HSE to up treatment fund referrals

THE chief executive of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) said yesterday he expected up to 1,800 out-patients to be treated under the scheme in Cork and Kerry this year.

Pat O’Byrne outlined progress in the region to members of the Health Services Executive (Southern) Forum, following complaints a number of months ago by the forum’s chairman, Cllr Ciaran Lynch, that Cork University Hospital in particular wasn’t using the fund to the maximum.

Earlier this year, Mr Lynch said CUH referred only 250 patients to the fund in 2005, while 2,000 were referred from the Galway region and a further 2,000 from Waterford.

Mr O’Byrne said that in Kerry General Hospital the target this year for NTPF treatment was 100 for general surgery, 150 for ear, nose and throat (ENT), and 150 for ophthalmology. At the end of July, the numbers referred were 47, 61 and 0 respectively.

At Cork University Hospital targets were 200 for plastic surgery, 300 ophthalmology, 600 orthopedics and 300 urology. Again, by the end of July the referrals were zero, 29, 198 and 21 respectively.

The NTPF boss said plastic surgery patients would be contacted shortly and it had been decided they would now be treated at the private Bons Secours hospital.

He said he was confident that all targets for CUH, the Bons Secours and Kerry General Hospital would be met by the end of the year.

“If you (a patient) have seen a consultant and you’re on the waiting list more than three months we can help you,” Mr O’Byrne said.

He added that while the NTPF has €78 million to spend this year (0.5% of the total health budget), people aren’t exactly banging on the door to sign-up and he encouraged public representatives at the meeting to spread the word even more.

Patients can contact the fund directly by going to www.ntpf.ie.

Cllr Jim Daly (FG), like other councillors, expressed surprise that on a national basis 810 outpatients didn’t attend scheduled appointments last year.

Cllr Ciaran Lynch (Lab) said some GPs he had spoken to would like to refer patients to the NTPF themselves and he wanted to know if the fund would be open to engaging with them. Mr O’Byrne said he felt it would be more controlled if referrals came through hospitals only.

“The waiting list situation is being alleviated, but wouldn’t be naive enough to say it’s gone away,” the NTPF chief executive added.

The NTPF was established in 2002 to reduce waiting lists for both inpatients and outpatients. A total of 90% of all its referrals go to private hospitals with the remaining 10% to public hospitals.

Over 45,000 inpatients have been treated to date nationally, of which 3,683 were in Cork and Kerry.