Treatment scheme - Patients are being held to ransom

THE National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was introduced as part of the National Health Strategy, with the aim of cutting down on waiting lists, after the European Court ruled the previous year that patients from one EU country may refuse to pay for hospital treatment in another member state, if the necessary standard of treatment is not available in their home country without undue delay.

The government here would be responsible to pay for such treatment to Irish patients.

The NTPF was established as an independent unit answerable to the Minister for Health. It consisted of an eight-person team of medical, nursing, financial, and management experts.