As you know if you follow me online, I have been waiting 3 years and 7 months for ACC (the Accident Compensation Corporation) to modify my house and make it wheelchair accessible following my left leg below knee amputation (which was a result of medical negligence and was 100% avoidable).
After yet another run of emails sent that are not getting answers, or are getting VERY slow answers, I decided enough was enough, I was getting nowhere, so I sent out an email to some media outlets to see if they could help.
The Otago Daily Times replied and were willing to run the story.
For anyone who does not live in New Zealand there is one cultural feature here that I find quite incredible, and by contrast completely to England (and many other places).
People do not speak up, do not want to stick their head above the parapet and will not publicly complain if something is amiss. For this reason I expect very few public comments to appear on this post.
However I am not actually sure what it is, culturally, that has made so many people so unwilling to speak out. I told one close friend recently that I was thinking about going public with this. They said OMG are you not worried about what they will do?
I asked what they meant exactly, because precisely NOTHING was happening right now, so SOMETHING is better than that surely!?
Anyway, here is the article, quoted from the ODT online, plus a picture of the article as it appeared in today’s paper.
Quoted from the Otago Daily Times website
The frustrating wait goes on for Melanie Magowan.
Ms Magowan, who was forced to have part of her left leg amputated after a wrong diagnosis in 2020, says she has been waiting nearly four years for an accessible bathroom in her Invercargill house but the ACC seems powerless to do anything.
The ACC said multiple building proposals had been developed, together with its building supplier but these plans have been questioned by Ms Magowan.
It was still working with her and understood it must be a “difficult time for her”.
Ms Magowan said her leg started hurting during the pandemic lockdown and she sought medical advice.
Initial reports from doctors did not correctly identify what was happening, causing her to require multiple vesicular interventions, but they did not work. After months of pain, in October 2020, her left leg was amputated below the knee.
Since then she had been constantly frustrated with the inability to get her bathroom modified. No-one seemed to take charge.
“It was supposed to be modified in a timely fashion. Now three and a-half years later we are still waiting. I am forced to go to a Portaloo outside, and we are heading into winter,” she said.
After two and a-half years of waiting, drawings were agreed and the council building consent was approved, she said.
“We had the contract approved and then nothing happened for 18 months.
“Architectural drawings were repeatedly incorrect, details [were] incorrect and because I do not have the right to receive the drawings as a matter of routine, there have been delays associated with me finding this out and querying it, to get it corrected.”
She said builders constantly did not stick to deadlines and left her with no faith in their ability to do the job.
ACC deputy chief executive for service delivery Amanda Malu said she understood the challenges and difficulties Ms Magowan was facing.
The ACC continued to support her through weekly compensation, pain management, psychological support, home help, medical treatments and modified fitness and recreation equipment.
A housing assessment was done in 2021. It could not be sooner, as Ms Magowan was considering moving.
Minor housing modifications were done including handrails, outdoor lighting, electric gates and other equipment.
But the ACC and Ms Magowan cannot agree on what the inside bathroom should look like.
“Melanie advised she wasn’t happy with the permanent housing modifications proposed, following the initial assessment, and since then, we’ve been working with her to discuss ongoing additional requests and concerns, which have resulted in delays to work commencing,” Ms Malu said.
“In that time, multiple updated building proposals have been developed, together with our building supplier Enable NZ, but these plans have also been questioned. Melanie has also advised she isn’t happy with the builder engaged to complete this work.”
The ACC acknowledged she had to go outside to her bathroom but a building assessor said it was not possible to create a temporary shower unit within the current bathroom, which was safe, accessible and barrier-free.
“We are in regular communication with Melanie about plans for permanent housing modifications. A further assessment was completed earlier this year, and we are working to get updated building plans and engage a builder to complete the work,” Ms Malu said.
Journalist – Stephen Hepburn
Photographer: Nina Tapu
As it appeared in the paper today
Discussion
‘Plans have been questioned by Ms Magowan
“Melanie advised she wasn’t happy with the permanent housing modifications proposed, following the initial assessment, and since then, we’ve been working with her to discuss ongoing additional requests and concerns, which have resulted in delays to work commencing,” Ms Malu said.
