The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has made calls for the Government to urgently train more GPs as communities, particularly in rural areas such as the Waikato, feel the strain from reduced ability to see a doctor.
At the same time, the University of Waikato expressed hopes to set up a new medical school as it would inevitably result in increased medical staff for the surrounding area while they studied.
Age Concern Hamilton has also pledged its support for the call, with chief executive Gail Gilbert saying an increasing number of elderly people are requiring a traditional family GP.
"There is a real shortage of GPs. From what I understand, GPs particularly in rural areas are getting towards retirement age and there simply aren't enough new doctors being trained to replace them when they go, so for older people in rural areas that is a real big worry," said Gilbert.
At present, 57 per cent of GPs are aged over 50, with more than 40 per cent of GPs intending to retire in the next 10 years.
"I think the whole system has changed over the years, and for older people who are used to having a family doctor who saw them through their life, their children's lives and possibly their grandchildren's lives as well, that sort of system rarely exists anymore," said Gilbert.
"The whole population has got to get used to the idea that there's more technology going to be involved. That's the reality of it, and for older people that's quite a challenge for them, to get used to that idea that they can't have this family doctor that they see for their whole lifetime."
Age Concern's national chief executive Stephanie Clare said the NZ Health Survey results in 2014 showed that 14 per cent of New Zealanders chose not to see a GP because of excessive cost, adding to the overall GP crisis for older people.
"Many of Age Concern's members are among that number," she said.
"They are on fixed and often quite small incomes.
"We hear cases of older people putting off seeing a doctor until they can present with several health issues at once.
"That's definitely not good for anyone's health and often our members are the ones who most need good access to health care."
Clare said the changing structure of GP consultations meant families and older people would only be doing a 'doctor of the day,' rather than having an assurance that there regular family doctor would be available.
She said investment in primary healthcare would offset significant costs in the national health budget in the future.
"It will also have a very positive human benefit.
"Age Concern fully supports the college's calls for more doctors and more funding of primary care."