Health NZ says plans are in place to maintain mental health services in Whakatāne during a three-month absence of its only permanent psychiatrist — but senior doctors’ representatives warn the situation highlights ongoing staffing pressures in the region.

The psychiatrist is due to take long-planned sabbatical leave from May, prompting concern from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) about how services will be maintained in an already stretched system.

Health NZ Bay of Plenty group director operations Sarah Fenwick said the service would continue to operate safely.

“Robust mitigation plans are in place to ensure continuity of care,” she said. “These include the use of locum psychiatrists, additional support from nurse practitioners and clinicians, telehealth services, and ongoing support from Tauranga-based teams.”

She said there would be no reduction in inpatient capacity at Whakatāne Hospital’s mental health unit, which has 10 beds and typically operates at around 70 percent occupancy.

“Patients continue to be prioritised based on clinical need, and crisis mental health services remain available 24/7,” Ms Fenwick said.

Ms Fenwick added that recruitment efforts were ongoing, with multiple offers made over the past year.

“While these roles remain challenging to fill, recruitment continues, alongside the use of locum and visiting clinicians to maintain safe service provision.”

However, the ASMS says the situation remains concerning.

Senior industrial officer Chan Dixon said the region had effectively been operating with just one permanent psychiatrist for some time, supported by locums and visiting specialists from Tauranga.

“From the start of May, there is going to be no permanent psychiatrist based in Whakatāne,” she said.

Psychiatrists play a critical role in mental health care, including prescribing medication and carrying out compulsory assessment and treatment processes under the Mental Health Act.

Ms Dixon said Whakatāne should ideally have three permanent psychiatrists but had been understaffed for at least 18 months.

“Even if they were fully staffed, it would still be difficult to provide full 24/7 cover,” she said. “At the moment, they rely heavily on Tauranga-based psychiatrists who travel to Whakatāne and stay overnight to cover after-hours care.”

Ms Fenwick said recruitment was ongoing, with multiple offers made over the past year. “While these roles remain challenging to fill, recruitment efforts are ongoing, alongside continued use of locum support and visiting clinicians to maintain safe clinical service provision.”

The mental health service includes an inpatient unit at Whakatāne Hospital, a crisis team responding to urgent cases in the community, and wider community mental health services across a large geographical area stretching to Kawerau and beyond Ōpōtiki.

Ms Dixon said staffing shortages often meant psychiatrists were pulled away from community work to cover more acute services, creating an “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” situation.

“If community care is understaffed, more people are likely to deteriorate and require crisis or inpatient care.”

She said Health NZ had been aware for more than a year that the psychiatrist planned to take sabbatical leave, which had previously been deferred due to staffing shortages. “In our view, Health NZ has not acted as quickly or as strongly as they should have.”

Ms Dixon also pointed to broader workforce challenges in psychiatry, which she described as one of the most under-resourced specialties nationally.

“Only psychiatrists can carry out certain legal processes under the Mental Health Act, so the after-hours burden is significant,” she said.

While acknowledging the national shortage, she said smaller centres like Whakatāne faced particular challenges attracting and retaining staff.

“We have been saying to them for over a year, we need to focus on psychiatry in Whakatane as we’ll reach crisis point if we don’t engage on this.”

Health NZ said it remained committed to building a sustainable workforce for the future, but in the meantime, would continue to rely on a mix of locum staff, visiting specialists and multidisciplinary support to maintain services.