A Lower Hutt man with a sick child was shocked to find a queue outside the city's after-hours medical centre before it was scheduled to open.
Mohamed, who didn't want his last name used, said he arrived at the Lower Hutt After Hours Medical Centre just before 5:30pm on Monday.
He couldn't believe the queue of people waiting to enter the medical centre at the 5:30pm opening time - some of whom were waiting in the cold with their children, he said.
Mohamed said there was a two-week wait to get an appointment at their regular GP for his 2-year-old child, who was suffering from a bad cold and eczema. He therefore had "no choice" but to attend the after-hours clinic, he said.
"I saw the line and I'm like, 'This is really bad - there are kids standing out in the cold,'" he told Newshub.
"It opened at about 5:30pm, we got in and it got even worse - there were all these people standing really [close] beside each other. There weren't enough seats and there were people standing around - [it was] so crowded.
"There were too many people for a small medical centre."
The medical centre has been approached for comment.
This latest incident comes amid reports of after-hours medical centres being close to collapsing in some New Zealand regions due to cost pressures and short staffing.
Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora said it recognised after-hours delivery was challenging for many areas across the country.
"We know that retaining in person after-hours services has become more challenging for a range of reasons, including workforce and sustainability pressures. Where PHOs (primary health organisations) struggle to provide after-hours services, we work with them to identify local solutions," said Te Whatu Ora planned and unplanned care group manager Tim Wood. "We have committed to working closely with the PHOs to ensure accessible after-hours and urgent care services are available on an ongoing basis.
"In 2023 Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora commissioned a review of primary care, including urgent care, funding models. As part of this, an assessment of current state viability and recommendations to stabilise the existing urgent care and after-hours system was completed in November 2023.
"The findings informed a rapid injection of $17m (on an annual basis) into urgent care services across New Zealand earlier this year."
Wood said that injection was to stabilise services "but we know there is more work to do".
"We will be initiating an urgent care service development, as part of a wider primary care development programme," he added. "We will be looking to address... issues including inconsistent pricing, inconsistent service hours, variable models of care, use of alternative workforces, use of telehealth and inconsistent co-payment rules across the country.
"A range of telehealth services are available for patients to obtain clinical advice both in hours and out of hours. Options include Healthline for 24/7 free health advice from a registered nurse.
"As always, our hospital's emergency departments across the motu are available to see any patient who requires urgent treatment."
This article was amended on May 16 because it incorrectly stated the Lower Hutt After Hours Medical Centre operated under Green Cross Health's High St Hub Clinic. The after hours centre in fact operates separately from the High St Health Hub and has been amended accordingly.
