ALMOST 20,000 people have been waiting over a year for a procedure at a Cork hospital, according to figures released to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.
However, she says, there’s been an 80% drop in the number of patients on hospital waiting lists inquiring about availing of treatment abroad under the EU Cross Border Health Care directive.
The same figures show a 55% decrease in the number of Irish patients getting reimbursements for medical procedures abroad under the directive between 2018 and 2023.
Under the EU directive, the HSE will reimburse patients who travel to another EU country for the medical procedure they are waiting for but will not cover travel and accommodation costs.
The HSE spent €9m in 2023 reimbursing patients who were on waiting lists here but opted to have the treatment carried out in another EU country. That figure is down from just over €15m in 2020.
‘There are over 700,000 Irish people on hospital waiting lists for treatments such as surgery, orthopaedics, and gynaecology. Many of those would avail of the chance to have that treatment paid for in another EU country but we can only surmise that patients on waiting lists do not know about the scheme,’ said Ms Ní Mhurchú.
She has called on the HSE to write to patients on waiting lists and advise they have the right to have their procedures carried out in another EU country and that the HSE will cover the cost of the medical treatment. That will have the dual impact of reducing our hospital waiting lists but also giving patients the options to travel abroad for treatment, she concluded.
