Frontline workers joined the protest. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
A nursing leader says it is not too late for the government to reconsider its plan to scale down Dunedin Hospital's redevelopment.
Some 35,000 people protested in Dunedin yesterday after ministers announced they would either reduce the size of the project] or complete it in stages.
A report commissioned by the government found the current plans could not be delivered within the current $1.88 billion budget. The government said the planned redevelopment needed to stay within its current budget and would either need to be reduced, or done in stages, amid fears the cost could balloon to $3b.
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Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels said the government had the option to rethink its decision, and invest in a fit-for-purpose hospital for the southern region, "instead of a hospital that is going to cost not only money down the line, but lives in the very short term, and that is not acceptable.
"But if they choose to force this decision through, those lives will lay at their doorstep."
The huge turnout at Saturday's protest showed Otago residents would not back down until the government reconsidered its proposal, she said.
The protesters were angry, and had sent a clear message to the Government.
"If they're intelligent enough, they will listen, and they will think about it. I am a person who always says to the new nurses, and the students, 'Always ask questions, and always learn from your mistakes.' I say the same thing to this government."
People had travelled from Queenstown, Invercargill and Christchurch to attend the protest, which showed how strongly the community felt about the need for a better hospital for the southern region, she said.
Coasters turn out over healthcare fears
Meanwhile, the senior doctors' union was disappointed no one from the government was in Westport on Saturday to listen to about 1000 people who were protesting against healthcare cuts.
From Tuesday, urgent care GP clinics in the Buller district will be replaced with an after-hours phone and video consultation service.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton said the protesters made it clear that was not good enough.
"It was incredibly frustrating that there was no one from the government, no one from Te Whatu Ora, not senior staff, not commissioner to listen and to see the impact that these proposed cuts are going to have on these communities."
The scale of the protests in Dunedin and Westport on Saturday showed how much access to healthcare mattered, she said.
"I think it's a really clear message, whether people are urban or rural, live in a city or in a very remote setting, whether it's about buildings, or the people we need to staff the buildings, New Zealanders care deeply about their ability to access healthcare."