Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 146: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the average cost of a total hip replacement and total knee replacement in private hospitals under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. [47536/08]

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of total hip replacements and total knee replacements which have been subcontracted out to private hospitals under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. [47537/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 and 147 together.

As the Deputy's question relates to the operation of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, my Department has asked the Chief Executive of the Fund to reply directly to the Deputy in relation to the information requested.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the extra cost to the Exchequer to subcontract total hip replacements and total knee replacements to private hospitals under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. [47538/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The prices paid to private hospitals by the NTPF for particular procedures are not directly comparable with the costs of similar procedures in the public hospitals. HSE casemix data indicates the cost of treating groups of patients with similar conditions, not the cost of individual procedures. Furthermore, the prices paid by the NTPF in the private hospital sector are for a full package of care, including pre- and post-operative treatment as required.

Nonetheless HSE casemix cost data is one of the comparators used by the NTPF in the course of its dealings with private hospitals in order to achieve competitive rates. Other reference points used include estimated insurers' prices, consultant costs based on the insurers' schedules of fees and the prices proposed by peer hospitals for similar work. With the information available from these sources, the NTPF enters into a negotiating process on individual pricing proposals and seeks to conclude a service agreement with a given private hospital for the provision of the required service. On occasion, the NTPF has declined to agree prices with hospitals where it has been not been satisfied that value for money would be achieved.

The financial statements of the Fund are subject to audit by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) on an annual basis. The Committee of Public Accounts, in its recent Third Interim Report on the 2006 Report of the C&AG on Expenditure in the Health Services, noted that the C&AG had access to information about the prices paid by the NTPF for procedures undertaken in private hospitals and that this information should not be disclosed on the basis that the publication of commercially sensitive information would affect the negotiating position of NTPF and, as a result, its capacity to deliver value for money. The Committee noted also that the C&AG has agreed to carry out a review of these areas as part of his continuing audit of the NTPF's expenditure.

I wish to assure the Deputy that I am committed to ensuring that the NTPF achieves maximum value for money so that as many public patients as possible can benefit from treatment through the Fund. Value for money will continue to be the subject of attention in the context of my Department's oversight and monitoring role in relation to the NTPF.