New ACC vocational rehabilitation service goes live

29 February 2012

New ACC vocational rehabilitation service goes live

A new and comprehensive ACC vocational rehabilitation service went live today (editor: Thursday 1 March 2012), bringing with it a clear focus on early rehabilitation for people to return to work following injury.

The service, developed in close association with the vocational rehabilitation sector, covers clients’ full spectrum of needs, from initial rehabilitation to getting a new job.

It offers four related service areas delivered by rehabilitation professionals: Standalone Workplace Assessment (which reviews the client’s workplace to identify how they did their job prior to their injury); Stay at Work service (which supports people to return to their job); Work Readiness service (which rehabilitates people ready for new types of employment); Job Placement (which helps people find new jobs).

A hallmark of the service is speed of delivery. A wealth of acknowledged international research shows the quicker people can return to the workforce, the better off they are medically, socially and financially following injury.

Accurate and fast assessment of their condition and needs is vital, and clients will be managed according to the complexity of their circumstances. Both the Stay at Work and Work Readiness services provide service packages that reflect and meet different levels of need.

Services will be provided by nine regional and national vocational rehabilitation suppliers, who will work closely with ACC. They will be responsible, through their staff and sub-contractors, for providing day-to-day services throughout the country Their performance will be monitored, and they are required to meet key performance indicators designed to maintain the momentum and quality of service delivery.

The result is a vocational rehabilitation service on which clients, their GPs and employers, and ACC can rely on for fast, accurate and appropriate service.

This means that, over time, GPs should be able to minimise the duration for which they certify patients off work or fit for selected duties because they can be confident that their patients will get the service they need to return to work safely and quickly.

More information on ACC’s vocational rehabilitation services can be found here under vocational rehabilitation (from 1 March 2012).

Vocational rehabilitation services – at a glance

Regional vocational rehabilitation service suppliers - where they are

ENDS

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