Half of senior emergency department doctors at Blenheim's Wairau Hospital are speaking out, warning the ED is on the brink of collapse.
They say for five years they've been promised more staff, only to be told there was no funding available.
"We are crying out and nobody is listening to us," said senior ED doctor Kay Hall.
Wairau Hospital covers the entire Marlborough region, which has just under 50,000 people and an ageing population. The next closest hospitals were Nelson and Marlborough.
Blenheim doctors warn hospital ED is ‘on the brink’ of collapse - Watch on TVNZ+
The hospital's emergency department roster was made for 11.4 full-time senior doctors, but there were only eight at the hospital. (Source: 1News)
The emergency department roster was made for 11.4 full time senior doctors, but there were only eight at the hospital.
Dr Nikki Rolton said something had to change, or "to be perfectly honest — patients may die".
Following questions from 1News, Health New Zealand said it was listening and would be hiring more permanent staff for the department.
'How can there be no funding?' - senior ED doctor
Behind closed doors the doctors, who are part of the senior doctors union, have been raising these concerns for years.
"You scrape by because you're lucky and that luck is what is tiding you through more and more which is scary," Hall said.
Rolton said that luck was running out.
"It's most weeks there'll be shifts that we need to cover and if there's no one to cover them often they are being left uncovered, which is, it's dangerous".
The department relied heavily on locums, temporary doctors that fly in, but they weren't always available and cost more.
Dr Ian Munro also worked in the emergency department, but before that was a locum across the country.
"It's not just the hourly rate it comes with flights and it comes with no accommodation and it comes with a rental car," he said.
"How can there be no funding for the positions when you can afford to pay locums?" said Rolton.
A department on the brink
As well as the staffing issues, there had been a culmination of other pressures that left the department struggling.
The senior doctors 1News spoke to say the urgent care next door has had its own issues with staff and often has shortened hours, which brings more patients into ED.
Sometimes Wairau's emergency department recorded more than 100 patients a day.
"If you come in with something that we need to see within 10 minutes, according to our guidelines, we will get to you probably within half an hour," Munro said.
With usually just two senior doctors on every shift, a gap in the roster can be very challenging for those working.
Dr Stuart Watchman has worked in Wairau Hospital's emergency department for almost 29 years.
He said he would rather not speak publicly about these issues but, like the other doctors interviewed by 1News, doesn't feel he has a choice.
"As doctors we'll just try and work faster and work harder. But there is that potential you could make a mistake when you're working like that," Watchman said.
A fifth doctor, who didn't want to be identified, told 1News the department was "living in crisis all of the time". They described staff as "beyond exhausted" and echoed the ongoing frustration of feeling as though no one was listening to their concerns.
'How much do we have to take?'
About half of the senior doctors in Wairau Hospital's emergency department are eyeing retirement, furthering anxiety about the future.
Watchman said he loves his job, but that he can't keep going on forever.
"If we have four or five people up and gone, what's going to happen? I really worry that I'd have to leave the place in the lurch and understaffed".
"I'll be honest... I can see our department collapsing" Kay said, as Rolton nodded in agreement.
That's echoed too by Munro: "It's at a precipice actually. It's on the brink of falling over".
The doctors' said a big part of their frustration was that they've been raising these same issues for years, with no effect.
"How much do we have to take until enough is enough and it's too much?" Rolton asked.
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Unlike larger hospitals Wairau doesn't have an intensive care unit, a cardiologist or other specialities like ear nose and throat. That means often the emergency department does it all.
"I really genuinely enjoy it but the converse of that is it's a lot more pressure and it's a much much bigger job than it potentially could be elsewhere," Kay said.
Health NZ agrees to more doctors
Phil Wheble has recently been appointed Health New Zealand's group director of operations for Nelson and Marlborough, which makes him responsible for Wairau Hospital.
In an interview with 1News, Wheble agreed more doctors would be hired for the emergency department.
He said while locums would always have a place, the department should not be so reliant upon them.
"What we're wanting to do is develop a permanent staff over there," he said. "That's the best way of doing things going forward and making it sustainable for the team".
He said Health New Zealand had come to this conclusion before 1News started asking questions and denied the department was currently on the brink of collapse.
"Going forward it's about making sure we don't get to that point," Wheble said.
Recruiting staff to smaller regions can be difficult and Wheble said he's been talking to those on the ground about how to ensure the roles are attractive.
"If we can attract people that can work across ED and another service and are able to do that, that helps in a number of ways".
He says training more junior staffing and keeping them here is important too.
"I'm listening and I'm really keen to work with them over there and really passionate around working with teams on the ground finding solutions," Wheble said.
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