Minutes of Consumer and Patient Working Group meetings

The meeting was held online from 9am to 11am.  

30 July 2025 meeting minute [PDF, 135 KB]

Present:

• Dr Malcolm Mulholland (Chair)
• Tim Edmonds
• Chris Higgins
• Francesca Holloway
• Gerard Rushton
• Rachel Smalley (Deputy Chair)
• Tracy Tierney
• Deon York

Pharmac staff in attendance

• Jannel Fisher (Reset Programme Manager)
• Michael Johnson (Director Strategy, Policy and Performance)

 Apologies

• Libby Burgess
• Trent Lash

1. Karakia and welcome

Opening by the Chair

2. Minutes of previous meeting

Minutes of the previous meeting minutes were approved.

• Moved by: Tracy
• Seconded by: Francesca

3. Interest register

Updates and declarations were noted.

4. Pae Ora legislation discussion

The group discussed potential amendments to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 and the advice to be provided to Associate Minister of Health, Minister Seymour.

Director Strategy, Policy and Performance confirmed that:

• Changes to Pharmac legislation can be introduced at the Health Select Committee stage
• Pharmac provides advice to Ministers and the Ministry of Health but will not at this time submit directly to the Health Select Committee.
• Minister Brown is the Minister responsible for the Pae Ora legislation.

Concerns were raised by members about the phrase “from within the available funds” in Pharmac’s statutory objective. Some members viewed it as an unnecessary constraint and misaligned with patient and consumer expectations. Others noted that budget references are inconsistent with other government agencies and already required under the Crown Entities Act and Public Finance Act.

Members discussed potential unintended consequences of removing the phrase, including its impact on commercial negotiations and government accountability. While Pharmac’s ability to seek out-of-cycle funding was acknowledged, concerns were raised that current budget bids cannot reflect patient and system-level impact and may disadvantage Pharmac.  

The group emphasised the need for statutory objectives to be enabling and future-focused to support the 5-year reform. Members saw an opportunity to strengthen the objectives to reflect a whole-of-system approach, allowing for budget bids that demonstrate broader fiscal and societal benefits. It was also noted that the HTA framework is fundamental and there was disappointment that the budget bid to support this work was unsuccessful.

Additional suggestions for statutory objective changes included:

• Emphasising innovation and timely access
• Including societal and fiscal impacts
• Strengthening equity language
• Changing language from pharmaceuticals to medical products

The Director of Strategy, Policy and Performance proposed that the view of the Working Group be put forward to the Minister Seymour as part of Pharmac’s formal advice. It was discussed that Working Group members should avoid making a submission in their capacity as Pharmac’s Consumer and Patient Working Group, as this could be perceived to be reflecting Pharmac’s position.

Written feedback from Libby and Trent was considered in the discussion.

Motion:

That the Working Group supports the removal of the budget reference in Pharmac’s statutory objective.

• Moved by: Malcolm
• Seconded by: Tim
• Opposed by: Rachel
• Motion carried

Agreed actions:

• Internal Pharmac discussion documents will incorporate feedback from the Working Group.
• Chris, Tim and Libby will draft advice to be included as an appendix to Pharmac’s advice to the Minister.
  • The draft will reflect diverse perspectives (not consensus) and be shared with the Working Group early next week.
  • Final advice to be submitted to Pharmac by 13 August 2025.
• The Working Group will receive a copy of the advice provided to the Minister.
• Members will consider preparing individual submissions and inviting broader consumer representation into these submissions.

General business

• Members unable to attend meetings may provide written feedback, which will be considered during discussions. As conversations may evolve, members are encouraged to follow up with the Chair to discuss meeting outcomes. Written feedback should be circulated to members as early as possible to support informed discussion.
• Members were asked to review the proposed meeting schedule and upcoming discussion topics as a priority. Feedback should be provided to the Reset Programme team to enable timely scheduling of meetings and commissioning of relevant discussion papers.

Agreement on public communications

• It was confirmed that members may share the topic of upcoming meetings with their wider networks and engage in discussion about the subject matter. However, members must not disclose any confidential information shared as part of the Working Group papers or meetings.
• It was confirmed that members, with the support of the Chair and following a ‘no surprises approach’ with the Reset Programme Manager, are welcome to issue public statements about their work. The Pharmac communications team is available to assist with this.

 Close of meeting 10.50am.

The meeting was held in person from 10am to 1pm at the Pharmac offices.  

21 July 2025 meeting minute [PDF, 101 KB]

Present:

• Dr Malcolm Mulholland (Chair)
• Libby Burgess 
• Tim Edmonds
• Chris Higgins
• Francesca Holloway
• Trent Lash (via Teams online) 
• Gerard Rushton
• Tracy Tierney
• Deon York 

Pharmac staff in attendance

• Jannel Fisher (Reset Programme Manager)
• Sarona Iosefa (Reset Programme Engagement Lead)
• Saar Cohen-Ronen (General Counsel, Legal)  

Apologies

• Rachel Smalley (Deputy Chair) 

1. Whakawhanaungatanga

Everyone introduced themselves with a photograph to explain their “why” for being part of the newly formed Consumer and Patient (CAP) working group. 

