Decision to list rehabilitation products supplied by Invacare New Zealand
We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement for the supply of medical devices to DHBs.
What we’re doing
We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement with Invacare New Zealand (“Invacare”) for the supply of rehabilitation equipment, patient positioning products and supports (“rehabilitation products”).
In summary this will result in:
- Rehabilitation products from Invacare being listed in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 February 2022 under a national agreement that all DHBs may purchase under; and
- DHBs being able to continue to purchase other suppliers’ brands of rehabilitation products as the agreement is not for sole supply.
Any changes to the original proposal?
This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 5 August 2021. Consultation was extended to provide sufficient time for DHBs to respond following the latest Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown.
As a result of consultation feedback some changes were made to the terms and conditions to align with the current HealthSource agreement.
Who we think will be most interested
- Suppliers and wholesalers
- DHB staff
- Clinical engineers, maintenance services and facilities staff
- Clinical support staff
- DHB loan store staff
- DHB procurement and supply chain
- Geriatricians
- Neurologists and Neurosurgeons
- Nurses
- Occupational therapists
- Orthopaedic surgeons
- Orthotists
- Paediatricians
- Physiotherapists
- Podiatrists
- Rehabilitation physicians (including spinal units)
- Speech-language therapists
Details about this decision
The RFP was for non-exclusive national agreements for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.
After completing the evaluation process, and consulting on the provisional agreement with Invacare, Pharmac has decided to list Invacare’s rehabilitation products in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 February 2022.
DHBs can continue to choose which rehabilitation products they procure, including those from other suppliers. DHBs that procure rehabilitation products from Invacare must do so under the terms and conditions, including pricing, in the agreement from 1 February 2022.
Our response to what you told us
We appreciate the time people took to respond to this consultation.
All consultation responses received were considered in their entirety in making the decision to list rehabilitation products.
A summary of the main themes raised in feedback and our responses to the feedback are set out below:
|
Theme |
Comment |
|---|---|
|
No technical or resource impacts anticipated as a result of the proposals. |
Noted. |
|
Support for listing the medical devices and that the agreement is not for sole supply. |
Noted. |
| A supplier noted that a product that they supply is included in the agreement and what this would mean for them being listed in the Pharmaceutical Schedule. | The products in this agreement relate to products being supplied by Invacare. Pharmac is unable to consider additional commercial proposals for suppliers of rehabilitation products outside of the RFP process. |
|
Request to ensure that the agreement allows for DHBs to undertake maintenance, that training available for DHB Clinical Engineers and that associated products for undertaking maintenance are made available. Request for suppliers to provide information to DHBs relating to regulatory certification and information relating to software. |
Pharmac agreements include terms relating to provision of maintenance services, including training and associated products. Terms are based on the suppliers’ offering. It is Pharmac’s expectation that suppliers work with DHBs to support their needs but we do not state all of the specific information that needs to be provided as each DHB has different requirements and processes. |
|
Request for additional detail be included in the agreement so the commercial terms align with the arrangements for existing DHB customers. |
Additional detail was added to commercial terms to better align with the existing arrangements, where appropriate. |
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 66 00 50.