8. Question No. 8—HealthDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 8—Health8. DAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT) to the Minister of Health: What is the name of the supplier storing the 17.8 million expired and expiring Rapid Antigen Tests to which she referred in her statement yesterday I am happy to give the member the name of the supplier if they put it on notice" and what is the overall cost to date of warehousing with this supplier to which she referred in her statement yesterday that "I am happy to provide the cost of the warehousing overall for the member if the member puts that question on notice"?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister of Health): To the first part of the question I'm advised that the current provider of warehousing and logistics for personal protective equipment (PPE) and rapid antigen tests (RATs) is Healthcare Logistics (HCL). In answer to the second part I am advised by Te Whatu Ora that at this stage they have no cost data for HCL back to January 2022 when they became a single provider. From January 2022 to April 2023 the total spend was $44.27 million for all COVID-19 PPE and rapid antigen test warehousing and logistics. Prior to that there were multiple providers and they are unable to disaggregate and collate the information in the time available. I have asked for that work to be completed at pace and provided to the member once it is available. I would also like to note that the total costs include the storage warehousing activity picking packing distributing freight and courier costs for distribution. RATs are only one component of the total figure.David Seymour: Can the Minister clarify that the counter party she mentioned is named Healthcare Logistics and is Healthcare Logistics a subsidiary of any other company?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: In response to the first part of the question yes the firm is Healthcare Logistics.David Seymour: What other supplies besides rapid antigen tests are being stored and what is the value of those supplies?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: As I mentioned in my primary answer personal protective equipment which would include—I'm not certain it's in this particular warehouse but the types of COVID PPE that we purchase are masks gowns and gloves.David Seymour: Does the Minister now see it was a mistake to ban other private companies from importing rapid antigen tests and even confiscate RATs from those who were eventually able to import some when the Government itself has been so woeful at managing inventory that it's wasted at least 158 million on expired or near-expiring tests and we now know are spending nearly $45 million storing inventory?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: No and I reject the accounting—the creative accounting—in that question. I also reject as has been documented in documents released under the Official Information Act that there was confiscation of any rapid antigen tests. I do note however as I said in response to this question yesterday that in order to deal with a rapidly changing pandemic large purchases—at a time of global uncertainty around supply chains and for a country at the end of supply chains we did need to make large purchases.David Seymour: Does the Minister recognise that by banning others from acquiring rapid antigen tests making the Government effectively the monopoly provider for a period of time she has now wasted $160 million around $32 per New Zealander which is just the extra cost of having a Labour Government this week with more costs to rack up next week?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: No I reject the accounting that the member is trying to do on the fly there and I would like to point out that while it was not possible to predict the procurement needs we had for a rapidly changing global pandemic we take the issue of responsible financing of the health system extremely seriously which is why Te Whatu Ora in the less than one year of its operation has been directed to find efficiencies. And I can report that in its first year it has made savings that were they to be annualised would total $75 million. This includes savings from the removal of boards savings on procurement savings on optimisation of multiple data and digital packages that they have savings on insurance savings on inventory savings on back-office shared functions and the removal of duplicated positions in finance. We take efficiency in the health system extremely seriously."