The National Treatment Purchase Fund is planning to expand the number of medical procedures it funds for public patients by 15 per cent to 22,000 this year it was confirmed.
Announcing its end of year results for 2005 in Waterford today, the NTPF said 18,994 patients were treated in last year. Over 40,000 patients have received operations under the programme.
The majority of these patients were treated in Irish private hospitals, with 705 patients travelling to hospitals in Northern Ireland, England and the US for treatment.
The NTPF is also allowed to purchase treatment for up to 10 per cent of its patients in public hospitals which have capacity to treat them.
This is permitted because, since 2004, public hospitals no longer receive waiting list funding from the Department of Health for treating patients on the waiting list. The NTPF uses this public capacity to get patients treated in specialities not readily available in the private sector.
Maureen Lynott, NTPF chairwoman said: "The results for 2005 show a strong and continuing demand for the services provided by the NTPF.
"A strong referral pattern from hospitals is important for the NTPF to arrange patients' treatment faster. We will be concentrating on hospitals where the rate of referrals is below the national average."
This year the NTPF has a budget of €78 million this year and it hope to carry out 6,000 out-patient procedures.
Chief executive of the NTPF Pat O'Byrne said the aim of the fund was to get patients treated as quickly as possible. "We continue to help reduce the time that public patients have to wait for treatment by using spare capacity in other hospitals to treat these patients as outlined in the health strategy targets."
