Senior medical specialists say Health Minister Andrew Little is in denial about how bad the health sector really is.
On Friday, they grilled Minister Little at a conference in Wellington and told him the system is at breaking point.
A full room of doctors faced off against the Health Minister and pleaded for more support to save the sector.
"The very resilient people who are SMOs [senior medical officers] who have just sucked it up for years - they can't do it anymore," one person said.
Another person said: "We'd like to know what you are going to do in terms of retention because lots of us are leaving and burnt out."
A third said: "It is insane and why are we in this position."
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists' annual conference heard that one in 10 doctors are looking to leave - like nurses, they're overworked and exhausted and don't see any light at the end of the tunnel.
"For those of us at the front line there really isn't any hope that things are going to get better on any time frame that we look along," Dr Sylvia Boys said.
Association of Salaried Medical specialists' Sarah Dalton said: "There is a crisis. That is what they perceive that is what is causing them moral injury and being unable to practice safely."
A health system they claim is on the brink of collapse - but Minister Little refused to acknowledge there is a crisis.
"I've repeatedly acknowledged the incredibly challenging circumstances that we are in."
Minister Little also said it was the result of a "really tough winter" off the back of two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and there is continuing work to fill staffing gaps.
"While the system is under pressure, people turning up to EDs should expect to wait longer than they expect to or wait longer than is desirable," Minister Little said.
His response was a bit weak in some doctors' opinions.
"What our members who senior doctors and dentists [who are] largely hospital-based, are saying is that daily they are under crushing pressures," Dalton said.
Doctors warn that unless a creative solution is found and fast, patients will continue to get sub-optimal care - or potentially no care.
