If Veterans Affairs, by their own admission, are not meeting their “key perfromance indicators” in regard to their managment of cases should the Minister Collins be concerned? It seems not – we wrote to the minister some 25 days ago and have not yet received the coutesy of a substantive reply. Currently, the time taken for the National Review Officer to consider a claim is in excess of seven (7) months. Not good enough minister Collins. What are you going to do about getting your department back on track. Once more, you and your department are playing with veterans lives!
An example of ineffective and inefficient case mangement. A veteran based in Auckland with an advocate based in Hamilton finds that a review meeting to challenge a diagnosis ruling by VA is to be held in Wanganui. When the advocate gets to that meeting in Wanganui he finds veterans have come from as far away from the Corromandel for what is a 10 to 15 minute meeting with the review claim panel. No organisation, WW2 Vet’s sitting around (some literally – in wheel chairs) for hours waiting to be seen. A huge variety of issues – knee joints, hearing problems, asbestosis, hips, PTSD and all manner of ailments. I came away from that meeting totally ashamed at the way the New Zealand government was treating our veterans. I guess that Minister Collins is finding out that it is easy to talk the talk when you are in opposition but walking the walk when you are in government is a whole lot harder.
Are you a New Zealand War Veteran who is currently dealing with Veterans Affairs? Are you happy with the levels of service and care you are getting? Are you being “mucked around” and kicked from “pillar to post” by a government department charged with your care? Do you have friends who have given up in disgust at the time taken to resolve issues around the diagnosis of their health problems? Do you have “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” but are being told by VA that it is just a case of “Anxiety?” If this is you or someone you care about, its time to stand up and made these people accountable! Post your comments and share your experiences. Collective action and publicity is the only way to make these people live up to their responsibilities.
Hello world!

Welcome to Blogtown NZ. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!