Media release from University of Auckland

Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson has been appointed to a chair in law at The University of Auckland.

He will finish his present post at the end of March 2010 (completing ten years as Commissioner) and take up his professorship at the Law School in May.

As Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson has been at the forefront in healthcare law, ethics and policy. His role is to promote and protect the rights of consumers who use health and disability services, and to improve the quality of those services.

He gained his LLB(Hons) from Auckland, sharing the Auckland District Law Society Prize for the best undergraduate record. Several scholarships took him to Oxford University where he graduated BCL with first class honours.

Mr Paterson held assistant professorships at the Universities of Ottawa and British Columbia before joining the Auckland Law School in 1986 as a lecturer. There he went on to become a senior lecturer and Deputy Dean, and was founding editor of New Zealand Recent Law Review.

After a year as a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, he became Deputy Director-General of Health (Safety and Regulation) in 1999, and Health and Disability Commissioner the following year.

Recognised internationally for his expertise in regulation of patients' rights and healthcare quality improvement, he has chaired two major health system reviews in Australia. He is co-editor of the textbook Medical Law in New Zealand, has published widely in books and journals, and written numerous health sector reports, reviews and comments as well as giving frequent invited lectures and conference presentations. He is a regular media commentator on health law, ethics and policy issues.

"It has been a tremendous privilege to be Health and Disability Commissioner," says Mr Paterson. "It is a unique and rewarding role.

"But as I approach a decade in the role, it's time for me to take up a new challenge. I am very excited to be returning to a chair in law at The University of Auckland, and by the opportunities it presents."

The Dean of Law at The University of Auckland, Professor Paul Rishworth, has expressed his delight at Ron Paterson's return to the Law School. "We are extremely fortunate to have attracted someone of his calibre and wealth of outside experience. He will bring new strength and leadership to our teaching and research in the health law field."