The New Zealand Orthopaedic Association has called for a national taskforce on orthopaedic surgery to avert ''a looming crisis''.
President Richard Keddell said the sector would be unable to cope with a forecast doubling of the number of hip and knee replacements by 2026 without significant changes.
New Zealand was training between nine and 12 orthopaedic surgeons each year, which needed to increase.
''We need to start exploring things like having longer operating hours, with better use of resources, as well as using more of the capacity available in private hospitals.''
About 8700 knee and hip replacements are carried out in the public health system every year.
In response, Ministry of Health electives and national services manager Jessica Smaling said the rate of people receiving surgery was steadily increasing, and was outpacing population growth.
