The role of mortuary technicians has changed significantly from solely assisting forensic pathologists with post-mortems to now handling a wider range of responsibilities including performing hospital and coronial autopsies, managing perinatal post-mortems, releasing bodies to funeral directors and families, overseeing the tissue management service and return of remains to patients, administrative tasks, conducting viewings, and providing 24/7 on-call support for urgent cases and after-hours viewings. While the current project aims to review the responsibilities of mortuary technicians to balance their workload with demands, challenges remain in configuring resources appropriately.

1. After Life
Understanding the Role of Mortuary Technicians
Chand Sharma | Team Leader – Anatomic Pathology | Laboratory Services - CCDHB
• In the past – the role of Mortuary Technicians
was solely to assist forensic pathologists in Post
Mortems.
• Today - modern operation of the service & its
demands has changed their roles significantly.
• Current team of 3 x FTE & responsibilities
include:
• Hospital & Coronial Adult Post Mortems
• Perinatal Post Mortems
• Release of body: Funeral Directors & Family
• Tissue Management Service: Return to Patient
• Administrative Tasks: IANZ accredited
• Hospital & Coronial Viewings
• 24/7 On-Call Support: Urgent cases & after
hour viewings
Analysis - WHY
• Why has the role of Mortuary Technician’s changed?
• Why are Mortuary Technician’s responsible for the
release of body?
• Why are Mortuary Technician’s responsible for
Return to Patient?
• Why are Mortuary Technician’s responsible for
viewings?
• Why isn’t there one dedicated bereavement service
in DHB?
Change Process – Kotter’s 8 Step Model Statistics
Summary
Even though the current project is work in progress – it
has highlighted the need to review the responsibilities
of Mortuary Technicians.
Challenges exist as we balance work load versus
demands health sector & community presents.
Acknowledgements
• CCDHB Mortuary Staff
• CCDHB Laboratory Management
• CCDHB Whanau Care
• CCDHB Death Review Committee
• Forensic Pathologists
• Ministry of Justice
1) Increase Urgency:
• Staff resources stretched / Over worked
• Retain staff / Provision of forensic service
• Workload analysis
• Opportunities – Bereavement Service DHB
• Support – Laboratory + DHB Management
2) Build Guiding Teams:
• Mortuary Staff
• Forensic Pathologists
• Police Inquest Officers
• Ministry of Justice
• Management – Laboratory + Death Review
Committee + Whanau Care + SCL
3) Get the Vision Right:
• Understand the role of Mortuary Technicians & their
workload. Establish a work/life balance matrix.
• Ensure the solutions reflect the DHB”s culturally
sensitive policies.
4) Communication for Buy In:
• Work in Progress & Stakeholder Communication
5) Enable Action:
6) Create Short-Term Wins:
7) Don’t Let-Up:
8) Make It Stick:
2014 2015
Coronial Autopsies 283 229
Perinatal Autopsies 58 52
Coronial Viewings – After Hours 56 48
Hospital Viewings – After Hours 29 21
Return to Patient 393 225
Background
CompletedCurrentFuture