Decision to list medical devices supplied by GE Healthcare Limited
What we’re doing
We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement with GE Healthcare Limited (“GE”) for the supply of medical devices to Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (“Health NZ”) hospitals in the anaesthesia, invasive ventilation, neonatal care and critical care patient monitoring (“Critical Care”) category.
In summary this will result in:
· Listing medical devices in the Critical Care category supplied by GE in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 February 2025 under a national agreement that all Heath NZ hospitals may purchase under; and
· Health NZ hospitals being able to continue to purchase other suppliers’ brands of medical devices in the Critical Care category as the agreement is not for sole supply.
Any changes to the original proposal?
This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 7 November 2024.
Following consultation, Pharmac and GE made changes to the proposed product listings to remove several items identified as not medical devices, and corrected minor administrative errors such as incorrect product codes.
Who we think will be most interested
· Health NZ staff including but not limited to the following areas:
o Clinical engineers and maintenance services
o ICU/ HDU/ NICU
o Nurses
o Patient Monitoring
o Perioperative staff
o Procurement and supply chain
o Radiology
o Wards and Outpatient Clinics
· Suppliers and wholesalers
Details about this decision
In October 2020, Pharmac issued a Requests for Proposals (“RFP”) for Anaesthetic Machines, Invasive Ventilators, Neonatal Care and Critical Care Patient Monitoring Devices.
After completing the RFP evaluation process, and consulting on the provisional agreement reached with GE, Pharmac has decided to list the range of Critical Care medical devices supplied by GE in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 February 2025.
Health NZ hospitals can continue to choose which Critical Care medical devices they purchase, including those from other suppliers. Health NZ hospitals that purchase Critical Care medical devices from GE must do so under the terms and conditions, including pricing, in the agreement from 1 February 2025.
The list of products will be available on Pharmac’s website from 1 February 2025 in both PDF and Excel formats.
Our response to what you told us
We’re really grateful for the time people took to consider this consultation. The feedback received from Health NZ personnel was in support of the proposal and noted that the agreement will meet the hospitals’ needs in respect of maintenance, education and training.
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.