Agreements for the supply of surgical gloves

These agreements were the subject of a consultation letter dated 20 February 2017 which can be found on PHARMAC’s website.

In summary:

• 228 surgical glove products will be listed in Section H, Part III (‘Optional Pharmaceuticals’) of the Pharmaceutical Schedule on 1 April 2017.
• The contract pricing offers an estimated annual savings of $400,000 (5 year NPV of $1.4 million) based on the figures supplied by EBOS, Mölnlycke and REM, for the 12-month period ending 30 June 2016.

Details of the decision

In June 2016 PHARMAC issued a surgical gloves request for proposal (“RFP”), for non-exclusive national agreements for medical devices to be listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule, for DHB hospitals to purchase from. This was reissued in November 2016 with a change in mandatory requirements. PHARMAC subsequently consulted on provisional agreements with EBOS, Mölnlycke and REM for the supply of a selection of surgical gloves to be listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule. The decision to approve these national agreements means that DHB hospitals may purchase these products at the new pricing from 1 April 2017.

There are estimated savings to DHBs that currently use these products of approximately $400,000 per annum nationally, based on current usage.

The agreements are not exclusive. DHBs can continue to purchase other brands of surgical gloves at their discretion. This decision means that most of the surgical gloves currently purchased by the DHB hospitals will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

The list of products will be available on PHARMAC’s website at in both a PDF document and a series of Excel spreadsheets as of 1 April 2017.

Educational services will be provided by EBOS, Mölnlycke and REM to DHB personnel on appropriate use of their surgical gloves and this will be arranged in formats and times as agreed with individual DHBs.