Venlafaxine brand change roll out plan

20 May 2019

[Name and contact details redacted]

Dear [Name redacted]

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

This is in response to your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to venlafaxine.  Questions 1-5 of your request were transferred from the Ministry of Health to PHARMAC on 18 April 2019. These are as follows:

1. The names of all those involved, and in what capacity, in creating and implementing the roll out plan for Enlafax Venlafaxine.

All members of the group who created and implemented the roll-out plan were PHARMAC staff members.

The PHARMAC Board approved the implementation plan as part of the decision to approve the change proposal.

 The group of people mainly involved in creating and implementing the roll-out plan for venlafaxine were:

• Sarah Le Leu: Sarah was implementation lead and oversaw the implementation planning and support activities for the venlafaxine change.
• Janet Mackay: Janet is Sarah’s manager and worked with Sarah on the change.
• Anthony Bull: Anthony was a senior communications advisor. He prepared the communications activities plan and provided communications support for the change.

A wider group of PHARMAC staff were involved in reviewing the planning documents and providing advice as and when required. These people were members of the pharmaceutical funding team, medical team, procurement team, and additional members of the implementation and communications teams.

We have not included people who were only involved in creating the Beyond the Brand generics module, which was developed alongside the venlafaxine implementation plan. We are happy to provide more information on how this was developed, if you wish to receive it.

1. A copy of the final roll-out plan for Enlafax Venlafaxine including all the documents that may have been created to advise Health Practitioners (Doctors, Pharmacists, Psychiatrists, Mental Health Services, etc).

The following documents are in scope of your request. Please find attached [PDF, 993 KB]:

• Engagement and implementation plan to support a potential change in brands of venlafaxine
• Venlafaxine brand change – activity over the next 3 months
• Venlafaxine brand change – Key messages for people taking venlafaxine
• E&I activity plan to support the venlafaxine brand change

We have already provided you with details and copies of the documents that were created to advise health practitioners of the change. (Request of 3 October 2018, response on 1 November 2018).

1. All the correspondence, emails, phone calls and other communications between the members of the group who created and implemented the roll out plan for Enlafax Venlafaxine

We have one email that is within scope of the above question. This email is included in the attachment. All members of the group who created and implemented the roll-out plan were internal staff members.

1. All minutes or details of any meetings held by the group to discuss the procedures for creating and implementing the roll-out plan for Enlafax Venlafaxine.

We have no information within scope of the above question. All members of the group who created and implemented the roll-out plan were internal staff members.

1. All communications between Pharmac, Kate MacKrill and Keith Petrie about the inclusion of the statement on the Enlafax Handout referring people to their website for research purposes on people's perceptions of brand changes.

We have already provided you with all communication between PHARMAC and Kate MacKrill or Keith Petrie (Requests of 13 November 2018, response on 30 January 2019).

We trust that the provision of these documents answers your queries. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us again.  Our invitation for you to meet with PHARMAC staff staff remains open. We would be happy to respond to any further specific queries you may have.

Yours sincerely

[Alison Hill's signature]

Alison Hill
Director, Engagement and Implementation