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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 21 Apr 1998

Vol. 489 No. 6

Written Answers. - Health Board Funding.

Dan Neville

Question:

386 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Health and Children the way in which per capita allocation to health care is calculated; and the reason for the wide discrepancy between health board regions. [8563/98]

The figures for the per capita expenditure allocation for health care are calculated by reference to the expenditure allocation approved for each health board area, for the board itself, voluntary hospitals in the area, and homes for the mental handicapped in the area. The aggregate of these expenditure allocations is divided by the population of the health board area to produce the per capita expenditure allocation. It should be noted that the expenditure per head of population is an arithmetic average and should be treated with caution. It is an unweighted average and does not take into consideration a number of demographic and geographical factors. Cross-regional comparisons of health expenditure are notoriously difficult.

The apparent differences in the per capita allocation between health board regions is due to the fact that based on national policy, people from various areas avail of regional specialities outside their area which would not be reflected in the average for their board. The same applies to patient traffic flows where for historical, clinical or other reasons, patients may travel to other centres for treatment. These movements can be quite significant.

The apparent differences in the cost of health care in each region is also influenced by other factors such as access to higher specialities outside the area, density of population and the present development of the services.

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