Vol. 416 No. 6
292 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the amount spent by each health board on funding patients to travel overseas for operations which are not available here in each of the years between 1988 and 1991; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The detailed information sought by the Deputy is not routinely collected by my Department, since it does not become involved in every case. Under the terms of the circular governing the referral abroad scheme, the chief executive officer of the referring health board can approve cases without reference to my Department where the total costs involved are less than £10,000.
The latest figures which are available are as follows: 1988 — £668,170 (114 cases) and 1990 — £2,484,942 (223 cases).
The increase in expenditure over recent years is due to a number of factors, principally an increasing number of referrals and the escalating costs of high technology treatments. While a significant proportion of the costs can be attributed to cases of liver transplants and heart-lung transplants, analysis of the data shows a wide range of other therapies and procedures is also involved.
