Decision to approve agreements for a range of personal protective equipment from multiple suppliers

Hospital devices Decision

What we’re doing

We're pleased to announce the approval to enter into medical device listing agreements from 1 April 2026 with the following suppliers:

  • Global Medics Limited
  • Gravity Trading Limited
  • Jackson Allison Medical & Surgical Limited
  • Mediscope International Limited
  • Mun (New Zealand) Limited
  • Paragon Care Group New Zealand Limited
  • Reynard Health Supplies Ltd
  • SPQ Limited
  • Tamaki Group Limited
  • Universal Specialties Limited
  • Westlab (NZ) Limited Partnership

Agreements with the suppliers noted above are for medical devices in the following personal protective equipment (PPE) sub-categories:

  • Gowns and Aprons
    • Aprons
    • Coveralls (Type 5 and 6)
    • Isolation/Protective Gowns
  • Masks
    • Procedure Masks
    • Surgical Masks (Level 3 with head ties)
    • Surgical Masks with Visor (Level 3 with head ties)

Any changes to the original proposal?

This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 4 February 2026.

Following the consultation process, an additional product has been added to the list of medical devices.

Who we think will be most interested

  • Health NZ staff in a range of different operational and clinical settings but not limited to:
    • Clinical product management
    • Emergency management
    • General ward staff
    • Haematology/oncology
    • Infection prevention and control
    • Laboratory staff
    • Occupational health and safety
    • Operating theatre nurses
    • Procurement and supply chain
  • Supplier and wholesalers

Detail about this decision

Pharmac, in conjunction with Health NZ, initially released a PPE Registration of Interest (ROI) in May 2024. Following the ROI, successful suppliers were invited to the closed Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the subcategories “Gowns and Aprons” and “Masks”

  • Supply of Gowns, Aprons and Masks in January 2025
  • Supply of Isolation/Protective Gowns in March 2025

The RFPs were for non-exclusive national agreements for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule under the terms of a restricted open panel of suppliers.

Pharmac has been working with suppliers who responded to the RFPs and were successful in being progressed to contract negotiations, to seek provisional agreements. This consists of the agreements to arise from the process so far.

All devices are either currently being used by Health NZ hospitals or have been deemed as clinically suitable by the PPE Expert Advisory Group.

The list of products will be available on Pharmac’s website from 1 April 2026 in both PDF and Excel formats.

Our response to what you told us

We’re really grateful for the time people took to respond to this consultation. Feedback included a request to add an additional product to the list, and a query was raised regarding future PPE procurement processes.

If you have any questions about this decision, you can email us at enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz; or call our toll free number (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday) on 0800 660 050.