Seymour tells Pharmac to drop Treaty considerations

Tuesday, 16 July 2024

Associate Health Minister David Seymour has told Pharmac to no longer consider the Treaty of Waitangi in its decision-making.

Seymour has also outlined expectations around faster decision-making, improved public trust and better management of medical devices in his first Letter of Expectations to the agency’s chairperson, Paula Bennett.

At a stakeholder event at Pharmac on Tuesday afternoon, Seymour told a room of patient advocates, drug company representatives and medicines lobbyists that he was a great believer in te Tiriti, “but it has to be relevant to the task”.

While the Treaty expectation was outlined in the previous year’s letter, Seymour did not believe the expectation was still appropriate.

“I think Pharmac has burnt a lot of energy, trying to fulfil this commitment to include the Treaty in everything that they do.

“We're being very clear that they have an obligation to serve every single New Zealander based on their need. Once you have committed to doing this, you don't actually need anything else.”

He did not believe health outcomes would suffer as a result.

Seymour was a strong advocate for decisions around medicines funding and access to be informed by the expertise of health professionals, independent of influence from Ministers.

The Letter of Expectations outlines Seymour’s expectations for the agency over the coming year and follows a record $604 million investment into Pharmac’s medicines budget.

That investment, over four years, is expected to buy at least 54 medicines, as a way of making good on National’s election promise to buy more cancer drugs.

Bennett described Seymour’s letter as “quite demanding”.

“There's no doubt about it that there will be a lot of work and so, you know, we will make as we have done and we will work within our budget…

“Clearly … he wants Pharmac to have a good look at itself as far as an organisation and the culture that it's got, where it's heading, how it is working with you … because if you're not a patient now or haven’t got someone that you love that is, you're bound to soon.

“What this organisation does affects every single one of us, at some stage.”

Patient advocate Malcolm Mulholland said the letter was “really positive” but the question would be whether Pharmac had the resources to implement the changes.

“At the moment, it’s fair to say Pharmac has got their hands full, and a common bug bear that we hear is Pharmac is already under-resourced as it is.”

In response to a question about resourcing, Bennett said: “It’s a lot and, since the very exciting news of new funding, the team haven’t been running, they’ve been sprinting”.

Seymour said the coming year would examine budget bids to consider whether more spending was justified to implement the changes he wanted.

“If you can demonstrate pharmaceutical treatments can save [money] … then I think we can justify that resource and that’s going to be the challenge.”

Seymour said he expected Pharmac to work faster and more efficiently with patients, clinicians, suppliers and the health sector.

“Pharmac currently works closely and effectively with a range of people and organisations. I want this to expand, to further optimise the provision of medicines, with a focus on listening to the voice of patients and reducing barriers to make medicine delivery faster, more efficient, and more cost effective.”