CF Ombudsman's reports on Medical Treatment of Reservists (merged)

[OldSolduer]

MM is correct.

 

[The Bread Guy]

This out yesterday:

Today I released the second in a series of three reports which focus exclusively on Canada’s Reserve Force.

The first report, The Feasibility of Providing Periodic Health Assessments to All Primary Reservists, looked at Periodic Health Assessments and found that 30% of Canada’s military Reserve Force – roughly 6,000 members – are missing valid medical assessments.

Today’s report examines the processes which ill and injured Reservists must follow to obtain coverage for lost income.  We found the application and review processes for Reserve Force Compensation to be too complex and cumbersome, relying on old-school paperwork. Moreover, the three environments of the Reserve Force follow different procedures – some faster than others. In all cases, the weakest link of the administrative chain determined how fast (or slow) an application was processed.

We found there is no tracking or performance measurement system in place to gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of the Reserve Force Compensation process.

Another huge challenge for both individual Reservists and the Reserve Force itself was a low-level of awareness of the available options when Reservists find themselves ill or injured.

The broad recommendations I presented to the Minister of National Defence were:

-  Have the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence improve the governance and administration of Reserve Force Compensation; and
-  Improve the knowledge and awareness of the available compensation options.

Specifically, the compensation process should be streamlined by standardizing and simplifying forms, and by identifying one functional authority that is accountable for the entire Reserve Force Compensation process.

Ideally, a 30-day deadline should be applied so that compensation applications are forwarded to the designated final decision maker (Director of Casualty Support Management) in a timely manner. The current ‘In box and Out box’ processing model results in delays of up to six months. This is simply unfair to individual Reservists who are already dealing with health issues. Delays only hurt the individual, not the system.

I am pleased to report that the Minister of National Defence has agreed to the report’s recommendations. As a former Reservist and Commanding Officer of a Reserve unit (The British Columbia Regiment), Defence Minister Sajjan clearly understands the need to fix shortcomings in the Reserve Force Compensation system.

While agreeing to the report’s two recommendations, the Minister also outlined steps the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces will undertake over the next 18 months. I’ve had an opportunity to review each of the planned measures and I am cautiously optimistic that the handling of compensation cases for ill and injured Reservists will be significantly improved if the changes are indeed made.

My office will continue to track this issue and I will report back on progress in the Fall of 2017.

Here's a link to the report, and here's a link to the Minister's response.

Threads dealing with previous 'Budman reports on reservists here and here.

 

[ModlrMike]

I'm dealing with the case of a sailor injured on the job. The weakest link... Class A. Getting admin done in the Class A model is a nightmare.

 

[Staff Weenie]

Good morning all - we are getting a slideshow on administration of RFC posted onto the DCSM Intranet website shortly at: http://cmp-cpm.mil.ca/en/support/casualty/casualty-support.page

As per the new Treasury Board guidelines on internet content, we cannot post a slide deck on that page, but we will post a series of FAQs, or revised content to help.

In the meantime, people can always email me at [email protected] for a copy of the slide deck.

If you have questions on RFC, call your nearest IPSC for assistance. The weblink to find the nearest IPSC and its contact info is: http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/caf-community-support-services-casualty-support/contact-info.page

Or, call our national numbers at:

- Canada-wide Toll Free at: 1-800-883-6094 (Not staffed 24/7, any messages will be answered on the next working day)
- In Ottawa at: 613-995-1457

 

[The Bread Guy]

"Part-Time Soldiers with Full-Time Injuries:  A Systemic Review of Canada's Primary Reserve Force and Operational Stress Injuries"

Since 2002, this Office has been tracking and reporting on the issues of operational stress injuries and the adequacy of the health care provided to members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Because different rules apply, we have also focussed our attention on the same issues as they relate to Canada’s Reserve Force. Today, we are releasing the last of a series of three reports.

The first report was a collaborative effort with the Canadian Forces Health Services and titled The Feasibility of Providing Health Assessments to All Primary Reservists. The report examined periodic health assessments and found that approximately 6,000 members or 30% of the Reserve Force did not have a valid medical assessment.

