National says the loss of 24/7 access to a doctor at Rāwene Hospital is "not acceptable".
Dr Shane Reti. Photo: STUFF / Robert Kitchin
Health worker shortages have become so bad there will be no doctor on-site in the evenings or overnight, from next week, at the 26-bed hospital.
It offers rest-home care, geriatric, maternity, urgent care and non-surgical services in the Hokianga area, which falls into the highest deprivation index in Aotearoa.
From Monday, new patients will have to go to Kaitāia or Kawakawa to be seen outside the hours of 8am to 5pm - but those hospitals are another 70 kilometres away - and are having their own staffing shortages.
National's health spokesman Dr Shane Reti (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto) trained at Rāwene, and was "very disappointed for the people of Hokianga".
"And very disappointed for the staff as well, that Andrew Little would put them in this position where they don't have enough staff to deliver that urgent after-hours service," he said.
"Any one day without a service is not acceptable. And, the health workforce has been an issue for months and months and months.
"When I reflect on the fact that some of the worst deprivation statistics are in northern Hokianga, it's even more tragic."
He said patients would be travelling in the night for at least another hour to get to other hospitals, "on roads that cannot be generous".
"It is a significant issue. This is one of the remote and rural hospitals in New Zealand."
Minister of Health Andrew Little said he was "concerned".
"I'm aware that they [Rāwene Hospital] have been struggling to fully staff up," he said.
He said Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand leaders were giving Hauora Hokianga staff, who manage the hospital, "as much support as they can".
Hauora Hokianga chief executive Margareth Broodkoorn (Ngāpuhi) has said the decision to stop after-hours doctor services was made with "great reluctance".
"I am truly sorry that it has come to this, a decision that has not been made lightly without seeking assistance from others and exploring multiple options."
Broodkoorn told RNZ: "I'm worried about the fact that it's going to take extra time for whānau to access health services."
She said the roster gap could last until November.