Written answers

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

Department of Health

Treatment Abroad Scheme

Photo of Brian WalshBrian Walsh (Galway West, Independent)
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409. To ask the Minister for Health the total amount paid by the Health Service Executive for patients to receive treatment abroad under the E112 scheme in each of the years 2009 to 2013, inclusive, and to date in 2014; and if he will provide a list of the specific treatments to which these payments pertained, including details of the total amount paid in respect of each type of treatment. [20166/14]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The HSE Treatment Abroad Scheme issues form E112 (IE) for specific episodes of care which an approved patient receives in a public hospital in the EU, EEA or Switzerland. The Health Authority of these countries issue invoices for care provided to the HSE in the form of E125s. These invoices (E125s) are received in arrears - often up to 2 and 3 years in arrears. Therefore the figures detailed below are the current costs on this date and are liable to change as invoices for previous years are received and paid and should be read in that context.

The HSE Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS) was centralised into a single office in 2012. Prior to this it was administered at various local offices. Comprehensive figures for the TAS prior to the centralisation of the Scheme are not available.

YearCostComment
2009Figures for 2009 are not available
2010€4,499,806.59The 2010 and 2011 information relates to information available through the central TAS office only. The comprehensive information from all previous 10 regional offices is not available.
2011€2,853,332.13The 2010 and 2011 information relates to information available through the central TAS office only. The comprehensive information from all previous 10 regional offices is not available.
2012€7,415,570.00
2013€7,866,628.10
2014 to end March€2,492,801.06

Note: Please also bear in mind that the figures are likely to change as invoices from the various countries are received in arrears.

In the interest of patient confidentiality, the HSE cannot disclose details of all treatments which patients travel outside the state to receive. In line with patient confidentiality issues and data protection legislation, the HSE does not disclose information where the number of patients who availed of a particular treatment numbers less than five in any given year. On this basis, the following are the most common treatment types that patients accessed under the HSE Treatment Abroad Scheme: Deep Brain Stimulation; Cardiac Transplantation; Sap Scan; Liver Transplantation.

The Deputy has also sought costs per treatment. The HSE has apologised that it is not possible to give the costs in this way. The reasons for this are:

- The referring consultant stipulates the treating consultant and hospital abroad so referrals for the same treatment may be provided by different providers and even in different countries at different costs;

- The actual cost of a treatment is specific to the needs of the individual patient e.g. one patient may have no complications and be discharged early while another may have complications and require a greater input and/or duration of care.

Therefore to answer the Deputy’s query as to the actual cost of each treatment would require the HSE to provide the individual cost of the circa 1,000 episodes of care provided under the TAS in any given year. This in turn would have implications for patient confidentiality so regretfully that information is not available.

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