"They said 'no sorry, we are full'.
"I asked them what were we meant to do and they said 'go to your own doctor', which wasn't ideal, my doctor being in Napier."
She said she was not offered the opportunity to go on a waiting list to register with a local doctor, and was also concerned that no services were available after 5pm.
"People who need help after 5pm have to call an ambulance - that's almost $100.
"I think with the influx of people they need to look at what they are doing - are little towns like this equipped to handle these extra people?"
In Waipukurau Tukituki Medical Centre has four fulltime GPs, two part-time GPs and a GP registrar, and was working towards recruiting more GPs in the coming months.
In a statement, the centre's doctors said they also provided after-hours care, ran clinics each weekend as well as statutory holidays, and provided medical support to the inpatient medical ward at CHB Health Centre, which was run and administered by the Hawke's Bay District Health Board (HBDHB).
"While this is not an accident and emergency centre we do endeavour to provide a general practice service to unregistered or visiting patients when possible."
They said that for some time now they had been unable to automatically enrol patients, except those with severe, chronic health issues.
"However, a waiting list system is in place and waiting times for enrolment with GPs will vary depending on several factors, mainly the severity of one's medical issues," they said.
They noted that many other general practices, both nationally and internationally, operated a waiting list to enrol new patients as they worked to recruit more GPs and other support staff, which could be more challenging in rural areas.
"We are informed that the enrolment situation in CHB is no worse than the average for the whole of New Zealand.
"All over the rest of Hawke's Bay region almost all practices currently operate waiting lists."
Green Cross Health communications and brand manager-medical Jo-Ann Young said at The Doctors Waipawa there were normally two doctors, but at the moment one was unable to work and a replacement should be in place by June.
"At the moment the one GP has 2100 enrolled patients, who is supported by nurses and a nurse practitioner - they are unable take on new patients, but we are hoping that will change in June."
She said casual patients were seen when necessary, and that the practice worked in with The Doctors Hastings to meet patients' needs.
She noted that preparations were under way to fill the gaps in light of predictions that 44 per cent of GPs were due to retire around the country in the next 10 years.
Health Hawke's Bay (HHB) and HBDHB were also actively working together on a variety of initiatives to support health care services in rural communities, including Central Hawke's Bay, said a DHB spokesperson.
Across New Zealand, rural towns remained challenging places to appoint general practitioners and in Hawke's Bay active recruitment was ongoing with a focus not just on GPs, but on building up health care teams and capabilities where some traditional GP visits could also be managed by nurse practitioners or clinical pharmacists, they said.
In December 2017, HHB appointed a fulltime person whose role was dedicated to workforce development within general practice and the wider primary care network in Hawke's Bay, and also invested more than $400,000 in CHB last year on new state-of-the-art digital radiology equipment.
"This new technology allows instant image access giving radiologists in Hastings the ability to view images in real-time, meaning immediate advice or opinion can be shared with the relevant clinician in CHB."
The DHB was holding an "In Your Shoes" patient journey workshop on February 27 at St Andrew's Hall in Waipukurau to hear from locals about their recent healthcare experiences. People could register to attend by emailing biglisten@hawkesbaydhb.govt.nz.