In the second report A Systemic Review of Compensation Options for Ill and Injured Reservists, we found that the application process for Reserve Force Compensation was overly complex and relied on 1990s-style paperwork. We also saw that there was no tracking or performance measurement system in place to gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of the Reserve Force Compensation process. Furthermore, we found that ill or injured Reservists were largely unaware of the options available to them.

In this final report, Part-Time Soldiers with Full-Time Injuries: A Systemic Review of Canada's Primary Reserve Force and Operational Stress Injuries, we found that:

    The policies concerning Reservists’ entitlements to health care, access to periodic health assessments, and eligibility for Reserve employment are unclear;
    There is a lack of knowledge and awareness of the entitlements to care available to Reservists; and
    There are gaps in the general follow-up activities with Reservists and, more specifically gaps in post-deployment follow-up activities

We recommended that the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces:

    Improve the clarity and administration of Reservists’ entitlement and eligibility for health care, periodic health assessments and future Reserve employment;
    Take measurable steps to improve the knowledge and awareness of the entitlements available to all Reservists, especially those who may be ill and injured; and
    Strengthen the responsibility and capacity to follow-up with Reservists.

In accordance with my mandate, the Minister of National Defence is given a report 28 days in advance of its release. In his response, the Minister states that he is supportive of the recommendations made in Part-Time Soldiers with Full-Time Injuries: A systemic Review of Canada’s Primary Reserve Force and Operational Stress Injuries, but offers comments related to the administrative challenges and timeline for implementing the recommendations ...

 

[The Bread Guy]

An update from the CF Ombudsman:

Update on the Ombudsman’s Report on The Feasibility of Providing Periodic Health Assessments to All Primary Reservists

In October 2015, I released a study in partnership with the Canadian Forces Health Services Group – The Feasibility of Providing Periodic Health Assessments to All Primary Reservists – with the purpose of examining whether Periodic Health Assessments could be provided to members of the Primary Reserve with the same standard of periodicity as the Regular Force.

This study emphasized the importance of ensuring that Reserve Force members are fit to conduct regular training and exercises. Universality of Service mandates that all Primary Reservists must be free of medical conditions that would limit their ability to be employed and deployed.  Further still, commanding officers are responsible for the health and wellbeing of Reservists under their charge, and must attest yearly that their personnel are medically fit.

In response to the study, the Canadian Forces Health Services Group committed to investigating various courses of action to determine the valuation of each of the options, including full costings, and preparing a follow-up report on its findings. My Office has kept in regular contact with the Canadian Forces Health Services Group in order to monitor ongoing progress. Of note, the Canadian Forces Health Services Group are planning to launch the trial of a new assessment tool – the Reserve Medical Readiness Questionnaire.

In December 2016, the Chief of the Defence Staff directed a new expedited Primary Reserve enrolment process which resulted in the Canadian Forces Health Services Group having to focus their resources towards enrolment medical screening. As such, the Canadian Forces Health Group advised that this would delay the launch of the Reserve Medical Readiness Questionnaire trial until the summer of 2017.

The Canadian Forces Health Services Group stated that the new expedited enrolment medical screening will provide the minimum dataset needed to assign a medical category based on the common enrolment medical standard. My Office was also advised that there would be no change in the way Periodic Health Assessments are administered, until a trial of the new process is eventually set in motion.

While the military is citing competing priorities, nothing concrete has been done to change the situation that was highlighted 16 months ago and we do not foresee any actions being taken in this regard in the near future.

Reservists must receive regular medical assessments. Without them, the Canadian Armed Forces cannot guarantee that Reservists are fit to train, participate in exercises, or to be rapidly deployed for domestic emergencies.

My Office remains committed to ensuring fair and equitable treatment for all members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Reservists, both serving and retired, as well as their immediate families, form an important part of our constituency.

If you have any questions about this study and how it may affect you, I encourage you to contact my Office. We are ready to help.

Gary Walbourne
DND/CF Ombudsman

 

[medicineman]

Sounds like I won't be around to roll out the PHA trial - that was going to land squarely on my lap...but my release date is before it happens.  I'm still not holding my breath of course.

MM