Documentary makers spent a year filming inside a small 30-bed hospital in Oamaru under financial pressure.

That documentary, Emergency Medicine: A Year at Oamaru Hospital, "was one of those films that was simply an honour to make", directors Paul Trotman and Malcolm Hall said.

"To see the doctors and nurses going above and beyond the call of duty to help even the most frustrating of patients, and to do it with good grace and good humour was very special."

Supplied The documentary, Emergency Medicine: A Year at Oamaru Hospital, will screen on TV3 at 9.30pm on Thursday, August 13.

Oamaru Hospital continues to be under financial pressure, with the Southern District Health Board proposing to cut its funding by half a million dollars.

That pressure includes management struggling to fill vacancies, and staff skipping meal breaks and staying late to cover gaps in rosters.

Robert Gonzales, the chief executive officer or Waitaki District Health Services, said that "People in rural communities need to know that if they are unlucky enough to be seriously ill or injured, then the system is there to 'save' them".

"Emergency and/or acute health care response cannot be taken for granted in rural areas and recruitment and retention of health professionals and having a hospital in the area are paramount.

"Generally speaking, people in rural and remote areas very much prefer to be cared for in their local environment."

Peter Rodwell, Oamaru Hospital Emergency Medicine specialist, said, "I always enjoy serving people but more importantly rural people deserve quality health care just as their urban counter parts expect quality health care at their local hospital".

"Expecting rural people to travel large distances or providing them with a local substandard 'tin pot' hospital is not acceptable. It is this quality basic healthcare that we at Oamaru Hospital try to provide."

The documentary will screen on TV3, Thursday, August 13 at 9.30pm.