But this does not mean the Southern Highlands should adopt supermarket-style medical centres run by corporations where profit is the main motive, like those starting to crop-up in capital cities, Dr Parker said.

Her comments follow a recent survey of 1250 patients by Australian Doctor and Pfizer Australia that found patients prefer smaller, even single-operator, general practice sizes.

"Although we have 50 GPs, the area is growing and the area is aging and it's frustrating for doctors and patients," Dr Parker said.

But with GP numbers in the Southern Highlands already over-stretched - a Southern Highlands GP responsible for 1200 patients, 200 above the recommended ratio of 1000 patients per GP - the traditional "cottage industry" style of general practice is not the mainstay it once was.

That patients surveyed seemed to prefer small practices with full, sometimes closed, patient lists, was contrary to the many developments in general practice in recent years, she said.

Practices were going towards larger team-based practices with several GPs and an allied health professional or two, and was the best way to implement chronic disease management (CDM), which focuses more on keeping people with chronic conditions, such as arthritis and diabetes, out of hospital.