As I mentioned in my opening remarks, that is a real consequence of it taking so long to get benefits to veterans. They feel a lack of respect for their service, and sadly, there are some terrible consequences, as you've outlined.
What can the department do differently? I agree with you. I'm a huge proponent for.... You can't keep repeating the same thing and hoping that the outcome will be different, so it's really about doing something differently.
The department launched, as we mentioned, 16 initiatives to try to improve its processing. It set targets for two. You track. You measure only what you set out to track. If you don't set any targets, then you won't know whether you are achieving what you set out to do. I really think it's about doing things differently.
I can't tell the department how to run itself day to day, but it is clear that something needs to improve, and I don't believe it's just changing the service standard. I think it's about actually figuring out the issues and tackling them one at a time in order to get there.
Another member mentioned a possible solution, but I'm not a medical professional, and I don't have all the information that the department has. They really do need to sit down and find creative, maybe out-of-the-box solutions, rather than just repeating the same things.