Stop cutting loose ill, injured soldiers too early, ombudsman tells military

The goal is to make the DND doctor the deciding medical authority instead of the VAC doctor/nurse/medical adjudicator.

It would take some time but eventually DND doctors will get pissed off (or MND) that VAC is wasting a doctor's time by re-assessing the injuries. Which would decrease wait times for applications. Who knows maybe it will force VAC into hiring retired med techs and I believe P3 medical technicians. One of the goals is to get VAC to start taking the DND doctors decision as the medical expert. Hey DND doctors decide our career so shouldn't the DND assessment be the main medical reason as a start point for ending one's career?

This idea started about 7/8 years ago from the OVO's advisory council. A former medic suggested the card's magnetic strip could hold the vet's main medical problem (like PTSD) and the vet can walk into any hospital across Canada get the card swiped and the intake nurse at said hospital contacts VAC asap. Imagine how many homeless vets could be found?

One more thing Rex I don't think all retired military personnel med records are scanned yet. Yes they have our files now but I had to submit paper from my med records for my applications. Maybe things have changed?

Also included on the, let's call it the VAC medical ghost file, would be accident reports, witness statements, all inoculations and where in the world the vet was. Info we forget about or lose over time.

bigrex - I agree. I did my frostbite about 3 yrs before I got out, and still have to go thru the whole thing again with VAC. VVV...

Ok, but why? VAC already has access to all our electronic medical records, where they could punch in your Service number, and viola! All they need is a signed consent form, and a reason to look at the information. Having a file with VAC doesn't expedite claims. I've been a VAC client since 2004, 18 months before my release, but almost every one of my claims has taken the entire allotted time, or beyond.

Well the vets with an ID card and have gone thru the system don't seem to understand that military personnel DO NOT GET AN ID CARD ANYMORE SAYING THEY ARE A VETERAN.

One other thing to remember is if the military says and adjudicates the soldier, sailor, airmen/women is broken in the court of law a lawsuit of careless work conditions is and will happen. So forget about the DND having adjudicators on injures.

It's a one step at a time scenario

First have a SERVING member with an ID card sign a waiver that any injuries that occur during a deployment, training whatever that after the Base Hospital does their paperwork it is electronically hooked up to VAC.

In other words the SERVING member has an automatic file with VAC created the first time he/she goes to the Base Hospital. And it is all right there sitting on a VAC server.

If the examination by the Base Hospital is bad enough that a VAC employee, CM,CSA whoever then that VAC employee contacts the nearest JPSU/IPSC for them to get in contact with injured member to submit a claim.

Just think about a member who served for 25-35 years and injuries catch up to him/her. All the member has to do is contact VAC and have a CM come to his/her house with their medical record on a thumb drive because the whole medical record of the retired member is not sitting in the archives in Ottawa it's on a server at VAC.

Not all ideas are for current veterans. Part of our job is to make it easier for future veterans.

So isn't having an ID card that ties your military record to a VAC medical server a good idea now?

When I was leaving couple of years ago, I made sure that in my last medical/form I listed all the med conditions that I aquiered DURING service. Base surgeon stamped it 'concure' and
VAC does not give a sh** about any of this. Still have/had/will have to prove to them that it is service related.

I'm not blasting you, but I don't see how replacing the ID card would expedite getting claims processed. The soldier would still have to apply to VAC, with the only possible difference being that they might not have to sign the sheet that gives VAC permission to request your med docs. Currently serving soldiers can apply and get lump sum awards, and possibly even the CIB, and never be medically released. But if DND had their own adjudicators, that determine whether or not every career ending medical condition is service related, and medical staff that determine the level of disability arising from that condition, they should be able to pass that info onto VAC, without VAC turning around and doing their own assessment of your file, delaying possible benefits or even coming to a different conclusion to deny benefits. Basically the problem is that right now, everything is left on the shoulders of the Veteran, when getting medically released. They have to apply for VAC and SISIP. They have to prove it was service related. They have to be their own advocate. So if they aren't made aware of the benefits available to them, or denying how bad their situation is, especially for mental health issues. DND and VAC will not care if these soldiers fall into financial despair after their release.

And this is where I am going to get blasted...
The idea of the new ID/VET card was to tie the adjudicators to a soldiers medical records when an injury or illness happens while the soldier is still serving.

It takes the decision making out of DND's hands and puts it right into the wheel house of VAC adjudicators. The soldier still serves but the injury is on VAC's file with a decision for when the soldier releases.

This is too much of a common sense thing though because then not one injured soldier would fall thru the cracks and end up homeless or go without treatment because they don't know if they are entitled to benefits.

Hehr was asked about the card and he said no every time. Like I said makes too much sense but in some politicians eyes it reduces money and benefits they have to pay to sick and injured soldiers.

Personally, I think that if bureaucrats within VAC can make that determination, then bureaucrats working within DND should be able to make the same determination. The only difference should be that being placed on a Pcat, the first precursor to getting a medical release, should trigger an automatic review of the docs to see if any identified medical conditions are attributable to their service. This in conjunction to the current three year medical accommodation should ensure that the majority of disabled veterans would be getting all benefits in place for when they finally get released. Obviously DND couldn't completely take over the role, since many medical conditions don't even present themselves until after their release. But if DND can reduce the workload for VAC by 25%-50%, we wouldn't be having these backlogs of 11000+ claims.

idiot ...

to bad he wasn't a Royal .

a Royal never passes a fault .

ya see a post that is supposed to be manned that is currently unmanned . ya don't just walk on by for frack sakes ya get it manned first . then you go talk to the people responsible and sort it out .

same thing here except the guy walking by the unmanned post IS the guy responsible .

ohhh we don't have a mandate woo is me .

