Health Consumer Rights & Ethics

The Cartwright Inquiry led to a major overhaul of health care ethics in New Zealand. Ethics committees were reformed, a Health Commissioner to hear complaints was appointed, a Code of Rights drafted and a system of patient advocates was inaugurated throughout the country. Many other reforms, such as a Health Information Privacy Code, followed on the reforms of the Cartwright Inquiry. We take particular interest in ownership of health records, and the implications of the use of a unique identifier and linkages between records.