Security guards at hospitals around the country are about to be scaled back, but not because the threat from patients and their families has gone away.
The Government paid for 200 extra guards over summer, but that money ran out overnight.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Australasian College for Emergency Medicine New Zealand chair doctor Kate Allan said frontline staff "always knew" this would come to an end.
"It was pledged to us at the end of February but the key is that we have some form of security that continues in every single emergency department.
"It's incredibly worrying for staff who are on the floor working there," Allan said.
She added: "Violence and aggression has become part of our day-to-day and that's really concerning, and there's different levels, verbal aggression or verbal abuse is there and present and it's incredibly under-reported.
"The violence is less but it's definitely increasing and felt by the staff who are there dealing with the patients and their families."
Allan said a lot of incidents went unreported, simply because staff didn't have the time to lodge complaints.
In a statement, Health Minister Shane Reti said he was, "committed to working urgently on a longer-term plan to improve security across our hospitals.
"Health NZ takes the safety of patients and staff very seriously and that includes the training of security staff. I fully support their work."
Allan urged Reti to take the situation seriously, and to continue the work he was doing.
"I know that the response from December was quick and fast and put in place short term but it was always said that these security guards need to be fully trained and integrated and that didn't happen over the summer period for some of the departments, for some it did though.
"This is important, it will take time, it will take money but we need it in place."
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