From Tuesday, urgent care GP clinics in the Buller district will be replaced with an after-hours phone and video consultation service.
Sarah Dalton, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director, said the protesters made it clear that was not good enough.
"It was incredibly frustrating that there was no one from the government, no one from Te Whatu Ora, not senior staff, not commissioner to listen and to see the impact that these proposed cuts are going to have on these communities."
The scale of the protests in Dunedin and Westport on Saturday showed how much access to healthcare mattered, she said.
"I think it's a really clear message, whether people are urban or rural, live in a city or in a very remote setting, whether it's about buildings, or the people we need to staff the buildings, New Zealanders care deeply about their ability to access healthcare."
