Access to GPs, staff shortages, long waits for care and the loss of local services were among the concerns raised at a Patient Voice Aotearoa roadshow in Whakatāne this week

With key speakers Malcolm Mulholland, Patient Voice chairman, and Dr David Galler, Kaitiaki Hauora spokesman, the nationwide roadshow is visiting 25 centres to hear directly from communities about their experiences of the health system.

“We have gone everywhere, just to try to take the pulse of communities and where they are at with the health system,” Dr Mulholland said.

The Whakatāne meeting highlighted concerns about mental health staffing and care, pressure on the hospital’s emergency department (ED) and access to diagnostic services.

Dr Mulholland said Whakatāne Hospital recorded about 25,000 ED presentations between July 2024 and June 2025, with the number of people leaving before being seen also increasing.

Between July 2023 and June 2024, about 2000 people left without being seen. That rose to 2500 in the following 12 months.

“Those are the people who walk into ED and give up because they are waiting too long.”

Dr Mulholland said demand for diagnostic services at Whakatāne Hospital was also high compared with other rural hospitals, with about 30,000 scans carried out over a year.

The meeting also heard concerns about access to primary care, with some patients waiting three to four weeks for an appointment. One attendee with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) said he had been unable to secure an acute appointment.

Dr Mulholland said there were calls for improved access to services such as skin clinics, as well as concerns about the concentration of health management in Tauranga.

“Whakatāne being the poor cousins of Tauranga” was the sentiment expressed by some attendees.

Radiology was another concern, with participants questioning why Whakatāne did not have an MRI scanner while Tauranga had seven.

The meeting also discussed alcohol and drug treatment, with concerns that some people were being held in police cells when they needed access to appropriate treatment facilities.

A lack of residential mental health care was another issue raised.

Dr Mulholland said some people in the community needed more intensive support than could be provided through existing services.

“If they had a facility to go to where they could rest for several months and try and improve their mental health, I think that would be of great benefit.”

He suggested such facilities could also help some people experiencing homelessness who needed more intensive mental health support.

Staffing shortages remained a major concern, he said, with similar issues being raised at other stops on the roadshow.

“I get the same message in other communities.”

There was also positive news for the region, with Dr Mulholland saying it was encouraging to hear that staffing issues behind the downgrade of obstetrics and gynaecology services at Whakatāne Hospital had largely been resolved.

“It sounds like they are just about at full staffing levels,” he said.

The roadshow began in Bluff and was due to finish at Cape Reinga, gathering community feedback on access to care and the pressures facing health services.