Decision to list respiratory care products supplied by ICU Medical Aust Pty Limited

Hospital devices Decision

What we are doing

We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement with ICU Medical Aust Pty Limited (“ICU”) for the supply of respiratory equipment and consumables devices (“Respiratory Care Products”) to DHB Hospitals.

This will result in Pharmaceutical Schedule listings for 12 Receptal brand respiratory suction devices from ICU.

Any changes to the original proposal?

These decisions were subject to a consultation letter dated 11 July 2018.

In response to consultation feedback received, PHARMAC and ICU renegotiated specific terms and conditions of the proposed agreement as a result of feedback from DHBs. 

Who we think will be most interested

  • Suppliers and Wholesalers
  • DHB Staff:
    • Clinical Engineers
    • Anaesthetists and Anaesthetic Technicians
    • Clinical staff involved with airway management and emergency respiratory resuscitation
    • Respiratory Clinicians
    • Respiratory therapists
    • Pulmonary function specialists
    • Pulmonary rehabilitation specialists
    • Clinical staff working in surgical and medical units, emergency departments, intensive and critical care units, and outpatient units
    • District nurses
    • Procurement Officers

Detail about this decision

In 2017 PHARMAC issued Requests for Proposals (“RFPs”) for respiratory care products. The RFP was for non-exclusive national agreements for listing in the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

After completing the RFP evaluation process and consulting on the provisional agreement reached with ICU, PHARMAC has decided to list a range of their medical devices in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

The ICU Respiratory Care Products will be available on PHARMAC's website from 1 September 2018, in both a PDF document and an Excel spreadsheet.

DHB hospitals would continue to be able to choose which Respiratory Care Products they purchase, however would need to use the agreement should they choose to purchase ICU Respiratory Care devices listed in the Pharmaceutical Schedule, effective from 1 September 2018.  

ICU has some products that are new to New Zealand DHBs and the Agreement would provide an increased range of devices from which clinicians could choose.

Pricing for the Respiratory Care Products, subject to any prior termination of the Agreement, would not be increased without prior consultation and approval by PHARMAC.

ICU will provide training and education services that will be tailored to suit the needs of individual DHBs in formats and at times as required by DHBs.

This is the third Agreement for the Respiratory Care Products category. We intend to consult on proposed agreements for Respiratory Care Products with additional suppliers over the next few months.

Our response to what you told us

We appreciate the time people took to consider this consultation.

All consultation responses received by 1 August 2018 were considered in their entirety in making a decision to approve the ICU provisional agreement.

A summary of the main themes raised in feedback and our responses to the feedback received are set out below: 

Theme

Comment

Feedback that no technical or resource impacts are expected as a result of the proposal.

Noted.

Positive feedback regarding savings to DHBs.

Noted.

Feedback identified specific terms and conditions in the ICU proposal that would be problematic for some DHBs.

PHARMAC renegotiated the identified terms and conditions with ICU.

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.