Calls for the employment of resident doctors to keep the emergency department of Porirua's Kenepuru Hospital open

The after hours is currently staffed overnight by temporary GPs, costing 170-thousand dollars per month.

Locals are concerned over a proposal to remove after-hours medical care altogether.

Resident Doctors Association National Secretary . Deborah Powell says allowing trainee doctors to be employed, as every other emergency department in the country does, is the answer.

She says it's time Health New Zealand played ball and accepted the proposal.