Minister David Seymour claims Pharmac ‘burned energy’ considering Treaty as he sets expectations

Pharmac Minister David Seymour claims the drug-buying agency “burned a lot of energy” considering the Treaty of Waitangi as he directs Pharmac to refrain from doing so.

It is one of several directives in his letter of expectations given to Pharmac in May that includes improving public trust and increasing consultation with patients and advocacy groups.

Seymour, who as Act Party leader has long campaigned for decreasing the Treaty’s application in Government, said the agency had “burned a lot of energy” on considering the Treaty as part of its work and inferred paying staff to do so was a waste of money as it wasn’t directly tied to Pharmac’s core role to purchase drugs and technologies.

“I do not believe this is an appropriate expectation to place on Pharmac,” Seymour said in his letter.

“Pharmac’s role should focus on delivering improved health outcomes underpinned by robust data and evidence, in accordance with its statutory responsibilities. This should serve all New Zealanders based on actual need, without assigning their background as a proxy of need.”

While he said there was no proof considering the Treaty had led to poorer health outcomes, Seymour believed it distracted from good outcomes.

He noted he wasn’t opposed to considering ethnicity when delivering healthcare in cases where it was warranted, but said that was rare.

Labour’s health spokeswoman Dr Ayesha Verrall claimed Seymour’s directive took New Zealand backwards.

“There will be a lot of missed opportunities for improving the healthcare of New Zealanders without considering Te Tiriti.”

Also central to Seymour’s letter was a call for Pharmac to be more transparent and to consider the long-term financial benefits of funding a drug, instead of simply working to their budgeted spend.

Seymour’s request for transparency included engaging patients, carers, families and advocacy groups in decision-making processes.

Pharmac board chairwoman Paula Bennett said it wasn’t “going to be easy to be as transparent as people want us to be”, given the nature of contract negotiations.

Pharmac chairwoman Paula Bennett said the organisation wanted to change for the better. Photo / Mark Mitchell

However, she was adamant Pharmac would engage better with stakeholders and make significant improvements to public’s trust in the agency within the next 24 months.

“This is an organisation that wants to do better,” she said.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking, Bennett said the executive was aligned with her and Seymour’s views.

”There are different views and people have been under one letter of expectation and regime from a very different minister, so there is still a lot of discussion to go on.

”They are having to say no more than they can say yes. They do care about New Zealanders and want to deliver more medicines, but they haven’t had the budget to do that,” she said.

”As a consequence, there has been a lot of frustration and anger; as a consequence, they have perhaps closed themselves in instead of going more outward.”

Seymour’s letter indicated a view Pharmac was struggling to maintain public trust and build positive relationships with stakeholders.

His letter asked Bennett to ensure stakeholders understood “how Pharmac operates, that its legitimacy, credibility and trust is enhanced, and that all feedback and ideas are dealt with respectfully and valued”.

He added Pharmac should report to him regularly about how it was improving organisational culture and stakeholder settlement.

Pharmac’s considering the long-term financial savings of its funding decisions had long been called for by Seymour and was included in his letter.

“The Government is therefore proposing to reform Pharmac’s funding model to account for positive fiscal impacts on the Crown of funding more medical technologies and I will be seeking to work with Pharmac and the Ministry of Health on progressing this element of the Government’s agenda.”

Seymour was confident his Cabinet colleagues would support the approach, which would likely result in higher spending from the Government. He said his letter had been endorsed by Cabinet.

Patient Voice Aotearoa chairman Malcolm Mulholland commended that aspect of Seymour’s letter, saying “cost containment” had become the sole focus for Pharmac instead of health outcomes.

“This has been the major concern of patient advocates since the inception of Pharmac 31 years ago.”

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.