BCAC Chair Libby Burgess has welcomed Minister Seymour’s latest Letter of Expectations for Pharmac, in which he encourages the medicines funder to continue on its path of reform.
As a member of Pharmac’s Consumer and Patient Working Group over the last 12 months, Libby witnessed at first hand Pharmac’s efforts to reset its culture and processes.
“They invited some of their harshest critics into the room”, Libby said of the group of patient advocates. “Finally we had the chance to express the pain and frustration that patients have experienced with ‘old’ Pharmac’s processes and decisions.”
Libby said the group spoke honestly and felt heard, having input into values, strategy and processes, as well as pushing for timeliness, transparency, engagement and more.
“Having engaged with Pharmac as a consumer advocate for 21 years, I can at last see a real commitment to positive change under new CEO Natalie McMurtry’s leadership.” Libby said.
Seymour’s Letter of Expectations echoed this, stating “It is clear that the organisation has done significant work to earn the respect of its stakeholders and is more willing to look at new ways of operating.”
The Minister expects that this work will continue, improving access to medicines and medical technology, building productive partnerships and continuously improving organisational culture and capability.
While acknowledging a "difficult fiscal and economic environment" the Minister expressed his belief that "Pharmac remains well-placed to deliver more medicines and medical technologies". He also said he would like to see Pharmac making budget requests "in a manner which maintains independence but supports additional investment".
“Even with a drive for greater efficiency and improved processes at Pharmac, there is still a significant need for additional investment” said Libby, citing a recent report from Medicines New Zealand showing that New Zealand patients have the poorest publicly-funded access to modern medicines out of 20 comparable OECD countries.
“I was not surprised but it was still heartbreaking to read that New Zealand funded only 5% of modern medicines over the last ten years compared to Australia’s 25%, the UK’s 46% and Germany’s 58%.” said Libby.
The report also showed that New Zealand funds far fewer modern medicines across all major therapy areas for its patients than Australia and takes twice as long to do so. BCAC is only too aware of this – 18 breast cancer medicines publicly-funded in Australia remain out of reach for most New Zealanders.
“I’m encouraged by recent changes at Pharmac, but we still have a huge need for better access to medicines in this country” said Libby.
28 June
