Emergency department doctors say they are turning up to work on Friday with no idea if there will be enough security guards to keep them safe.
The government paid for 200 extra guards across some hospitals over summer, and the last of that funding finished on Thursday.
Te Whatu Ora says it won't be deciding on what it does next until it reviews the summer boost.
But in a statement to Morning Report the Minister Shane Reti says the agency can re-allocate some of its funding to ensure there are more guards at the most high risk EDs until the first of July.
Australasian College for Emergency Medicine New Zealand chair Kate Allan spoke to Corin Dann
