Proposed Funding Change Aims to Improve Consistency in Emergency Care Across New Zealand

A proposed change to how emergency ambulance medicines are funded could help ensure more consistent emergency care for people across New Zealand.

The Government has announced plans to shift responsibility for funding ambulance medicines to Pharmac, New Zealand’s agency responsible for deciding which medicines are publicly funded. Currently, medicines used by ambulance services are funded through a mix of arrangements involving Health New Zealand and Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

Under the proposed change, Pharmac would manage the funding and procurement of medicines used by ambulance services nationwide. The goal is to create a single, nationally consistent list of medicines available to emergency ambulance providers.

Health officials say this would help ensure patients receive the same medicines and treatment regardless of where they are in the country. Currently, differences in purchasing arrangements can mean some ambulance providers have access to medicines that others do not.

Bringing ambulance medicines under Pharmac’s national purchasing system may also reduce duplication and allow medicines to be bought at better prices through coordinated procurement. Savings could then be used to fund additional medicines that ambulance services may not previously have been able to afford.

The change is expected to support better continuity of care between ambulance crews and hospital teams, particularly when patients are transported from an emergency scene to hospital for further treatment.

Public consultation on the proposal opened in March and will close on 2 April. If approved, the new funding arrangements would come into effect from 1 July 2026.