considered unfair, unreasonable and unacceptable to the complainants. While the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 (The Act) offers the HDC a fairly wide scope to use discretion in assessing and / or investigating complaints, and also in forming a view and making a decision, there are very valid questions that must be asked about whether many decisions are made by failing to meet natural justice and possibly other legal standards.
We have some time ago been contacted by a number of persons who have taken a special interest in this matter, and at least one truly independent advocate is now very keen on hearing from people who felt that they were served great injustices when being presented decisions by the HDC.
There have already been a fair few media reports on such cases, and some persons have involved their own legal representatives to ask for further reviews and investigations, but often they find there are very limited means to address or even remedy decisions that appear very unfair to complainants, their relatives and friends.
In order to get a greater picture of what is happening with the HDC, and on what can and probably should be done to try and resolve such issues, the advocate who we will not name or otherwise identify has asked us to present a post like this, seeking comments and any other forms of feedback from persons who have been affected by HDC decisions.
You do therefore not need to present your personal details, if you so prefer, and can use alias names or email addresses, or if you reveal your identity, we are happy to keep this private and will not release it without your express permission. But any comments that appear genuine, valid and well based, we will consider to present here, if necessary by under “anonymous”, perhaps only giving other references like the time and/or date received. That is of course – if you agree to this.
Also are we happy to assist persons to touch base with the advocate, and we will then consult how to best do this, perhaps by offering an email address to complainants and commenters, so they can choose themselves to initiate a contact, with a possible prospect to perhaps be considered for participating in forms of action to address the often reported injustices.
We cannot share much more than that now, so it is up to you, the reader, to get back and leave a comment here, and we will go from there. Please indicate whether you wish your comment to be published here, as “anonymous” or with a given name, or not so. Also tell us whether you are interested in contacting the advocate.
For memory, the following complex posts have been published on this blog, which some may wish to read before going any further:
Health and Disability Commissioner: Can we trust in HDC independence?
HOW THE N.Z. HEALTH AND DISABILITY COMMISSIONER LET OFF A BIASED ‘DESIGNATED DOCTOR’
A separate post was about a complaint to the Ombudsman, being against the HDC:
THE NEW ZEALAND OMBUDSMAN: “FAIRNESS FOR ALL” – AN EMPTY SLOGAN FOR SOME
(this relates to only two complaints handled under one reference number, so they may not be representative of how other Ombudsman decisions are formed and presented)
Marcus
30 August 2016
PLEASE NOTE:
COMMENTS ARE BEING MODERATED, SO WILL NOT APPEAR HERE AUTOMATICALLY!!!
UPDATE – 23 OCTOBER 2018:
We thank those who have expressed their concerns to the blog moderator and who asked to be put into contact with the advocate referred to in this post.
As there was only a limited response to this particular post, and as the advocate has more recently had to take a longer break for own serious health issues, we can no longer put persons who wish to share their experiences in touch with that advocate.
Also please note that this post is now over two years old, so it is perhaps not all that current anymore, although our concerns about the HDC remain and deserve to be taken very seriously.
nzsocialjusticeblog2013 
#1 by Doug Cleaver on 21/10/2018 - 8:06 pm
Hi, I would like to contact the advocate, because I believe my experience is relevant.
#2 by nzsocialjusticeblog2013 on 23/10/2018 - 2:19 pm
Hi Doug, thanks for your comment of a day or two ago. With much regret, I must inform you that the advocate has serious own health issues to deal with now, so no longer can assist.
This is another sad reality, while suffering already serious ill health, some have not found the HDC much help when trying to address issues with their care and treatment. And after being let down by the HDC, some persons’ health has in certain cases worsened, and of course, the HDC will not feel responsible for such outcomes of complaints that were filed with him.
All we try doing here is raise the issues, and we found, even the Office of Ombudsmen is extremely reluctant to investigate the HDC and what has been decided by their Office.