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Meanwhile, seventy-one-year-old Lynne McLaughlin​ is ill with emphysema, a chronic inflammatory lung disease. But she won’t be able to see a GP at her medical centre in Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, for more than two weeks, and will head to the emergency department if her condition worsens.
Ross Giblin/Stuff
“It is just ridiculous,” she says.
The difficulties the two women face point to a major general practitioner shortage across the country that was expected to worsen.
On average, GPs are 53 years old and nearly half are due to retire over the next decade. But there aren’t enough doctors coming through to replace them, says Dr Bryan Betty, medical director of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP). ....

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