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Professor Ron Paterson
Professor Ron Paterson was appointed an Ombudsman on 4 June 2013. He follows Dr. David McGee CNZM, who was appointed an Ombudsman in November 2007 and retired after 6 years in office.
Prior to his taking up Office as an Ombudsman, Mr Paterson was a Professor of Law at the University of Auckland and New Zealand Health and Disability Commissioner from 2000-2010.
With law degrees from Auckland and Oxford Universities, Ron Paterson has held Fulbright and Harkness Fellowships in biomedical ethics and health policy.
He has researched and lectured in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia, and is an international expert on complaints, healthcare quality and the regulation of health professions.
Ron Paterson is co-editor of the textbook Medical Law in New Zealand (2006) and author of The Good Doctor: What Patients Want (2012).
He has previously held positions as Chairman of the New Zealand Banking Ombudsman Scheme and as a member of the Board of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
Since 1962, the Ombudsman of New Zealand has acted as an independent authority that helps the community in its dealings with government agencies. There are currently two: Chief Ombudsman Dame Beverley Wakem DNZM CBE and Ombudsman Professor Ron Paterson.
Source: Office of the Ombudsman of New Zealand
