National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 July 2008

Thursday, 10 July 2008

Questions (132)

Olwyn Enright

Question:

131 Deputy Olwyn Enright asked the Minister for Health and Children the qualifying criteria for eligibility under the National Treatment Purchase Fund; the length of time a person has to be waiting for treatment to qualify under the NTPF; if previous waiting time with the Health Service Executive is taken into consideration when deciding the length of time a person has to wait for a procedure under the NTPF; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28412/08]

Written answers

Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney)

The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has responsibility for the collation of national waiting list data for in-patient and day-case hospital treatment. In order to assist it with this function, the NTPF has developed the Patient Treatment Register (PTR), based on named patients. The PTR is an on-line, verified database of public in-patient and day case waiting lists.

A person may qualify for surgical treatment through the NTPF once his or her name has been on a waiting list for three months or more. For the purpose of making an offer of treatment, the NTPF measures waiting time from the date on which a person was placed on a waiting list.