Primary school principal Amanda Douglas enlisted support from her GP and sought legal advice to see a brain injury expert that ACC incorrectly said was unavailable. Photo / Alex Burton
Primary school principal Amanda Douglas enlisted support from her GP and sought legal advice to see a brain injury expert that ACC incorrectly said was unavailable. Photo / Alex Burton
A school principal says she had to fork out thousands and fight ACC to see a neurologist of her choice, after suffering a concussion in an accident.
Auckland primary school principal Amanda Douglas said she had major problems with ACC when she was hit by a basketball in the back of the head at school in October 2016.
Then 38 and a deputy principal, Douglas said the concussion left her exhausted, unable to read or concentrate, and unable to work.
"It just stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't function. I was just a mess. I would cry at anything. I was not getting better, in fact I was getting worse."
ACC covered her injury initially but after five months Douglas felt pressured by ACC over questions around whether she had a pre-existing mental health or other medical condition, which she did not.
Douglas found an optometrist who said double vision was generating her headaches.
"He said to me: 'You need intensive vision training and glasses', and he thought I'd be absolutely fine."
A neurologist said Amanda Douglas' recovery from concussion was likely hampered by "patchy" follow-up. Douglas says her treatment by ACC was a strain. Photo / Alex Burton
But Douglas said ACC wouldn't fund the treatment until a medical review was completed and tried to send her to a neurologist for assessment.
When she requested the assessment be undertaken by a different neurologist who is an expert in concussion and brain injury, ACC said that specialist was unavailable, though Douglas discovered she was.
In text messages and emails exchanged between Douglas and her case manager, seen by the Herald, ACC said there was only one neurologist contracted to ACC in Auckland to conduct independent medical reviews.
It offered to send her to Christchurch to another assessor of its choice.
Douglas had to enlist the help of her GP and get legal advice before ACC would refer her to the neurologist of her choice for assessment.
The neurologist said in her report that Douglas' symptoms were the result of a mild traumatic brain injury complicated by visual vertigo and possibly by "patchy" follow-up which had potentially contributed to a slower-than-expected recovery.
"I would never trust ACC now with anything," Douglas said.
"I felt all along as soon as it got complicated and I wasn't getting better in terms of their schedule and plan, that it was just days numbered in terms of getting pushed off [cover]."
She spent three terms off school but believed that could have been shortened and cost ACC less if it had paid for the treatment she wanted straight away.
Now Douglas is back to working full-time, has been promoted and cognitively is completely recovered.
The only lasting effect is prescribed tinted glasses to help her eyes cope with a computer screen.
"But it was a real strain on me. For them to say I suffered from mental health or other existing conditions when I had no symptoms prior to the injury is a disgrace.
"It was lucky I had good employers and was well respected. It just makes me feel sick to think about how many others are potentially being treated in this way."
Erica Quayle's cover for concussion was cut by ACC after a neurologist said she had functional disorder, a mental disorder where nothing can explain the symptoms. Photo / Michael Craig
An ACC spokesman said Douglas' claim was covered immediately after her accident and she received weekly compensation and other entitlements to help her back to work.
"When it became clear Amanda's injuries were more complex than was first thought, we asked her to attend a medical case review to assess what else we could be doing to help her recovery."
He said ACC initially declined her request to see a particular neurologist because "we incorrectly believed the doctor she put forward wasn't available to do assessments".
"After Amanda queried this, we funded the assessment with the doctor of her choice. We continued to help her until she was ready to return to work in December 2017.
"We note that apart from exercising her right to the assessor of her choice, Amanda never challenged any other decision or complained about our service at the time."
The spokesman said ACC recognised some clients reported visual symptoms with concussion and ACC always assessed these and provided treatment if the symptoms were injury-related.
"Post-concussion syndrome has been a coverable injury for many years."
In Quayle's case she won her entitlements back when she challenged ACC's decision but ACC sent her to another psychiatrist who said she appeared to be "resorting to ACC to meet her financial obligations".
