The Government's drug-buying agency has finally published its response to a damning review that found it was failing the people that needed it most.
It found some problematic ways the drug-buying agency makes decisions with huge errors in the information it uses, that the organisation doesn't partner well with anyone, and that it was failing Māori, Pasifika and those with rare disorders.
It's taken Pharmac nine months to respond - coming up with five themes and a list of 30 commitments.
They admit there's still work to be done in implementing them.
Speaking with Lloyd Burr on Friday afternoon, health advocate Malcolm Mulholland, who's from Patient Voice Aotearoa, said the response is just "empty words".
"I have seen nothing that would give me any confidence about Pharmac actually servicing the needs of New Zealand patients and increasing medicine access for all of those who need it," Mulholland said.
"Pharmac needs to become patient-centric and they need to have at the heart of every decision that they make, patients, and it's obvious to me from reading the response to the review that has not happened."
"It's a cruel joke."
Mulholland said Pharmac are good at saying things that sound like commitments but once scratched beneath the surface, these commitments are never matched with action.
He told Burr in order for real change to be made, the organisation needs a "complete overhaul."
"They need to start again," he said.
"They need to employ somebody external from the organisation, preferably somebody who has a history of working for the likes of NICE, which is the Pharmac equivalent in the UK or PBS in Australia, to actually come in and say to New Zealanders, this is how you actually fund medicines in a timely manner so that patients can benefit."
Listen to the full interview between Malcolm Mulholland and Lloyd Burr above.
You can also download the full interview on the Lloyd Burr Live podcast, and listen on the go.
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