Dunedin pathologists who conduct coronial postmortems have signalled they may pull out of the service, the Ministry of Justice confirmed yesterday.
Four Dunedin pathologists are contracted by the Ministry of Justice to provide the service.
The pathologists had warned the ministry they might withdraw their services by the end of May, special jurisdictions acting general manager Tania Ott said.
There is a dispute is over pay and volumes.
Dunedin will have no postmortem cover for the next two weekends, said a memo to medical staff at Dunedin Hospital obtained by the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
''Going forward, there may be continued difficulties with pathologist cover over the weekend on the Dunedin site but the Ministry of Justice are trying to resolve this issue,'' the Southern District Health Board memo said.
Affected families could be distressed by the need to transport their loved one out of the area, the memo said. The Dunedin pathologists conduct about 150 postmortems a year.
The ministry was discussing the matter with the pathologists and was confident it could be resolved.
''They have said a localised service was not sustainable with the volume of cases they were dealing with,'' Ms Ott said in a statement.
''Postmortems required during a weekend in Dunedin are being dealt with on a case-by-case basis, depending on, among other things, the availability of other pathologists in Invercargill and Christchurch and the urgency of the postmortem.
''Should services be withdrawn, we will ensure the continuation of pathology services in Dunedin by either carrying out postmortems in Invercargill or Christchurch, or bringing a pathologist to Dunedin when required,'' Ms Ott said.
