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1 October – 31 December 2023

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is responsible for overseeing and monitoring all operational aspects of the Assisted Dying Service, including collecting data and generating summary reports. Information continues to be released quarterly, in line with the calendar year.

Due to the time required to support people with  the Assisted Dying process, some quarterly data (such as the number of applications by month and region) cannot be reported to protect the privacy of the people engaging with the service.

Please note that the current report reflects a summary of individuals’ interactions with the Assisted Dying Service within the three-month period ending 31 December 2023. Accordingly, medical assessments and outcomes may refer to applications initiated in a prior quarter.

More detailed reporting of the cumulative data across the first year of service (November 2021 – November 2022) is available on the Te Whatu Ora website: Assisted Dying Service yearly reporting. The 2023 annual service report will be published in the first quarter of 2024.

Assisted dying service activities this quarter

Overview of assisted dying service

Between 1 October and 31 December 2023, the service received 250 applications for assisted dying, a slight increase of 37 from the previous quarter.

Attending medical practitioners (AMPs) completed 239 assessments, and independent medical practitioners (IMPs) completed 184 assessments. Psychiatrists also completed assessments (number withheld for privacy protection) in this period. In total 145 applications were confirmed as eligible.

AMPs facilitated 95 assisted deaths during this quarter. Compared to the previous quarter, there has been a notable increase.

Of the applications reviewed during this period, 14 were still in progress as of 31 December 2023.

During this quarter, 141 applications did not proceed to an assisted death due to:

  • the application not complying with The End of Life Choice Act 2019
  • the applicant withdrawing their application
  • the applicant being ineligible or not competent to give consent at, or following, assessment
  • the applicant dying due to underlying conditions.

Of the 250 applications received during this quarter:

  • 92.4% were Pākehā
  • 6.0 % were Māori
  • 50.4% were Tāne/ Male, (49.6% Wahine/ Female)
  • 75.6% were aged 65 years or older
  • 10.0 % indicated they were disabled
  • 74.8% were receiving palliative care at the time of the application
  • 69.6% had a diagnosis of cancer

Demographic summary of applications

A demographic summary of the 250 applications received this quarter is presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Demographics of people that have applied for assisted dying services in the period

Demographic summary

Applications3

% of applications

Ethnic group1

Māori

6

2.4%

Pacifica

1

0.4%

European

231

92.4%

Asian

9

3.6%

Other

Not stated

5

4

2.0%

1.6%

Sex

Female/Wāhine

124

49.6%

Male/Tāne

126

50.4%

Gender diverse

0

0.0%

Age Group

18-44 years

6

2.4%

45-64 years

55

22.0%

65-84 years

145

58.0%

85+ years

44

17.6%

Diagnosis2

Cancer

149

59.6%

Neurological condition

17

6.8%

Chronic Respiratory Disease

11

4.4%

Cardio-vascular condition

10

4.0%

Other organ failures

2

0.8%

Multiple/Co-Morbidities

4

1.6%

Not known4

57

22.8%

Receiving palliative care at the time of application?

Yes

187

74.8%

No

57

22.8%

Not stated

4

2.4%

Reported a disability at the time of application?

Yes

25

10%

No

221

88.4%

Not stated

4

1.6%

 

Notes:

1.     Total ethnicity has been used. This means that individuals reporting more than one ethnicity are included within each category to which they identify. Ethnicity in this report is based on patient records in the health system, while in the previous reports ethnicity in the application form was used.

2.     Total diagnosis has been used. This means that individuals presenting with multiple diagnoses are included within each applicable diagnostic category.

3.     Valid repeat applications are included as unique instances. This means, in cases where an individual submits multiple applications during this period, their information is recorded in the demographic data each time.

4.     ‘Diagnosis not known’ includes individuals who have applied but have not yet completed their first assessment with their AMP as well as those that withdrew, died before this assessment was completed, or were ineligible.

Assisted deaths by location

Between 1 October and 31 December 2023, 95 people had an assisted death. Assisted deaths can take place at the person’s home or elsewhere in the community. The summary by location is:

  • 78 (or 82.1%) at the person’s home
  • 7 (or 7.4%) in a public hospital
  • 10 (or 10.5%) in a community facility (e, aged residential care, hospice, retirement home, funeral home).

SCENZ (Support and Consultation for End-of-Life in New Zealand) group practitioner lists

The Support and Consultation for End-of-Life in New Zealand group (SCENZ) is responsible for maintaining the list of medical practitioners and psychiatrists involved in providing assisted dying services.

Medical practitioners can be on the SCENZ list for more than one role, depending on their scope of practice (AMP, IMP, Psychiatrist).

 

As of 31 December 2023, 113 assisted dying practitioners (including Doctors, and Psychiatrists) and 13 attending Nurse Practitioners (ANP) were on the SCENZ list. A growing number of health practitioners have chosen to become providers of Assisted Dying Services as AMP for their own patients without registering to be included on the SCENZ list. A portion of these health practitioners have subsequently chosen to join the SCENZ group and to make themselves available to additional patients.

Assisted dying is a sensitive topic and may be difficult for some people. If reading this information is distressing to for you, there is support available.

You can call or text 1737 for free to speak to a trained counsellor at any time.