Mortuary skills lost to Taranaki

Mortuary technician skills may be lost to Taranaki with post-mortems no longer performed in the region.

A post-mortem examination, also known as an autopsy, is the examination of a body to determine the cause of death.

Last year the Ministry of Justice renewed its pathology contracts, and since September 1, 2018, if a postmortem is required in Taranaki the body has been taken to Hamilton or Palmerston North. This means there is no longer any work for a mortuary technician in Taranaki.

Technician Ben Hunter said there were two technicians and the other had already moved out of the region.

‘‘We can’t practise as a mortuary technician at the moment, so you lose that skill set. We’re so isolated from the rest of the country, we’re out on our own. We have to keep up our skills.’’

Hunter said he was looking at occasionally working outside the region as a locum to keep current and retain his skill set.

Taranaki District Health Board (TDHB) provided the facility for the post-mortems and dental identifications, which were carried out in its mortuary.

Despite no longer being needed for post-mortems the mortuary facility has not been packed up, but remains open and in use for the care of the DHB’s tu¯pa¯paku (deceased), Taranaki DHB chief operating officer Gillian Campbell said. ‘‘Instruments relating to autopsy procedures have been removed from the mortuary theatre and placed in storage in another area in the facility. Other items in the theatre that are for general use that have expiry dates are to be used elsewhere.’’

The instruments were placed in storage to maintain their integrity, she said. ‘‘Any perishable or expiry dated items were removed for health and safety reasons as, if needed, this room could be made available for the care of our tu¯ pa¯ paku.’’

Three dental identifications have been performed in the last six years and all dental ID equipment remains in the facility, Campbell said.

From February 1, post-mortems once carried out at the Southland Mortuary in Invercargill were shifted to Dunedin.

Ministry of Justice chief operating officer Carl Crafar said the service in Invercargill was not viable as there was a single pathologist working in isolation and the future availability of an on-site pathologist was uncertain.