Ms Sarah Fitt was appointed Chief Executive of PHARMAC in January 2018, having been PHARMAC's Director of Operations since 2013. As Director of Operations, Ms Fitt led the pharmaceutical funding, devices funding, procurement and contracts and health economics teams.

Ms Fitt graduated in pharmacy from the University of London and worked as a clinical pharmacist in NHS specializing in HIV, intensive care and hepatology. She moved to New Zealand to work at the NZ Liver Transplant Unit and was appointed Chief Pharmacist at Auckland DHB in 2000 where she led a large comprehensive pharmacy service before her appointment to the senior leadership team at PHARMAC in 2013.  

 Presentation Synopsis 
PHARMAC's Influence on New Zealand Healthcare

PHARMAC was established in 1993 and is the New Zealand government agency that decides what medicines are publicly funded in hospitals and the community.

The PHARMAC management model achieves the best possible health outcomes from fixed funding, including making evidence-based decisions informed by expert advice, applying commercial strategies to achieve competitive pricing, comparing new products and prioritizing their funding based on options which will deliver the best health outcomes.

PHARMAC is unique among international central funders - combining a technology assessment agency with commercial negotiations and budget management.

PHARMAC's Work in Managing Medical Devices

In 2012, the New Zealand Government decided that the PHARMAC management model should be applied to the management of hospital medical devices in the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) in New Zealand.

The PHARMAC management model achieves the best possible health outcomes from fixed funding, including making evidence-based decisions informed by expert clinical advice, applying commercial strategies to achieve competitive pricing and comparing new products and prioritising their funding based on which options will deliver the best health outcomes.

Work completed so far includes gathering feedback through extensive consultation to develop a proposed approach for medical devices management; building a list of medical devices in use through negotiating national contracts and then developing an understanding of the listed products.

Consultation is currently underway to embark on the next phase where PHARMAC will be responsible for deciding which devices are funded.

The new approach is about:
• supporting more consistent access to medical devices across New Zealand
• aid DHBs manage spending in a sustainable way
• free up funding which may be used for new technology or other health initiatives
• ensure there is a high level of transparency around funding decisions