Much has been said recently about the state of our mental health system.
Approaching a general election, the time for a robust debate is long overdue. Politicians need to realise this problem is largely fuelled by policies that haven't worked, nor will they.
Of interest to me is mental unwellness as a result of a physical injury and its effect on our mental well-being and or a head trauma event. My experience is that the two organisations we look to for help, WINZ and ACC, are established in a way that will challenge us at every opportunity, to prove the connection between the physical and mental aspects of our claim.
Proving your case is often well beyond the mental or financial capacity of claimants. You therefore rely on an advocate representing you. A law lecturer once told our class "justice delayed is justice denied", nothing could be more correct in the above case. Politicians have fiddled around with our Legal Aid service, our community is now a casualty of this.
What it means for claimants is the ability to engage a quality advocate using LA is no longer, many who provided this service don't want a bar of it any longer. This therefore often has adverse effects on us and many lose their way in life.
