(File image). Photo: 123RF
Family doctors warn more GP surgeries could close in the next year, with some practices running at a loss.
Earlier this year a large clinic in Tauranga shut its doors, while Invercargill's after-hours service has been under threat.
This month a critically short-staffed GP practice in Lower Hutt stopped seeing most patients face-to-face.
The chair of General Practice New Zealand Dr Bryan Betty said he was aware some clinics were struggling financially and was an intolerable situation for those affected.
It was becoming more common due to to rising costs, and a failed funding formula, he said.
"That is certainly starting to cause significant pressure and stress in the system and we expect there probably, or potentially could be, more practices running into problems over the next 12 months."
Betty said up to half of surgeries were restricting access or not taking on new patients due to staff shortages.
Access to medical care in the community was a basic right for patients and being unable to see a doctor led to poor outcomes, he said.
It was hard for frontline medical staff, said Betty.
"They find this situation very distressing. No one likes what's emerging here and all want urgent action to try and reduce the issue."
This had serious implications, he said.
"This is bad for the health of New Zealanders.
"If you can't access medical care in the community that is your general practice or medical centre, it means that conditions can be left late till the only place you can go is to an emergency department or a hospital for treatment."
Betty said that put additional pressure on EDs and hospitals.
'Life or death' consequences - patient group
Meanwhile, a patient advocacy group said the fact GPs were turning away new patients meant the health system was in crisis.
Patient Voice Aotearoa chairperson Malcolm Mulholland said he knew the situation was bad, but did not realise it was getting worse.
There could be life or death consequences in some cases, such as cancer, he said.
"The longer it's left, and the later it's diagnosed, then the more chances are you'll be diagnosed with having an advanced cancer, which means that it's terminal."
It also meant more people would turn up at emergency departments with more complicated problems, he said.