Health deal will allow patients seek free medical care in other EU States

PATIENTS will be able to seek free medical care in other EU countries under a new deal being worked out by European health ministers.

The policy, which could come into force as soon as 2004, is aimed at countries like Ireland where patients face long waiting lists for treatment.

The national Treatment Purchase Fund, set up in April, aims to treat 6,805 adults and 1,500 children who have been waiting more than a year for treatment. By the end of the year the fund, which has been allocated a budget of €31m, will have treated 1,900 people.