2. Declarable Interests

General Counsel advised members on how Pharmac records and manages declarable interests. There was a discussion on the multiple roles members have and potential perceived conflicts. General Counsel left the meeting. 

3. Terms of Reference

Discussion about the purpose and scope of the CAP working group and if the three workstreams listed in the terms of reference were broad enough to enable the group to support the wider Pharmac reform. The three workstreams being: (1) strategic vision; (2) enhancing consumer engagement and trust, and (3) better processes. 

It was clarified and agreed that the scope of the CAP working group includes both the formal Reset Programme, and the wider reform of Pharmac. This aligns with the recommendations of the Prendergast Report. 

Reset Programme Manager advised how the 12-month reset would inform and influence the future 4-year improvement programme.  

Motion: 

A motion was moved that the CAP working group approves the terms of reference with the agreed changes and to publish them. There was unanimous agreement (yes). 

Agreed actions:

• Remove reference to the CAP working group not being involved in the operations of Pharmac in the terms of reference. 
• Insert reference to supporting the wider Pharmac reform in the purpose and scope sections of the terms of reference.  
• Remove sub-bullet points under the three workstreams in the scope section of the terms of reference.  
• Change name of group to the Consumer and Patient Working Group to reflect wide makeup and representation of the group.
• Publish the updated terms of reference on the Pharmac website [PDF, 143 KB]. 

4. Reset Programme Approach

Discussion about the roles and responsibilities of the CAP working group, including decision making for the reset programme. It was noted that the CAP working group Chair is part of the reset programme governance group.  

Members also discussed the role of the CAP working group and Pharmac’s existing Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC). Concern was raised about work being duplicated or the two groups working at cross purposes.  

Members noted that Pharmac can’t shy away from the “too hard” items and that while some of this work may not be delivered in the reset programme it needs to be considered for the future 4-year improvement programme.   

Motion:

Reset programme approach paper was noted by members as background information.  

Agreed actions:

• Update the roles and responsibilities table so the CAP working group is “consulted” not “informed” on decision making.
• As action items for the reset programme are scoped, provide clarity on the role and responsibilities of the CAP working group and CAC.  
• Capture action items that could form part of the future 4-year improvement programme.  

5. First 90-Day Plan

Reset Programme Manager presented the draft first 90-day plan. The actions are based 
on recommendations from the consumer engagement workshop report and focus 
building trust with consumers and quick wins. 

Agreed actions:

1. Establish consumer working group to support the reset programme
2. Formalise consumer network to support wider consumer input
3. Expand Pharmac’s engagement function to strengthen consumer relationships
4. Publish an update on progress with the Pharmac Review recommendations
5. Provide advice on the 2026/27 budget bid
6. Provide advice on the Pae Ora legislation amendment
7. Develop a joined-up communications planning approach
8. Clinical meeting recommendations. 

Discussion about progress with last year’s Pharmac Letter of Expectations and previous review recommendations, measuring progress and impact of each action, and advocating for change outside the role of the CAP working group.  

Members prioritised which of these actions they wanted to focus on first. Members agreed the first five to focus on working with Pharmac on were:  

1. Provide advice on the Pae Ora legislation amendment 
2. Provide advice on the 2026/27 budget bid 
3. Progress on the Pharmac Review recommendations and 2024/25 Pharmac Letter of Expectations  
4. Clinical meeting recommendations 
5. Develop a joined-up communications planning approach. 

Reset Programme Manager spoke about the importance of defining the problem to then work on designing the solution together, which was supported and reinforced by the Chair.  

Motion:  

A motion was moved that the CAP working group accepts the 90-Day Plan approach. There was unanimous agreement (yes). 

Agreed actions:

• The next CAP working group meeting to focus on the Pae Ora legislation, including previous advice and timeframes for current amendments.  
• Members to provide the reset programme team with key contacts to start forming the consumer network database.  
• Regular reflection time scheduled into meetings to enable frank discussions on achievements so far, and value add as a group. 

6. Meeting approach

Members agreed to begin with fortnightly meetings to make progress on the action plan, but it was noted the frequency may reduce in the future. Members agreed to use subgroups, as needed, to address specialist issues and to meet timeframes. Members also asked for quarterly face to face meetings to be considered.  

Discussion about what information can be shared prior to meetings and following meetings with wider networks. Members requested that meeting minutes be provided as quickly as possible rather than waiting for the next meeting.  

Motion:

A motion was moved that the CAP working group accepts the proposed meeting approach. There was unanimous agreement (yes). 

Agreed actions:

• Poll to be sent out to members to confirm future online meeting dates, before the dates for face-to-face meetings are confirmed.
• Meeting papers to note if they can be discussed with wider networks prior to the meeting
• Add agenda item to agree what can be shared from the meeting and what is released publicly
• Draft minutes to be provided to members within three days of the meeting and members to review and approve minutes within three days of receiving them, before Chair approves release publicly on Pharmac website.
• Future meeting packs to have page numbers and Pharmac details on page one. 

Close of meeting 1pm.