It follows the service going without a doctor between 10.30pm on Sunday and 7am on Monday because the rostered staffer was sick, and Health NZ could not find anyone to cover the shift.
Patient Voice Aotearoa co-founder Malcolm Mulholland said while there were no reports that any patients were harmed, it showed that Health NZ and the Government did not have any back up plans to service Porirua’s large and vulnerable population of more than 100,000 people.
“Let’s not forget that Health NZ and the Government wanted to cut this service last year but did a U-turn because the community stood up to them,” Mulholland said.
“The same 24-hour service in Napier was another they wanted to chop but like Porirua, its community stood up too and said ‘no'”.
He did not want to see what happened in Buller happen in Porirua or Napier, “more so because they aren’t rural areas – they have huge and vulnerable populations”.
“The best thing we can do right now is ‘watch’, monitor and get ready as communities, patient advocates, iwi and unions to fight for these services.”
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) executive director Sarah Dalton also weighed in on the Kenepuru concern.
“It shows that there’s no wriggle room in the current budget and rosters at Kenepuru. It also shows that Health NZ has gone with the status quo – no investment.”
She believed Health NZ was relying too much on the telehealth model rather than in person support.
“Porirua has told them that they want local access to doctors and nurses. They don’t want to be getting care services over the phone.
“They are treating Porirua like a rural town when it’s actually an urban centre.”
NZNO delegate at Kenepuru Hospital Hayden Wallace said Porirua communities would fight again if the service was put back on the chopping block.
“Our community and iwi of Porirua are keeping this service alive. The Government will have a huge fight on their hands if they decide again to mess with this service.”
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