The head of the nurses' union is "gobsmacked" by St John's plan to get rid of volunteers in hospital emergency departments, and says patients will suffer without them.
St John is axing a raft of volunteer programmes by June next year because they were not aligned with its new 10-year strategy.
The charity had 1100 volunteers supporting patients in emergency departments, being companions for long stay patients, and helping people find their way around hospitals. They also visit rest homes, reading to residents and helping with grocery shopping.
Nurses' Organisation president Anne Daniels said the volunteers were critical in the emergency department she works in.
"They are with the patients when we can't be with them because of our workloads," she said.
"They get cups of tea, they talk to the patients, they hold their hands. They come and talk to the nurses when a patient needs something, they're just there."
Patients would be more at risk without them, she said.
"I've had situations where a volunteer has come up to me and said 'I'm not sure that this patient is okay', and asked me to go and check them, and sure enough, they have been in dire need of emergency care."
St John said the move was not about cutting costs, but Daniels did not buy that.
"I believe that they are narrowing their scope of the help that they are actually giving to their communities," she said.
"This is going to have a huge impact on hospitals, the costs are going to soar, the patient harm is going to soar and families and communities are going to be harmed.
"I'm gobsmacked. I just cannot believe that this is real."
St John said it had to make some tough decisions as it looked to its 10-year strategy.
"This change is not about cost saving but ensuring the work we do has the greatest impact and is aligned with our strategic goal of helping people to achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes," it said in a statement.
Its deputy chief executive Pete Loveridge said it was working with volunteers to help "transition" them by June next year.
"In all deep honesty, I want to ensure these volunteers can still contribute in the same way they are doing now, and we are going to be working over the next 10 months to look for new providers to continue those services," he said.
St John was looking into having hospitals and rest homes take over the volunteer programmes, it said.
But a support service said providers are already too stretched to take on the volunteers St John wants to cut off.
Presbyterian Support executive officer Prudence Stone said the decision will mean "grave" outcomes.
"No-one in the community has management resource to spare, so if Hato Hone is hoping for the community to step up and take on those volunteers and those volunteer services it couldn't be at a worse time," she said.
"Most of us in the community and voluntary sector have recently been or currently face restructure just like Hato Hone, and that's due to leaner budgets year-on-year with less, or simply stable funding up against a persistent rise in service demand and ongoing inflation," she said.
"I'm really worried for us all, any one of us could need one of these people, one of these volunteers that Hato Hone currently provides after an accident, we might be lost and lonely in a hospital - they make a colossal difference."
Health NZ has been approached for comment.
In a statement, Aged Care Association chief Tracey Martin said while volunteers had made "incredible contributions" they were the 'cream on the cake' to complement the system.
"It is concerning to hear repeated suggestions from government Ministers that the unpaid and volunteer workforce will need to 'step up' to address the growing challenges in aged care," she said.
"No responsible government should build a healthcare system reliant on volunteers, nor should organisations like St John be expected to shoulder the administrative and logistical burden of coordinating these volunteers."
