The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards, provides for exceptional needs payments to help meet essential, once-off expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of his or her weekly income. In determining entitlement to an exceptional needs payment, the health board must be satisfied that an exceptional need exists which cannot be met from other sources. As a general rule, the supplementary welfare allowance scheme is not used to fund medical services or costs directly incurred in the delivery of medical services.
The South Eastern Health Board was contacted regarding this case and has advised that the couple in question made an application for an exceptional needs payment in respect of the cost of an alternative medical treatment. In the opinion of the board, the expenses in question are not considered appropriate to the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The matter is being considered as a health services issue by the board, which is now examining the possibility of providing the treatment directly or of contributing to the cost of it for the couple through that system.