Coroner

You really have no idea how many dreadful presentations that the average health board director has to sit through. For some reason this sector is home to some of the most uninspiring drones that were ever fed by the taxpayer (although to be really fair, Ministry of Transport are the current champions of official uninspiring drivel). It should be possible to make helping the public live longer, fuller and better lives seem exciting and uplifting but sadly this is seldom the case. Endless pie charts and screeds of statistics hide humanity from the discussion in many cases.
Oh, for someone with passion and if there is a God, a sense of humour to liven the debate, fill us with enthusiasm to face the daunting task of lifting the population’s health!
Well the other day I settled in to an earnest session of clinical leaders all pumped up and primed to do just that, Lift the Health of Aucklanders.
It got off to a fairly positive start and I was certainly impressed with what our clinical leaders were prepared to tackle in the face of ever-present financial pressure. Glancing down the list of presentations to come my heart sank at the sight of the District Coroner on the program set to address us on our responsibilities to his office.
A more dreary subject I could not think of and like many I had grave (sorry) doubts as to whether this person would keep us involved.
Well, ain’t life full of wonderful surprises some days! The District Coroner turned out to be the drollest, driest, wittiest and most informative speaker I have sat through in a long time. I had no idea that the official in charge of reporting of deaths could manage to be informative, caring, educational and hilarious all at the same time without in any way reducing the required dignity needed for his task. Compare that with the hand wringing nonsense that passes for journalistic enquiry into student newspaper articles or reports of celebrity coke sniffing.
The Coroner dispensed a wide range of excellent commentary on death in our times. Road deaths are definitely coming down and he singled out separate carriageways on motorways (which avoid head-on crashes) and congestion (which prevents high speed) as two major contributors. I wonder what the proponents of ever more motorway building have to say to that!
He had harsh words for anyone foolish enough to support babies sleeping with parents (especially large drunken ones) on the basis of bonding or any other excuse, pointing out that babies need to sleep separately and peacefully on their backs.
Aucklanders should be pleased to note that only 10 murders were reported this year, which contrasts with my recent exposure to the Jamaican statistics of 5 killings per day.
Those calling for tougher sentences are probably unaware that there are now more jail hangings than during the time of capital punishment, although these days they are self inflicted.
For those continuously bombarding us with the dangers of boating, he noted that increased boating numbers were definitely reducing drownings as it is hard to get into trouble out of sight of others and the harbour congestion is mirroring the road congestion in actually making things safer.
The Coroner’s Annual Report is a mercifully short document full of interesting bits written in plain English, (how many organizations can say that!), and shows that the surprisingly low number of only one in seven deaths are accorded an inquest hearing and this number is falling.
Relatively few hospital deaths lead to an inquest with none from surgical or medical death but some from drug administration questions. Falls of the elderly are now a notable category but again unless there is a question of being pushed or not prevented then this is just another one of the ways we can end our days.
This refreshingly open approach helps us all face death as a normal part of our life journey. Bereavement care organizations can help one deal with death at the time rather than let it brew for later.
Coroners have attracted some negative publicity in recent years with some drawing very long bows linking deaths with all sorts of daft recommendations. I well recall having to fend off the prospect of all of the waterfront where I live being fenced off simply because an unwise coroner made such a recommendation because a drunk fell of the seafront to his death which actually saved the lives of those he was about to drive home through.
Great to see a positive contribution like this.
Wayne Brown