The New Zealand Coroners Amendment Bill's Proposed Approach to Healthcare-Related Deaths that are Reportable to the Coroner

Abstract

When must a death that occurs in a health care setting be reported to the coroner? This article explores this question by analysing the New Zealand (NZ) Coroners Act 2006 and the amendments to the health care-related deaths provisions in the Coroners Amendment Bill 2014 (NZ). At the time of writing, the Bill was at the Select Committee stage. This article examines whether the amendments may improve the inconsistent clinical and coronial practices with respect to reportable health care-related deaths. It concludes that, while the proposed amendments are an improvement on the current legislative drafting, doubt remains about whether they will solve the challenges presented by health care-related reportable deaths. The second and third readings of the Bill should give serious consideration to the submissions received by the NZ Law Commission that express the view that the Queensland or Victorian legislation should be used as models.