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Private use of publicly-funded cancer drugs will widen inequities, doctors warn
Private use of publicly-funded cancer drugs will widen inequities, doctors warn

Otago Daily Times

time4 days ago

  • Health
  • Otago Daily Times

Private use of publicly-funded cancer drugs will widen inequities, doctors warn

By Ruth Hill of RNZ A move to allow private patients to access publicly-funded cancer drugs threatens to increase wait times for those in the public system, warn senior doctors. Under "transitional access", which comes into effect on July 1, private patients who are already receiving treatment - or about to start treatment - with a newly funded medicine will not have to shift to the public system for 12 months. Associate Health Minister David Seymour, who has championed the rule change, said it would lessen stress on private patients by enabling continuity of care, and pressure on the public system which would no longer have to deal with a sudden influx of patients. However, the move has been criticised by opposition politicians as "a subsidy for private insurers", which already cover the cost of medicines newly funded by Pharmac, and of little benefit to patients. The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, which represents 6500 senior hospital doctors and dentists, said its members working in oncology and haematology had "significant concerns" the change would widen inequities for patients. Change will create 'two-tier' waiting list In a letter on June 13 to Pharmac's acting chief executive Brendan Boyle, the union's director of policy and research, Harriet Wild, quoted a briefing to the minister saying the policy change "would not increase volumes of cancer medicines provided in New Zealand, as only the location of treatments will change". "It will simply shift some of the existing capacity to the private system, where patients will need to fund infusion costs out-of-pocket," Wild wrote. "There will be pressure on the public system to ensure a smooth transition in treatment regime, which may mean delaying treatment for other people already waiting on the public list and unable to self-fund to start in private. "This potentially creates a two-tier waiting list and a system where those with more financial resources, will be prioritised for treatment." Furthermore, the shift of resources and inevitable increase in demand was likely to speed up the exodus of staff to the private sector, making public waiting lists even longer. Minister signals broadening access further A "back-pocket Q&A" provided to Seymour ahead of a Cabinet meeting on April 7 noted that the current eligibility criteria in the Pharmaceutical Schedule (excluding patients in private settings) was "designed to ensure public funding for medicines was prioritised for those managed in the public health system for cancer treatment, assessed by need, rather than public funding supporting those who chose to access treatment in private facilities. "Often the private treatment is funded from private health insurance that people have paid premiums into." In the same document, the minister said there was no plan to expand the policy to include other types of medicines or treatments "at this stage". "With that said, I've asked the Ministry [of Health] to do further work in this area to explore the possibility of broadening access to all publicly-funded medicines in private facilities - not just newly funded cancer medicines. "I encourage the private health providers and insurance companies to work closely with the ministry to support their understanding of how this might work in practice." Wild said opening access to publicly-funded drugs even wider would pull more staff away from the public system, reducing access for the majority who relied on it. "That would establish a system where a patient's ability to receive timely cancer care would depend on whether they could afford the out-of-pocket infusion costs." Pharmac's Budget boost needs 'back up' The government's 2024 Budget boost to Pharmac to widen access to medicines for patients had not been accompanied by extra resources for Te Whatu Ora to deliver the treatments, when public oncology services were already swamped with demand, Wild said. "Our members are increasingly needing to manage deteriorating patients, who are unable to access chemotherapy infusions in clinically acceptable timeframes. "This is unacceptable and represents a significant failure to invest in a planned and co-ordinated way to enable the public system to meet the needs of cancer patients, including those eligible for newly funded cancer medicines. "Whenever a new cancer drug is funded, it must be accompanied by an increase in the full package of care (staffing, infusion space, pharmacy) so that patients can actually receive the medicines within clinically acceptable timeframes." The Health Minister and David Seymour's office have been approached for comment.

Wind throws Wellington roof across suburb onto another house
Wind throws Wellington roof across suburb onto another house

RNZ News

time04-06-2025

  • Climate
  • RNZ News

Wind throws Wellington roof across suburb onto another house

A house in Newlands had its roof torn in strong winds. Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii Strong winds tore the roof off a house in Wellington as wild weather swept the country. The house in the suburb of Newlands was left uninhabitable, and the residents of the Sunhaven Drive duplex had to be evacuated. The Fire Service was at there overnight tying the roof down, but lot of it ended up on another street two blocks away. A neighbour was woken by loud bangs about 2am on Thursday as the debris hit her house. RNZ reporter Ruth Hill said the debris it was on top of the roof of another house which was miraculously undamaged. "It really flew some distance." "There are bits of insulation blowing all over the road, and the roof looks like it's been peeled back," Hill said. The house in Sunhaven Drive, Newlands, had had its roof blown over to a nearby property in Tamworth Crescent. Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii The damaged house on Sunhaven Drive had pieces of roofing timber sticking up into the air and a council building inspector was looking at the property. "I can't see them being able to come home anytime soon though, they have no roof," Hill said. While the wind was still strong she says it has stopped raining by about 7.30am. The stormy weather overnight led to 58 callouts for the top of the North Island, mostly for flooding and fallen trees. People in an area north of Turangi are being asked to prepare to self-evacuate due to fears the Tauranga-Taupō River will breach its banks. Insulation on the roadside after the Newlands house had its roof ripped off in strong winds. Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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