No more autopsies for Southland mortuary
Autopsies will no longer carried out at the Southland mortuary in Invercargill, with the bodies instead sent to Dunedin for the task.
An autopsy examination, also known as a post mortem, is the examination of a body to determine the cause of death.
Ministry of Justice chief operating officer Carl Crafar said autopsies had not been carried out in Invercargill since February 1. The service in Invercargill was not viable.
There was a single pathologist working in isolation and the future availability of an on site pathologist was uncertain, he said.
Families would continue to have access to their loved ones for viewing services in Invercargill where this was approved by the coroner.
Coronial autopsies will now take place at Dunedin Hospital.
The aim was for the autopsy to be completed the same day the deceased left Invercargill, with the deceased returning to Invercargill later that day.
The Dunedin mortuary facility has a full complement of staff, he said.
Southern District Health Board senior staffer Karin Drummond confirmed the Southland mortuary would still be open to receive and store bodies for hospital deaths, and for the viewing of bodies.
The mortuary’s utilisation was being changed following the awarding of the Ministry of Justice contract for provision of coronial service to an external company, Communio, Drummond said.
The ministry and Communio had decided coronial autopsies would no longer be undertaken in Southland. ‘‘As 98 per cent of all autopsies are coronial this means that they will no longer be undertaken in Southland.
‘‘All bodies therefore that require an autopsy will be transferred to Dunedin for the procedure and then returned to Southland.’’
There would be no cost to the families of the deceased and the families would not be required to provide or arrange transport, Drummond said.
Forensic autopsies would continue to take place in Christchurch, as has always been the case. The cost of transporting the deceased to and from Southland is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.
Families would still have access to their loved ones for viewing services.