Vol. 414 No. 10
112 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Health if she will give details of (1) the instances in 1991 whereby patients presenting for hip replacements have been transferred to facilities outside this State, (2) the number of such cases to date in 1991, (3) the health board areas in which these instances occurred, (4) the cost of each case and (5) whether this cost was met by her Department or by the individual health board concerned.
The North-Western Health Board have an arrangement with the Western Health and Social Services Board in Northern Ireland whereby patients from County Donegal who require hip replacement are operated on in County Derry. Convalescent services are provided in the board's own district hospitals.
The number of such patients who have been operated on to date in 1991 is 56. The average cost per case was £2,244 which was met by the North-Western Health Board.
No other health board referred patients abroad for such treatment.
