Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The recent report of the Ombudsman has concluded that the treatment abroad scheme needs to be revamped, as patients who have tried to access it have found it to be extremely upsetting and stressful. He said it was too complex and needs to be streamlined. I have had to make many representations on behalf of people who need treatment abroad, particularly those with rare conditions or whose consultants determined that a particular treatment was required. The staff in the section are very helpful and co-operative but the policy context has changed. The former Minister, Senator James Reilly, changed the situation whereby patients in public hospitals, who are entitled to treatment as public patients, can be assigned as private patients, but this can be used as a potential bar to a patient accessing treatment abroad later in the treatment process. A restrictive policy context has been brought into the treatment abroad scheme. It was always a basic thing that if a consultant recommended treatment abroad, the patient should get it. Will the Minister indicate that the Government will change direction and make the scheme far more accessible for people who are entitled to it?

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