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Speaker 1: Bryan Bridge.

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Speaker 2: Ten minutes after four nineteen nineteen is the number to

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Speaker 2: text Farmak. The boss may have quit a couple of

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Speaker 2: weeks ago, but the bad news just doesn't stop there.

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Speaker 2: For the drug buying agency, there's a new independent report

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Speaker 2: that says patients are unhappy, they don't feel like they're

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Speaker 2: being listened to, and I felt like FARMAC lacks respect

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Speaker 2: for their patient representatives. Paula Bennett is the chair of FARMAC.

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Speaker 2: She's with me this afternoon. Paula, Hello, Yeah, good evening.

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Speaker 2: Is there a lack of respect for patients at FARMAC?

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Speaker 1: Look, I think that just what I've been hearing story

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Speaker 1: at the airport, you know. But what I've been hearing from,

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Speaker 1: you know, many of our patient advocates in particular, was

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Speaker 1: that they found that the relationship wasn't as respectful as

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Speaker 1: it needed to be. It wasn't transparent, and it wasn't open.

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Speaker 1: And I wanted to really test into that, so hence

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Speaker 1: holding to consumer engagement workshops for about thirty passion advocates

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Speaker 1: and listening directly from them, and this report's come out

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Speaker 1: of that.

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Speaker 2: Sarah fit obviously she's gone or where she has gone now?

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Speaker 2: Is that was that the big part of the problem.

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Speaker 2: Or is there a wider management issue with listening to patients.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is a bit wider. I mean, we've got

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Speaker 1: some fantastic people, particularly those that are dealing on a

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Speaker 1: day to day basis and genuinely negotiating contracts and trying

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Speaker 1: to get more medicines, and that's what they're there for.

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Speaker 1: But I think the organization has to say no more

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Speaker 1: often than it can say yes. It had become defensive,

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Speaker 1: it had become insular and looking inwards instead of looking outwards,

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Speaker 1: and instead of proactively having what are really awkward and

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Speaker 1: uncomfortable and you know, difficult conversations with people when you're

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Speaker 1: saying I'm sorry, I can't fund your medicine. But at

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Speaker 1: least doing that in an open, transparent way is what

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Speaker 1: we expect, and that hasn't really been happening.

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Speaker 2: So that's the problem here because it's almost a mission

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Speaker 2: impossible for FARMAC, isn't. It doesn't really matter who's running it,

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Speaker 2: they are going to say no. Hell of a lot

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Speaker 2: of the time. You can't afford every medicine through every person.

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Speaker 2: So is this more of a pr problem?

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Speaker 1: Now? Look, internationally, we're behind the eight ball you know,

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Speaker 1: we're not funding the medicines that our counterparts are. You know,

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Speaker 1: we all know. You know, you would get better access

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Speaker 1: to medicines in Australia a lot of them than you

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Speaker 1: would in New Zealand. And that is about funding. And

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Speaker 1: they seen every cent they get and negotiate hard to

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Speaker 1: get the best deals so that they can put more

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Speaker 1: money into medicines. But that doesn't just because it's difficult

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean you stop listening. It doesn't mean you stop

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Speaker 1: talking to people. Doesn't mean you don't look at the

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Speaker 1: model that you've gotten head for thirty three years and

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Speaker 1: question whether it's still for purpose. And this report tells

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Speaker 1: me that it's not. That we can do things better

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Speaker 1: and differently.

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Speaker 2: The fast track idea, this fast track process for new

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Speaker 2: medical technologies, how would that work.

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Speaker 1: For some of it? You know, we've certainly been questioning

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Speaker 1: if it's approved in Australia, Canada and the UK, why

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Speaker 1: are we going through a whole expensive, long process ourselves.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't mean we necessarily going to automatically approve it,

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Speaker 1: but do we have to go through an expensive, drawn

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Speaker 1: out process?

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Speaker 2: Well do we have that's with it?

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Speaker 1: We have? Well, that's that's the question, and we're getting

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Speaker 1: that sort of clinical advice. It's not something that the

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Speaker 1: chair of FARMAC should make up. We've got no health background.

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Speaker 1: It's something that the clinicians need to look at to

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Speaker 1: make sure, you know, should we budget and the ministers

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Speaker 1: ask that question as well.

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Speaker 2: All right. Just finally, this culture review that apparently has

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Speaker 2: happened but hasn't been released, is that going to be released?

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Speaker 2: Is that? Is that your job is chair or whate.

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Speaker 1: It's certainly gone to the board. We've commissioned a lot

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Speaker 1: more work to be done and again, you know, some

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Speaker 1: things have certainly come out of that, so we need

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Speaker 1: to have a damn good look at this organization and

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Speaker 1: make some changes. So, yes, I do expect to be

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Speaker 1: releasing something in the next couple of months.

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Speaker 2: More resignations.

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Speaker 1: No, that's not the intention. I think we've got well

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Speaker 1: intentioned people that are looking for strong leadership from both

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Speaker 1: the board and a new chief to see a different

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Speaker 1: direction and a pass forward.

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Speaker 2: All right, Paula, thank you very much for that. Paula Bennett,

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Speaker 2: the chair of FAMIC. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,

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Speaker 2: listen live to news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays,

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