More than €36m spent sending public patients to private hospitals in Northern Ireland

About two-thirds of the money — €156.2m in total — was spent at private hospitals, with a further €70.6m paid to public hospitals. File picture

The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) spent more than €36m sending public patients for treatment at private hospitals in Northern Ireland last year.

Payments to Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West and Kingsbridge Private Hospital Belfast totalled €36.5m in 2025, although that was down from €43.5m the previous year.

The figures also show spending at Beaumont Hospital fell from €6.8m in 2024 to just €183,000 last year.

This followed the suspension of NTPF funding after it emerged the Dublin hospital had incorrectly billed for patients seen in routine public clinics.

Overall, the NTPF spent €226.8m on inpatient and outpatient services for waiting list patients last year, a fall of €8m compared to 2024.

About two-thirds of the money — €156.2m in total — was spent at private hospitals, with a further €70.6m paid to public hospitals.

Data released under Freedom of Information shows the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin was the biggest earner in 2025, paid a total of €21m from the fund.

It was followed by Kingsbridge Private Hospital near Limavady in Co Derry, at just under €21m.

The NTPF paid Charter Medical €16.7m, about €15.5m to Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast, and €13.7m to Aut Even Hospital in Kilkenny.

Two other hospitals were paid in excess of €10m in 2025, roughly €13.7m to the Blackrock Clinic and €12.9m to Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.

In Cork, the Mater Private received €9m while Cork University Hospital was paid €3.4m.

The largest area of spending was in orthopaedics, with payments totalling €63.9m last year.

There was expenditure of €27m on ophthalmology, €41.4m on general surgery, and €26.6m for cardiac surgery and cardiology.

Other categories of spending included €2.19m for neurosurgery, €8.6m for gynaecology and €5.6m for non-cosmetic plastic surgery.

The NTPF also paid out €5.1m for pain management treatment and €5.6m for vascular surgery.

A spokesperson said the treatment fund aimed to maximise its budget to provide patients with “timely access to high-quality scheduled care where and when they need it". 

They said: “During 2024 and 2025, almost 450,000 public patients accessed surgery, consultant appointments, endoscopies or diagnostic scans sooner as a direct result of NTPF commissioning.” 

The spokesperson said treatment was provided through insourcing for public hospitals to deliver additional treatment and outpatient activity over and above core-funded HSE services.

Outsourcing involves the NTPF paying for treatment in private hospitals for public patients.

They added: “Approximately 70% of NTPF commissioning activity is delivered through outsourcing, with the remaining 30% delivered through insourcing.”