Sarah Fitt has resigned as the Pharmac chief executive, the Herald understands.

Fitt was on leave from the role for a period over the summer, but recently returned.

Chair Paula Bennett announced last year a “short and sharp” review at Pharmac into its internal staff culture and its external relationships with patient groups and other stakeholders.

While it wouldn’t produce recommendations, the three-week review would inform an action plan that would inform monthly and annual success markers the agency could measure itself against.

“Change is needed, there’s no two ways about it,” Bennett said at the time. “How we do that in a measurable way ... is what we’re trying to work out.”

The review had been conducted by Debbie Francis, who also led the damning review of Parliament’s workplace culture which revealed 14 people said they had been the victim of a sexual assault in the parliamentary workplace.

There was uproar late last year after Pharmac decided to switch the supplier of hormone replacement patches for menopausal women from Estradot to Estradiol TDP Mylan. It said that was prompted by an ongoing shortage of the popular patches.

Fitt said she understood people were concerned by the decision to switch brands, but it was Pharmac’s only option to secure supply.

However, associate Health Minister David Seymour said he didn’t believe Pharmac had done enough consultation with patients and advocacy groups about the change and called for an explanation. More consultation was something Seymour called for in his letter of expectations.

Neither Seymour nor Bennett would express confidence in Fitt in the immediate aftermath of that. Bennett said she had been surprised by Pharmac’s decision.

Pharmac issued a statement last month that it was reconsidering patch options following community feedback. It was working with suppliers on an updated proposal to make more than one brand of patches available beyond December 2025.

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.