The Medical Association says the quality of medical devices in hospitals could be affected if the drug buying agency Pharmac is given control of purchasing them.
Clinicians have been asked to respond to a recommendation from the Ministerial Review Group, giving Pharmac a greater role in buying hospital medicines and some medical devices.
Medical Association chairman, Peter Foley, says while it supports a centralised system of purchasing hospital medicines, there's doubt about whether this will work for medical devices.
He says there's been frustration in the past about drugs that Pharmac hasn't been able to provide and the same issue could be a problem if it is given control of what machines to purchase.
