How does the operation of PHARMAC's 'Community Exceptional ...

attempts to gauge public opinion from attendees at these forums. Added to
this, PHARMAC has a series of seminars 70 for medical, nursing and midwifery
prescribers and pharmacist dispensers. The series provides education on
diagnosis and prescribing of medicines in a number of clinical areas and aims
to promote the New Zealand Guidelines Group 71 quality level of prescribing.
All PHARMAC’s annual reports are available on their website, as are the
minutes from the Consumer Advisory Committee and the Pharmaceutical
Therapeutic Advisory Committee (excluding matters dealt with in-camera 72 ).
There are opportunities provided by PHARMAC for contributors to submit their
views on a wide range of subjects including funding applications and tenders to
list drugs onto the Community Pharmaceutical Schedule. PHARMAC has
conducted significant reviews, including a review of the Community Exceptional
Circumstances scheme and given the public several opportunities to provide
feedback on the position papers prepared for the reviews.
Further openness and accountability is demonstrated when PHARMAC officials
are interviewed in the media. PHARMAC staff members are often contributors
to the New Zealand Medical Journal (NZMJ) with research articles, occasional
papers and opinion pieces, as well as responses to challenges in the NZMJ’s
editorials and letters to the editor. PHARMAC’s research and literature can
also be found in the British Medical Journal and other international peer
reviewed heath policy journals.
Notwithstanding the above, a different picture was painted by contributors to
this research in Theme 3, PHARMAC’s Accountability. This was a picture of
dissatisfaction by some stakeholders at PHARMAC’s failure to explain why it
makes the decisions it makes. Specifically, the complaint was that unsuccessful
70 http://seminarseries.pharmac.govt.nz/
71 http://www.nzgg.org.nz/
72 In-camera is a legal description coming from Latin meaning ‘in a chamber’ or ‘in private’. In-camera describes the portions of
meetings or whole proceedings of meetings, that the public or members of the press are excluded from. This is because these
sections of the proceedings are likely to disclose personnel, financial, medical or other sensitive information which should be kept
secret to protect the right to privacy of participants.
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