Mum frustrated by eight-month wait for ACC to approve son's treatment

Ann Kidd has been trying to get ACC to approve more treatment for her son Jamie, who was injured in a cycling crash, since October. Photo / Supplied

ACC had no problem paying out for physiotherapy after Jamie Kidd damaged one side of his body in a cycling crash.

Now, several years on, his shoulder has started to drop but the organisation is playing hardball, saying it has no record of the injury or its link to the accident.

Seven years ago the Blenheim-based man crashed his bike during a cycling race, injuring the left side of his body and leaving him with a "droop" which caused his shoulder to drop and his foot to drag.

Ongoing issues the Kidd family believe were linked to the 2012 crash saw the 42-year-old have an operation on his foot in 2016 followed by physiotherapy, paid for by ACC, which helped him straighten up and start running.

A report provided to ACC by his physiotherapist also mentioned a retracted and rotated shoulder position.

Ann Kidd has been trying to get ACC to approve more treatment for her son Jamie since October. Photo / Supplied

So when his shoulder started to drop last year, mother Ann Kidd assumed getting approval for another round of treatment for the injury would be straightforward.

But eight months after she asked for a referral, Jamie had still not received the treatment he needed.

And in the meantime, his condition had gone downhill.

"It's progressively getting worse, my walking and my posture," Jamie said.

While he was able to run after his first lot of physiotherapy, that was "out of the picture" now because he struggled to even walk correctly, especially when he was tired.

In October, Ann asked ACC for further treatment for Jamie's shoulder as well as approval for more sessions with a behavioural psychiatrist for issues cased by a brain injury he received in a separate accident.

The psychiatrist was quickly approved but it wasn't until Ann followed up again in June that ACC apologised for the delay in organising the referral she was promised and told the family there was no record of the left-sided droop which caused the shoulder injury.

Ann said she held off chasing the agency up until early June because she had been told Jamie's case manager was away and it was then that she was told to make an appointment with a physiotherapist - although ACC would not cover the full amount.

Ann Kidd. Photo / Supplied

When she questioned this a new case manager told her they would have to see their GP for a referral to an appropriate specialist and to determine the cause and which, if any, of his existing injuries it could be attributed to.

That response left Ann frustrated they were again being asked for paperwork and assessments about an injury the organisation has accepted and covered in the past and, of which, ACC had received a physiotherapy treatment plan for.

Left with no other option, Jamie was due to see his GP this week to get the ball rolling.

"We're going through this saga again. We're going back to the doctor to get confirmation again of what it is," Jamie said.

ACC admitted to the Herald the organisation "regrettably" allowed the request for psychiatrist appointments to "overshadow his mother's concern over his left-sided droop" which they had promised to organise a referral for.

He confirmed there was no record of the droop before Ann's request in October.

"Following further contact from Jamie's mum in early June, we did suggest Jamie should see his GP about the droop, and we have more recently reiterated that advice. We also apologised for failing to organise the referral last October," a spokesman said.

Jamie Kidd is frustrated it has taken so long to get treatment approved for an injury he has had physiotherapy for in the past. Photo / Supplied

It's not the first time the family have run-ins with ACC so, while frustrated, they were not surprised by the latest setback.

The family had been fighting for the treatment needed for Jamie since 1998 when he suffered a serious brain injury as a result of a car crash which killed another passenger. He was so badly injured he had to learn to walk, talk and take care of himself again.

Even now he suffered from fatigue, mood disorders and problems with executive functioning as a result of the brain injury.