Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Major Pharmac review report delayed by lockdown

The Delta variant is a highly contagious Sars-CoV-2 virus strain. Video / Paul Slater

Act says it is "not good enough" an interim report for a much-touted independent Pharmac review has been delayed now for over a month.

Labour had campaigned ahead of last year's election to conduct an independent review into Pharmac, focusing on the timeliness and transparency of its decisions.

The review is due in December, with an interim report due to be provided to Health Minister Andrew Little "no later than August 20".

Little's office told the Herald it had not yet received the interim report, saying it had been delayed due to the latest Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown, which began on August 17 just three days before the report was due.

A spokeswoman said she could not say when the interim report would make it to the Minister, only that it was expected "fairly soon", nor if it would be made public.

Protesters outside Parliament in May calling for increased funding and a review of Pharmac. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Act's deputy leader and health spokeswoman Brooke van Velden said this excuse was unfair to patients involved in the review now left in the dark about its progress.

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"The interim report is now a month overdue and patients who've made a submission in good faith deserve an update," van Velden said.

Act had called for a review last year ahead of the election, with both Labour and National agreeing they would follow through.

Act Party deputy leader and health spokeswoman Brooke van Velden. Photo / George Novak

Van Velden said the interim report should be made public so those who made submissions were not left in the dark about what it was considering.

Similar interim reports had been released in the past, including the Health and Disability System Review in 2019 ahead of its 2020 final release, she said.

As part of moves to improve transparency, Pharmac in July released priority lists for all funding applications for medicines it has assessed but not yet funded for the first time.

The "options for investment" list includes all the applications that would be funded if Pharmac had the budget for them. There are 102 applications on this list covering 71 medicines and related products.

To fund each drug would cost close to half a million dollars - a substantial increase of on the current $1.1 billion budget.

Van Velden said funding of Pharmac needed to be investigated and it was wrong the review would not be looking into funding considerations.

"Now, the Government has dropped the ball again by not following up on the review committee's progress.

"New Zealanders deserve this review to be done properly. And we deserve an update about why the Minister hasn't received this when it was due over a month ago."

Health Minister Andrew Little hasn't received the interim report into the Pharmac review yet. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The independent review panel is chaired by the former Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin and will include corporate governance consultant Frank McLaughlin, experienced health and governance expert Heather Simpson, pharmacist prescriber Leanne Te Karu, preventative and social medicine professor Sue Crengle and disability advocate Dr Tristram Ingham.

The scope includes how well Pharmac performs against its current objectives and whether this could be improved.

It is also to look into the timeliness and transparency of Pharmac's decision-making and equity, including access to medicines and devices for Māori and Pacific peoples.