YOUR THE GUY RESPONSIBLE FOR ISSUING THE MANDATES FRACK TARD !!!!!!

so develop one and hand it to the CDS .

they can do this very easy because they done it for me this is why ive long been a proponent of this .

I'm positive I'm not the only one the military has done this for cant be .

on my way out the military staff mostly from the MIR doctors and such walked me through EVERYTHING DVA and more and got me everything I was entitled to AT THAT TIME had to freelance the ELB PIA and sup at a latter time . yes the staff even got me the CPPD .they started early in 2006 around march 30 and had everything complete in short order .

so don't tell me it cant be done when I know for A FACT they have done it and are probably still doing it just not for everyone .

heck they even bungled up or lost my release stuff for the next couple of years witch got me to  the 20 year mark witch they knew was important to me so important in fact I was going to fight by all means available to stay in until the NVC begrudgingly changed my mind .

ya know maybe he is not an idiot maybe he just thinks we are ???

of course that in itself makes him an idiot so I guess that point is moot .

always question authority

propat

Believe me Danny, there isn't much I wouldn't do to help a fellow veteran. For a select few, I'd even consider breaking the law to help them. All I want from Minister Sajjan is the same level of commitment, minus the law breaking for obvious reasons. Maybe I misinterpreted his words or sentiment.

He is a veteran and we stand side by side with all, even all of our vets that our in power.
IMO the more vets in power the merrier; because all in all they are part of our military family and they represent our voices.
BUT! We must keep on them ( on whoever is running the upper echelons of GOC) reminding them to always give the best care to Canada's Veterans 

We are Canada's brightest.

No, just an outright misaligned policy that has been in place that A) Has you fighting for the benefit of the doubt  B. A the 3D (delay, deny, die) political stall tactic and C. Which is now hopefully being fixed, (Veteran Centric Approach).
He is just speaking the truth and has all good intentions, this is what I have been told.....but that was prior to him becoming a politician.
SOLDIER FIRST, TRADES PERSON SECOND sir!
Never forget your roots.

Minister Sajjan has just shown his status as another government lackey as far as I am concerned.

The Canadian Armed Forces has "no extant statutory or policy mandate to systematically determine if an illness developed or an injury sustained during a member's career is related to their military service."  ???
Hence you are your own best advocate.
Stay strong and never give up your plight ! !

Happy Thanksgiving

Deceased veteran's sister supports ombudsman's call on medical discharges

OCTOBER 5, 2016

The sister of a Canadian military veteran who was killed in a standoff with an RCMP emergency response team four years ago is in favour of ensuring benefits from Veterans Affairs are in place for soldiers prior to receiving medical discharge.

The provision, recommended by Gary Walbourne, the Defence Ombudsman of the Canadian Armed Forces, could have made a difference for Greg Matters, her brother, Tracey Matters said this week.

"Most certainly," she said in an e-mail. "It took him years to get his injuries recognized."

At the time of his death in September 2012, Matters was relying on a pension of $123 a month and had to live with their mother on the family's Pineview property because he couldn't afford to live anywhere else.

Ironically, Veterans Affairs had called her brother on the morning of his death to tell him he would be eligible for benefits. But because he was outside talking to the RCMP following a run-in between himself and his brother, Matters was unable to answer the phone.

In a standoff with the Mounties later the same day, Matters was shot dead.

Following 15 years in the military, Matters was discharged in 2009. Known as vibrant and enthusiastic, Matters became withdrawn following a tour in Bosnia and began drinking heavily.

He was discharged for being under the influence of alcohol too often, Tracey Matters said, but also noted drinking and depression are symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and that he wasn't diagnosed with PTSD until well after he was discharged.

However, she also noted that Matters had suffered a severe back injury while on tour in Bosnia which prevented him from participating in further deployment and training. He continued to suffer from the ailment after he was discharged and had returned to Pineview, a coroner's inquest into he death had heard.

Acting on Walbourne's recommendation will "streamline processes, reduce stress and anxiety and ensure ex-servicemen and women get the attention, help and respect they need and deserve within a reasonable timeframe," Tracey Matters said.

Tony Manuge, a local veteran known for his outspoken views on Veterans Affairs, also likes Walbourne's suggestion.

"Yes the system needs to be streamlined for soldiers injured in service," Manuge said in an e-mail. "The military has to do a better job of tracking and documenting the causation of these problems.

"When they are identified a soldier should not have to relive it all in order to get help. Some of the skeletons are pretty dark."

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is not so welcoming. According to the Globe and Mail, he wrote a letter to Walbourne saying the Canadian Armed Forces has "no extant statutory or policy mandate to systematically determine if an illness developed or an injury sustained during a member's career is related to their military service."

In an editorial, the Globe and Mail dismissed Sajjan's position as ridiculous.

"Surely that should be all the more reason to establish just such a mandate, so as to be able to make just such a determinations," the newspaper said.

"A streamlined process may cost somewhat more money, but there is an excellent case to be made that the Ombudsman's proposals will save money in the long run," the newspaper also said.

That's ridiculous.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/local-news/deceased-veteran-s-sister-supports-ombudsman-s-call-on-medical-discharges-1.2359221