Engagement Strategy Actions

Engagement foundations

Focus area 1: Tools and training

Lift the confidence and capability of our staff (kaimahi) to plan and deliver meaningful engagement with partners and stakeholders.

Actions

1. We will produce and deliver an engagement training curriculum for our staff.
2. We will produce engagement guides for staff, with specific guidance on engaging with Māori, Pacific peoples, and disabled people.
3. We will develop tools to deliver a clear Pharmac narrative and key messages.
4. We will develop templates for engagement planning and implementation.
5. We will increase visibility of engagement activity and provide opportunities for staff to participate.
6. We will assess the effectiveness and accessibility of our engagement channels and make improvements.

Focus area 2: Processes

Embed engagement practices across the organisation to elevate the voices of our partners and stakeholders, particularly consumers and whānau.

Actions

1. We will further embed engagement into our assessment and decision making, with focus on engagement with Māori, high health need groups.
2. We will develop a consolidated system and procedures to capture partner and stakeholder information, discussions, and feedback.
3. We will enable opportunities where possible for Māori to exercise decision-making authority on matters of importance to Māori, such as our assessment process and how we implement decisions.
4. We will consider and specify engagement needs and resourcing requirements in our business planning.

Focus area 3: Specialist advice and coaching

Establish guidance and support for our teams to plan and deliver best-practice engagement. 

Actions

1. We will define engagement roles and responsibilities across the organisation.
2. We will establish specialist engagement staff who will provide support, advice, and coaching on engagement planning and activity across the organisation.
3. We will provide specialist advice and coaching for staff engaging with Māori, high health needs groups. 

More voices and collaboration

Focus area 4: Consumer and whānau voices

Improve and expand our engagement with consumers and whānau.

Action

1. We will establish a new consumer and patient working group to partner with Pharmac to provide insight, lived experience, and advice to ensure that the Pharmac Reset Programme is designed in a way that values and reflects the needs, values, and perspectives of consumers and patients.
2. We will create an external engagement team with dedicated consumer relations staff to build and foster strong relationships with consumer representatives, including high health need groups.
3. We will work with the Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) to assess our consumer and whānau engagement practices to ensure they are culturally responsive, supportive, accessible, reciprocal, and foster meaningful engagement and self-determination. 

Meet the Consumer Relations Team

Focus area 5: Advisory network development

Increase collaboration, representation, and support with our advisory network.

Action

1. We will create opportunities for our advisory groups to engage with us through collaboration and co-design methods.
2. We will support our advisory members to meaningfully engage with us by developing an induction programme.
3. We will support our advisory members to build and maintain connections with other Pharmac and health sector advisory groups.
4. We will partner with Māori high health needs groups to identify and build appropriate representation into our advisory network.

Focus area 6: Health sector collaboration

Build a proactive, strategic, and coordinated approach to collaborating with our health sector partners.

Action

1. We will create an engagement plan to maintain and build health sector relationships to achieve a one-system culture and ethos.
2. We will identify and implement opportunities to coordinate or combine engagement activity and share engagement best practice with our health sector partners.