3,340 patients go private or travel abroad for treatment

MORE than 3,340 patients have received medical treatment abroad or in private hospitals here as the Government tries to clear the backlog of people stuck on public hospital waiting lists.

The Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Western Health Board have made the most use of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). The fund, which has a budget of €31 million this year, buys private treatment in hospitals at home and abroad for patients who have spent more than a year on a waiting list.

Figures for the end of March reveal that 1,653 patients from the ERHA and 593 from the Western Health Board availed of the fund, which started last year. The smallest number of patients treated were from the Mid-Western Health Board area, with just 108.