Four more coroners to reduce stressful delays for grieving families - but is it enough?

Friday, 20 May 2022

The long time it takes for coroners to deliver reports into sudden deaths has been called a 'national scandal' by one grieving wife. (First published January 2021)

Four extra coroners and more support staff will be hired to spare grieving families traumatic waits for answers about the death of their loved one.

But whānau who’ve put their lives on hold for up to eight draining years waiting for inquests question whether it’s enough to mend the broken system.

A Budget boost of $28.5 million over four years will fund four extra coroners, seven coronial registrars and four clinical advisers to “ease workload pressures”.

Despite the 2020 appointment of eight relief coroners, the average time to close a coronial case increased 42 per cent between 2018 and 2021, from 321 days to 455 days.

* The life and unexplained death of Mario Cribb

* Family to boycott coronial inquest after decision to excuse witness

* 'This is how the truth is buried': Coroner's inquests plummet five-fold since 2012

Carey Hume says the new Budget funding is promising, but she wants a clear timeframe for its implementation. She’s pictured here alongside her husband Owen. (File photo)

Minister for Courts Aupito William Sio acknowledged the system was “under pressure” and that delays could “add to the grief and stress for families”.

Ministry of Justice modelling showed an extra four coroners could cut the number of active cases from a predicted 5233 cases at the end of 2022 to about 3000 cases by 31 March 2025.

“I am hopeful that, once bedded in, these changes will help grieving families and whānau find answers in a swift and timely manner,” Sio said.

Four extra coroners would bring the total to 22. Recruitment would start as soon as the law was changed to increase the cap on permanent coroner numbers from 20 to 22.

The family of Mario Cribb has been waiting five years for an inquest into his 2017 death in Wellington Hospital's mental health unit. (File photo)

The planned clinical advisers aim to reduce the number of natural cause deaths being unnecessarily referred to the coroner. The clinical advisers and coronial registrars should start in the 2022/23 financial year.

Families still waiting for answers about the deaths of their loved ones welcomed the new investment, but questioned whether it would be enough.

Carey Hume has waited eight “draining” years for the inquest into the 2014 death of her daughter Erica at Palmerston North Hospital’s mental health unit.

That’s eight years of putting life on hold and having to repeatedly relive Erica’s death.

“You’re trying to move forward and remember the good times, and you’re never able to do that, because you’re constantly waiting.”

While Hume hoped the extra funding would spare other families the same fate, experience had taught her to be sceptical.

Eight extra relief coroners were announced in May 2019, but were not appointed until March 2020 and failed to cut ballooning waits.

“The announcement sounds promising, but I would be interested to know the timelines of implementation and the effectiveness of the process.”

The family of Mario Cribb has waited almost five years for answers about why he died at Wellington Hospital's mental health unit in 2017. His inquest is now scheduled for July.

Mario’s brother Riki-James said the long wait was completely unacceptable and made worse by changes of coroner and rescheduled dates.

“It is a huge burden to undertake, in addition to the sudden and unknown reason behind a family member’s death.

“It is pleasing to see that there is funding available to address the extensive delays. However, there seems to be a wide gap in what the government announces and what it delivers. Hopefully the funding leads to more resourcing, structural changes, and shorter wait times for grieving families. I am not so confident.”