Public Address | Cafe | Access: Family Carers Case – Five Years On

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 08:38:19 +1200

It stinks

You smelled it too?

Sitting there in the Bus, Up North, listening to the accolades and celebrations thinking 'my god, do these people really believe that all is now going to be well in Old People and Cripple land? Do they honestly think that the $$$ are going…

Angela Hart

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 23:28:15 +1200

Family carers are excluded from the equity settlement being put in place for the mainly female caregiver workforce. Cliff Robinson covers it quite well in this interview with John Campbell http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201840857/anger-at-exclusion-from-new-caregiver-pay-rise

It stinks even more badly when you consider that there are only 300 or so families on FFC at…

Rosemary McDonald

Sun, 08 May 2016 20:18:29 +1200

Who wouldn't be into it???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK9YVD5D6U8

:-)

Sacha

Sun, 08 May 2016 19:31:53 +1200

most New Zealanders have no idea how outrageous this stuff is – so yes, hug the ones who get how loudly to shout I say (if they're into it).

Rosemary McDonald

Sun, 08 May 2016 18:37:50 +1200

And Tze Ming commenting, now she’s half a world away.

Having seen some of the 'cockblocking, mad bitchfacing action' while observing the High Court and Appeal Court hearings in 2010-11 (at one point I flounced out...slamming the courtroom door behind me (difficult, because they have those anti-slammy hinges) it was…

Sacha

Sun, 08 May 2016 17:00:27 +1200

Fuck this fucking bullshit.

I miss Keith's blogging, now that he's too busy crunching data. And Tze Ming commenting, now she's half a world away.

Rosemary McDonald

Sat, 07 May 2016 21:45:22 +1200

Well, after the wee exchange in the House the other day between Auntie Annette and Uncle Jonathon, I'd say don't hold your breath for any/much extra for HCSS for under 65s. The Aged Care sector is where it is at...and they have a bigger voting block so no one will…

Angela Hart

Sat, 07 May 2016 20:51:25 +1200

I wonder what the budget holds for family carers this time?

Rosemary McDonald

Sat, 07 May 2016 18:57:46 +1200

Another few hours of grave digging and I have found an on-line version of a speech that Ruth Dyson did in October 2001.

Relevance? Largely historical, but she does talk about the NASC system..

I’m getting very inconsistent messages about NASC around the country, including the message that for many,…

Angela Hart

Tue, 03 May 2016 14:20:57 +1200

Funded Family Care policy has been updated on the MoH website. There is some significant change. Anyone receiving FFC should read through the policy, not just the summary.
http://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/funded-family-care-operational-policy-mar16.pdf

Rosemary McDonald

Tue, 03 May 2016 14:05:19 +1200

Oops! I broke the PA word limit again...here is the report I refer to above..

Rosemary McDonald

Tue, 03 May 2016 14:03:52 +1200

Apologies for digging up this smelly corpse, but I just wanted to deposit a wee bit of information regarding this case, somewhere, safe.

Back …

In May 2007, the Minister of Labour asked NACEW for advice on providing financial support to family members who cared for people experiencing ill-health, disability,…

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 22:44:14 +1200

kind of insane thing you would only do if you really, really wanted the scheme to fail. Bastards.

https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2013-go6248

Read this and weep...written by someome who REALLY hates disabled people and their family carers.

My favourite bit is (still) this footnote....

"11 Good faith generally means to discuss with each…

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 22:33:59 +1200

Oh dear!

The terminal cynic in me asks..."why is NZ First bringing this up now?"

However...Barbara Stewart attended the pre election disability bash in Hamilton and actually came across as quite well informed.

NZ First were also very vocal as the House was 'debating' the PHDAct(2) and emphatically voted against…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 11:35:25 +1200

Further to my point, I am also reminded of this tax evasion case in Britain (my emphasis below).

__Twenty years of evading an estimated £1m in tax has landed British sandwich shop owner John Baker in jail for two years.

Unfortunately for Baker, one of two shops, which was operated…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 11:14:38 +1200

ACC can be pig-headed too.

And sadly, when ACC denies claims for things like RSI/OOS, it can have a corrosive effect on claimants. It happened over 20 years ago to a close relative, and as a result he's developed something of a Reaganomic view of ACC (about the only Govt…

Sacha

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 09:55:35 +1200

They're trying to minimise the legal risk to themselves by making someone else take it on. There's a long-standing culture of that in the MoH.

Russell Brown

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 09:53:41 +1200

Forcing families to become employers to be eligible is the kind of insane thing you would only do if you really, really wanted the scheme to fail. Bastards.

Hilary Stace

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 08:04:49 +1200

Only 187 families signed up. How to set up a policy to fail! At least it has made the news.

Sacha

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 17:58:13 +1200

NZ First have noticed that the Misery of Health has only paid out a tenth of its budget for funded family care by making it too hard to get (3 mins, audio).

Angela Hart

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 20:27:21 +1300

and that's something because loss of money forces businesses to take notice. However.. this was manslaughter at the very least, and no-one has been charged with Nathan's death.

Sacha

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 18:09:54 +1300

Can't recall what thread this was raised in by Rosemary, but IHC's service arm has just been fined over $150k for letting that 15-year old disabled boy die in the bath.

Rosemary McDonald

Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:27:02 +1300

Thank you, Marilyn Waring, for remembering those of us who count for nothing.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20169982

Marilyn Waring made a point of singling out this particular case.

The process was followed, and the assholes in the Beehive not only made the discrimination legal, but removed the right for ANY further complaint.

This…

Sacha

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 11:42:01 +1300

Thanks. Works on this computer. Their site must be doing something my older home one doesn't like.

