Under the Health (Amendment) Act 1986, health boards may impose charges on all patients for treatment arising out of injuries sustained in road traffic accidents where compensation is subsequently payable. The Act does not withdraw eligibility for public hospital services from road traffic accident victims, but allows health boards to recover the costs of all services provided to the them. Following enactment of the legislation my Department directed that charges be calculated on the basis of the hospital's average daily cost. Following legal challenge, the Supreme Court, on 11 July 2001 in the judgment referred to by the Deputy, ruled that this costing approach is reasonable, proper and intra vires the Health (Amendment) Act 1986.
Letters were issued by my Department to the health boards outlining the judgment and directing them to charge the average daily cost in all road traffic accident cases. An implication of the judgment was that some bills previously issued by health boards may have had to be reviewed upwards. My Department outlined the steps to be followed in calculating outstanding amounts to ensure that the full average daily cost was recovered.
