NTPF to treat long term patients 'within weeks'

The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has promised treatment within weeks for anyone waiting longer than three months for a surgical procedure.

In a statement released today, the fund claimed it has the capacity to deal with all patients on its waiting lists provided it is met with co-operation from GPs and hospitals.

This claim came despite admissions from the NTPF yesterday that almost a quarter of those on hospital waiting lists, including 286 children, were waiting for over a year.

NTPF chief executive Pat O'Byrne described this fact as "disappointing" yesterday, but today the fund insisted that it had the "beds, the budget and the capacity to offer timely treatment to many patients, particularly those on waiting lists for more than 12 months. No one should be waiting for treatment for more than three months."

The statement concluded by asking patients on the waiting lists for more than three months to lo-call 1890-720820 so the fund can "arrange their treatment within weeks".

Doctors and hospitals were also called on to be swift in referring patients in need of surgery to the NTPF.

Mr O'Byrne added that some hospital consultants were still not co-operating with the fund. Cork University Hospital, in particular, was not referring as many patients as it could to the fund.

The NTPF made its claim while responding to suggestions in the media that as many as 29,000 people across the country could be on waiting lists for surgery.

It was reported this morning that there could be almost 29,000 people on surgery waiting lists.

These numbers were extrapolated from waiting-list figures for 19 of the state's 35 hospitals published yesterday by the NTPF.

The reports assumed the possibility that because the 19 hospitals traditionally represented 74 per cent of patients on hospital waiting lists, there is then likely to be a further 7,000 plus on other waiting lists.

The NTPF today said this assumption is "without foundation" and said that there was actually a drop of 20 per cent on hospital waiting lists.

The fund was set up in 2002 to arrange private treatment for patients waiting long periods on public hospital waiting lists.

The Government had promised in 2001 that no patient would wait more than three months for surgery by the end of 2004.

The fund added that it is now in a position to write directly to patients on these waiting lists to offer them quicker treatment.