‘In that time, multiple updated building proposals have been developed, together with our building supplier Enable NZ, but these plans have also been questioned.
I questioned the plans because they were repeatedly inaccurate. Let me be much more specific about this.
- Walls were drawn in the wrong places. They disagreed with me when I raised this, so I had to wait till they came back to site to find out for themselves.
- Doors clashed with each other making wheelchair movements through the property almost impossible.
- One opening door that should have been changed to a recess sliding door was not changed.
- They failed to consider the raised concrete platform in one bathroom saying it was not there.
- The path from my house to the front street is wheelchair inaccessible (too narrow). This detail was not addressed or corrected.
- Electrical details that existed were omitted.
- Electrical details that were discussed were omitted.
- Wheelchair garden access from the house was not catered for.
- In the new plan all the glass windows were removed from the specs for the new front door making my hallway completely pitch black, with no light access from anywhere, a hazard in anyone’s book. (there are no street lights outside my house on the road, I live in a rural location).
ACC deputy chief executive for service delivery Amanda Malu said she understood the challenges and difficulties Ms Magowan was facing.
I have never met or spoken to Amanda Malu. She has absolutely no idea at all how it feels to lose a leg, a marriage and a business all at the same time, at the hands of several incompetent medial professionals who neglected to recognise obvious symptoms – eventually leading to my amputation.
She has no idea how it feels to be reminded of this each and every single day for the rest of your life because your foot is now missing. She has no idea how it feels to have so many things that you used to do as a routine removed from you because you are now disabled. And much much more that I will not go into right now.
Besides, Amanda Malu was not even working for ACC when this all happened. She started in 2022.
A housing assessment was done in 2021. It could not be sooner, as Ms Magowan was considering moving.
This is complete fiction. At no stage EVER was I considering moving house. Utter bullshit at best, is how I would describe it.
Minor housing modifications were done including handrails, outdoor lighting, electric gates and other equipment.
Am I supposed to feel thankful for this? None of this would have been necessary had I not had to have my leg amputated in the first place. Fundamentally all I want is to be able to access my house the same as I did before all this crap happened to me. Is that too much to ask? Minor housing modifications in no way make up for 2.5 years of having to use an outside portaloo style bathroom.
Melanie has also advised she isn’t happy with the builder engaged to complete this work.”
That is correct, but let me explain why exactly. The builder was late (1 day before the ACC deadline) contacting me to arrange a site visit. When he showed up he clearly was looking at the plans for the very first time. He failed to notice walls that had to be moved. He failed to look at floor surfaces under the carpets in some parts of my house (and had to call again and send someone else around a few days later).
He was patronising to me and spoke down to me. I felt like he was suggesting because I was physically disabled meant I was also intellectually disabled, which is absolutely incorrect.
To top it all off, he sent a tradie round to look at my house later, without asking me or even informing me. The first I knew is when my security cameras notified me of an intruder walking around the outside of the house. I was not there at the time. With all that in mind, would YOU want to use that builder?
We are in regular communication with Melanie about plans for permanent housing modifications. A further assessment was completed earlier this year, and we are working to get updated building plans and engage a builder to complete the work,” Ms Malu said.
ACC do NOT regularly communicate with me regards the plans and progress. In fact, ACC do not even routinely allow me to see the plans, and also prevent any other contractors from showing me either.
A meeting happened on 26 April. I have chased everyone many times to get updates and was recently informed that the architectural plans were finished. But am still to find out exactly what is holding it up now.
I would not wish a disability on anyone. Certainly not an acquired disability that COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED (yes, I have that in writing from a surgeon).
And on top of all that (and the PTSD this has all caused) ACC continue to make everything difficult for me when in fact they are employed by the government to supposedly make it easier.
You are quite right about the veil of silence that occurs, it hacks back to the days, when there was social peer pressure to conform to the norms of the day.
As late as the 1980’s, there was a ‘rugby, racing, and beer’ mentality. You either fitted in or you were ostracised.
Also, anyone who stood out for what ever reason was ‘put in there place’, which is known as ‘tall poppy syndrome’.
Keep making noise about about whats not happening for you, otherwise nothing will happen.
You could do a series on here with monthly updates to keep a record of it all.