Rosemary McDonald

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 08:33:37 +1300

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle_uuid=50F8BDD8-B17D-4C92-956F-827C617A0FA1

Sacha, I got there through the link I posted in my previous comment....

Sacha

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 07:15:25 +1300

Link doesn't work for me. Please check.

Rosemary McDonald

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 23:32:50 +1300

Or this wee piece of research I've been sitting on for a while.

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle_uuid=50F8BDD8-B17D-4C92-956F-827C617A0FA1

"For the non-ACC group, median income declined by 45 per cent over 30 months (from $36,500 to $19,900) while the median income of the ACC group increased from $40,000 to $45,900."

So....by the gods of anarchy...household…

Hilary Stace

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 22:56:05 +1300

Rare new data on caring http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/65508665/Unpaid-caring-hits-household-incomes

Hilary Stace

Sun, 18 Jan 2015 13:33:17 +1300

Incidentally, just read a lovely novel with a sub theme about disability and fighting the bureaucracy. Swedish, although probably universal. Called 'A man called Ove' – recommended.

Sacha

Sun, 18 Jan 2015 11:02:50 +1300

Just published a companion post from a recipient of Funded Family Care.

Rosemary McDonald

Sat, 17 Jan 2015 09:29:02 +1300

Until they are properly addressed

Ah! But they were addressed in the Appeal Court for Spencer on 22nd October 2014.

The Ministry of Health hugely exaggerrated the numbers...like by a factor of at least ten.

It was tearjerkingly awesome to hear Farmer and Butler (the lawyers) state emphatically to the…

Angela Hart

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 23:52:57 +1300

No, it's like Dirty Politics, it isn't going to go away- that didn't come out right- I mean that until the allegations in the Dirty Politics book are properly, honestly and openly addressed, they will keep resurfacing. The issues raised by the Atkinson plaintiffs have the same stickability. Until they…

Rosemary McDonald

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 15:14:07 +1300

One reason for optimism.

More incontinence.

Labour, in 2005, did as Pontious Pilate and handed this over to the 'people' via the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

Question to any Labour Party person out there...Annette? Ruth?

How would Labour have responded on the 8th January 2010 had they been in power?…

Angela Hart

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 12:08:42 +1300

After three months of the mother getting more and more worried and stressed, the last minute reprieve house still leaves several days gap between the notified move out date and access to the HNZ house. The HNZ house was slated for demolition, is it reprieved long term or will they…

Rosemary McDonald

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 11:44:14 +1300

All better now, thanks to a very cleverly orchestrated media campaign.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/65103314/lastminute-reprieve-for-family-facing-homelessness

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:29:22 +1300

one family has had a victory against ACC apparently
Penny Hoare wins battle with ACC over care for disabled son

and then again there’s more of the same unhelpful attitude by Govt departments here:
Special needs family face life in tent

Hilary Stace

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 12:42:06 +1300

One reason for optimism. When Andrew Little was Opposition spokesperson for ACC he started asking some pertinent questions about the discrepancies between ACC and MoH funding. He came to it from the first principles of the Woodhouse report and the employment aspects – that disability is an economic survival/employment issue,…

BenWilson

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 21:07:13 +1300

> The difference in entitlements and support is HUGE.

certainly is.

Definitely is in my son's case, having experienced before and after.

BenWilson

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 21:05:13 +1300

Over 500 people have read this already.

Yes, and pretty much everyone who writes seems to have been away on holiday so we've had plenty of pictures but not much discussion going on for a few weeks on any topic. Give it a bit more time.

Sacha

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:41:47 +1300

The difference in entitlements and support is HUGE.

certainly is.

Sacha

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:38:28 +1300

I was going to submit another post about this issue...but its clearly dead in the water.

Wouldn't give up just yet. Over 500 people have read this already. Who knows what you have sparked in them? Will need some organising around the message to get a result – including talking…

Sacha

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:26:33 +1300

One of the commenters said that 'more people should fight for their rights like this lady has'....I nearly pisssed myself laughing.

I detest the "won't let his disability stop him" media stories for the same reason – everyone else that isn't getting what they need must be a slacker, eh.

Sacha

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:24:54 +1300

one of the plaintiffs in Atkinson had been the sole unpaid carer for her similarly affected son for 46 years?

I've met them both, and it boggles me.

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 18:53:25 +1300

"ACC can be pig headed too."

Yep, sure can Sacha....but at least ACC claimants can choose who provides their care, they are entitled to care AND if they are not happy with a decision they can take their complaints to Court.

Non ACC disabled have none of these rights.

In…

Angela Hart

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 12:07:36 +1300

Yes, ACC is by no means perfect and has shown itself to be subject to the philosophy of the political party in power, when it should stand apart and be consistent. However the real point is that the reason this mother chose to continue to fight to get ACC cover…

Rosemary McDonald

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 08:38:04 +1300

We were parked up in a campgound some years ago.(won't say where, but there was snow in the hills above the city) when a family of five drove in and took up residence in one of the units. Two of the kids were rambunctious toddlers, the older one sat in…

Sacha

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 07:45:11 +1300

ACC can be pig-headed too.

Angela Hart

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 23:56:26 +1300

wow, that is one hell of a piece by Dame Anne.

Sacha

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 20:41:05 +1300

A mention in passing by Anne Salmond:

The independence of the judiciary and the rule of law have been eroded by the passage of a stream of acts that breach the Bill of Rights; by removing legal protections from citizens for economic or fiscal gain (protesters at sea, and family…

BenWilson

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:22:44 +1300

Please.

Seconded.

Hilary Stace

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 11:58:14 +1300

Thanks for this update Rosemary.

Public Address

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 11:58:14 +1300

Discussion from blog post.