Hawke's Bay one of many regions to welcome relief coroners

Tracey Fitzgibbon was sworn in as a relief coroner on a fixed term six-month contract to take on the case load previously held by Coroner Chris Devonport who passed away on January 23. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay's coroner case load hasn't fallen behind since the death of the region's coroner Chris Devonport.

But the region should still gladly welcome the appointment of eight part-time relief coroners in the Government's budget, the chief coroner says.

Ministry of Justice acting CEO Jacquelyn Shannon said Tracey Fitzgibbon had earlier been sworn in as a relief coroner on a fixed term six-month contract, to take on the case load previously held by Chris Devonport who died at his home on January 23.

Coroner Fitzgibbon is not part of the eight relief coroners, but her presence in Hawke's Bay has meant the workload has not fallen behind compared to other areas of the country.

"The Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall is responsible for managing the workload and cases are allocated to the coroners within four geographic clusters," Shannon said.

"Cases have continued to be covered for the Hastings area throughout this time."

Judge Marshall said the appointment of eight other relief coroners was welcoming news all around.

"This will enable us to reduce the increasing backlog of coronial cases and also ensure our coroners and staff who already work long and demanding hours can work in a more sustainable manner."

Nationally, the backlog of caseloads for coroners increased from 3150 in 2014/15 to 4089 in 2017/18.

The average time to close a coronial case had also increased from 311 days in 2016/17 to 345 days in 2017/18.

Along with managing their individual caseloads, full-time coroners also share the role of Duty Coroner – a rotating responsibility which continues 24 hours a day, seven days a week, dealing with sudden deaths across New Zealand.

"Reducing the workload for existing coroners gives them the chance to focus on what's before them and close cases that have been open for a long time. I'm pleased that we'll be able to give grieving families a quicker outcome as a result," she said.