Working with consumers
One of the most important relationships for Pharmac is with consumers. That’s anyone who needs medicines in New Zealand and their whānau.
Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC)
Our Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) is one of the ways Pharmac gets a consumer perspective on its work. It is made up of 10 members with interests in a wide range of areas, such as the health and wellbeing of Māori and Pacific peoples, people with disabilities, ethnic communities, people living in rural areas, older people, and youth. This year, the CAC met eight times and provided a range of advice, including advice on how we support consumers with several significant medicine brand changes.
Listening to people
Two independent consumer workshops were held in November 2024, commissioned by our Board Chair. These workshops were chaired by Dame Kerry Prendergast as part of our ongoing work to reset relationships with key consumer and patient representatives. The purpose of the workshops was to discuss what Pharmac’s issues and opportunities are from a consumer-experience perspective.
An independent report on the workshop was to be considered by Pharmac’s Board in 2025, and solutions developed to address recommendations from the workshops.
Future focused
Throughout 2024, we have laid the foundations for good engagement. We have started implementing our new organisation-wide Engagement Strategy, which will strengthen our engagement with the public and the people and groups we work with.
Ryan Perica
Principal Advisor, Engagement
“In 2024, we’ve been establishing the foundations for good engagement with tools and training, processes, specialist advice, and coaching to lift the confidence and capability of our staff. This has given us a good platform to make more improvements to how we engage with consumers and other key stakeholders in 2025 and beyond.”