Call to address treatment abroad scheme failures

Seriously ill patients who travel abroad for much-needed treatment can be exposed to unnecessary expense and upset due to shortcomings in the way the HSE handles requests for financial assistance.

Confusion around how certain reimbursement schemes operate adds to the negative patient experience, according to Ombudsman Peter Tyndall. He has published a series of complaints sent to his office to heighten awareness of the schemes.

Mr Tyndall said the lheme (CBH) was a particular area of confusion. People tended to confuse it with the treatment abroad scheme (TAS) which is restricted to covering treatments not available here. The CBHC scheme, on the other hand, gives people resident in Ireland the option of having public health treatment in another EU country, whether it’s available here or not. Both schemes are administered by the HSE.