Usage and cost data on intravenous (IV) products used in Te Whatu Ora hospitals

OIA response

Thank you for your request dated 21 August 2023 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information. Our timeframe for response was extended on 9 September to 16 October 2023 according to section 15A of the OIA. You requested:

IV fluids, IV dressing and IV leurs within New Zealand:  I just needed to get an idea about our total current usage in New Zealand and average cost per item.

We are pleased to provide you with some of the information you requested.

Pharmac’s role in hospital medical devices

Pharmac is currently building a list of all the devices used in Te Whatu Ora hospitals. We are negotiating contracts as we go and not every device appears on the Schedule yet. You can learn more about Pharmac’s work on devices on our website.

Please note that the data we are providing here is for contracted products only and that Te Whatu Ora hospitals may be purchasing additional uncontracted products. 

IV fluids

Pricing for IV fluids is publicly available on the Community Schedule(external link) on our website. The subsidy price is the amount that it is funded for each fluid.

We are unable to provide usage data for bulk fluids as it would require substantial effort to clean the data. We are declining to respond to this portion of your request under section 18(f) of the OIA. 

IV dressings and luers

Pricing for devices is publicly available on the Hospital Medical Devices Schedule on our website. Cost per item can be calculated from the price per pack and pack size. Please note that alternative pricing models may be in place for some devices, however the schedule price is frequently the price paid.

We’ve interpreted your request for current usage to be the most recent data set incorporating accurate usage.

Product

Volume for calendar year 2021

Volume for calendar year 2022

Notes

IV dressings

2,955,415

--

Data quality issues are present in 2022 data so have provided 2021 data

IV luers

--

558,656

Contracting for the Infusion category completed in 2023 so the data we have to date is not a complete reflection of Te Whatu Ora purchasing activity in this category. 2022 data is likely to be more representative of actual usage than 2021 data

Closing

We trust that this information answers your queries. Please note, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about our response to your OIA, under section 28(3) of the OIA. Details of how to make a complaint(external link) are on the Ombudsman’s website.

To make information more freely available, we publish selected OIA responses (excluding personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this.