The Cartwright Report led to a monumental change in the culture of medicine in Aotearoa.

A lot of what New Zealanders take for granted in their medical care exists because of the Cartwright Inquiry.

The knowledge your consent would be required to take part in a medical trial, for instance.

The assurance cancer would not be allowed to progress untreated without your knowledge.

The cervical cancer screening you're offered as a woman over 20.

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August 5 marks 30 years since the Cartwright Report was published.

It led to a monumental change in the culture of medicine in Aotearoa.

In a world first, New Zealand gave patients the protection of a legal code of rights.

The role of the Health and Disability Commissioner was created, stricter controls around research were implemented, and ethics committees established.

It prompted a sea change in the relationship between healthcare providers and consumers, and established New Zealand as a global leader in patient rights.

The report, and months-long inquiry preceding it, came about because of an article by Sandra Coney and Phillida Bunkle. "An Unfortunate Experiment" was a searing look at the treatment of cervical cancer at Auckland's National Women's Hospital.

It described the work of Dr Herbert Green, who was convinced abnormal cells in the cervix did not necessarily progress to invasive cancer. He left women untreated without their knowledge; many went on to develop invasive cancer, and some died.

The inquiry found the allegations in the article were largely accurate. As well as recommending a raft of measures to prioritise patient rights, the report put forward the idea of a National Cervical Screening Programme.

Coney says this is one of the report's great successes - but it doesn't go far enough.

While the screening programme has reduced deaths from cervical cancer in Pākehā women, the same success has not been seen in Māori and Pasifika women.

Coney would like to see the screening programme free for all women - this would be the first step in reducing the death rate across the board.

"One of the barriers is that it's costly, especially now when people are struggling to pay for a roof over their heads.

"For women on low wages, paying to go and have a Well Woman check isn't high on their list of priorities."

The measures put in place after the report make a repeat of the "unfortunate experiment" unlikely, but there are still "serious problems" in women's health, Coney says.

She points to New Zealand's high rate of caesarean sections, and the recent furore around the use of surgical mesh, which a group of Kiwi campaigners are lobbying the Government to ban.

It's also important the recommendations of the report aren't diluted over time, she says.

A lot of healthcare professionals wouldn't have been working when the report came out - they may not even have been alive - and it's down to DHBs, universities, watchdogs and individuals to make sure ethics, professionalism and patient rights continue to underpin the healthcare system.

Coney is also concerned by the institutionalisation of the consumer voice.

While there was a strengthening of consumer groups in the wake of the report, some of these groups have been disbanded or absorbed into DHBs. It's important for these groups to exist independently and outside the health system, she says.

Thirty years on from the watershed report, there's work to be done - but Coney believes New Zealand remains a flagbearer for patient rights.

The 30th anniversary of the report was marked as it is each year: by a small group gathering to lay flowers at the statue of the Spirit of Peace, to reflect, and to remember the women who died as the result of an unfortunate experiment.