The [appellant] is a 47 year old woman who, in June 2010, commenced working for Grange as a kitchenhand in Grange's 80 bed aged care facility in Wodonga ... Her regular hours were 19 hours per week but she often worked up to 30 hours per week.
In 2006, the [appellant] suffered a right shoulder injury. She suffered symptoms of right shoulder pain in May 2009. This injury had completely resolved and the [appellant] had been symptom-free by the time she commenced with Grange.
On 14 January 2012, the [appellant] consulted her general practitioner, Dr Ian Cook. He diagnosed bilateral shoulder impingement syndrome ...
The [appellant] ceased work on 19 January 2012. On 25 January 2012, she made a claim for weekly payments of compensation under the [Accident Compensation Act 1985], asserting that the [i]njury arose in the course of her employment with Grange. The claim was accepted and the [appellant] began to receive weekly payments.
Dr Cook arranged active treatment by way of ultrasound-guided cortisone injections in February 2012.
The WorkCover claim agent had the [appellant] examined by a consultant surgeon, Mr Roger White, on 12 March 2012. In his report dated 26 March 2012 ('Mr White's report'), Mr White stated that the [appellant] had the capacity to 'return to work in modified pre-injury duties and hours.' He said that she could perform those duties which did not require her to raise her arms above her head, lift items over 5kg in weight or involve sustained or repetitive activities using her upper limbs. He also said that pushing and pulling should be restricted to less demanding activities. He concluded that part-time work of several hours per day would be appropriate.
The [appellant] returned to work on 26 March 2012 on modified duties at reduced hours. She experienced pain in her right shoulder ... On 18 April 2012, Dr Cook certified that the [appellant] was not fit for her work.
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On 11 July 2012, the [appellant] was examined by a consultant occupational physician, Dr David Barton, at the request of the WorkCover claim agent. According to Dr Barton's report dated 12 July 2012 ('Dr Barton's report), the [appellant] reported that she was having lesser symptoms in the shoulders and that the level of her symptoms varied depending on what she did. The [appellant] also told Dr Barton that she felt that the improvement had occurred because she moved from Wodonga to live in Melbourne with her sister and was 'not doing much'.
Dr Barton's report stated that the [appellant] 'has mild persisting right shoulder symptoms following what appears to be an unresolved soft tissue injury' and that '[f]rom a simple physical perspective [he saw] no particular reason why she could not work normally.' In a supplementary report dated 23 July 2012, Dr Barton stated that the [appellant] could perform her pre-injury duties for her pre-injury hours. I will refer to Dr Barton's report and his supplementary report collectively as 'Dr Barton's reports'.
In reliance upon Dr Barton's reports, the WorkCover claim agent terminated the [appellant]'s weekly payments effective from 10 August 2012 on the basis that she was no longer incapacitated for work.
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Dr Stephen De Graaff, the Director of Pain Services and Senior Rehabilitation Physician at Epworth Healthcare, saw the [appellant] on 30 July 2012, 17 September 2012 and 12 November 2012. He prepared a report dated 19 November 2012 ('Dr De Graaff's report') in which he concluded as follows:
Assessment and Progress
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On assessment Ms Ryan presented with a chronic right rotator cuff tear with significant pain associated with the supraspinatus partial tear ...
I ... felt she was not fit to return to full time normal duties.
Summary
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She has documented tears of both supraspinatae muscles and is currently undertaking a pain management and rehabilitation program at Epworth Camberwell.
She requires analgesia and neuromodulation for pain control.
Response to questions
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C Prognosis and estimate of future medical treatment and approximate cost of treatment.
Prognosis is guarded given the timeframe since the original injury although Ms Ryan is committed to improving her wellbeing and keen to undertake some form of vocational activity. She will have limitations working above shoulder height in the long term so any work conditions will need to respect this.
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Long term, there is a risk of recurrent injury, so any work duties ... will need to address her injury risk.
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Ms Ryan will not be able to return to her pre-employment duties as this involved significant amount of above shoulder activity.
She will be limited in her lifting and carrying capacities, probably to a level below 10 kg maximum and will need to avoid repetitive activities.
It is most likely that she will need modified duties in the long term, avoiding heavy lifting and carrying, repetitive lifting and carrying, and working above shoulder height.
Dr Cook prepared a report dated 3 December 2012 ('Dr Cook's report') in which he stated as follows:
[Ms] Ryan has over 2012 attempted to return to her previous employment but this has been unsuccessful due to pain and limited shoulder function. If her pain was controlled she would need retraining for clerical type work, as it is my opinion that she will never be fit for work using repetitive lifting and shoulder movement.[2]