Fund helps 32,000 waiting list patients

AROUND €88 million was spent treating more than 32,000 public patients in private hospitals under the National Treatment Purchase Fund last year.

The fund arranged 22,000 operations and for more than 10,500 people to see a hospital consultant for the first time at an out-patient clinic.

And it managed to stay within its 2007 budget of €88m, which included a relatively small provision for administrative costs.