Report finds waiting list fund misdirected

Only scant details emerged yesterday of the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, which found that up to €70 million of the public money in a scheme to clear waiting lists was used to recruit consultants.

This was almost half the money channelled into the scheme between 1998 and 2002, it is believed.

The report is understood to conclude that money is being sucked into the health service generally instead of being used to specifically tackle waiting lists. It also found that the Treatment Purchase Fund programme introduced last year was a more effective means of reducing waiting lists than the Waiting List Initiative of 1993, which is still in place.

The Treatment Purchase Fund was efficient because it allocates money for specific procedures for specific patients.

By contrast, money allocated under the Waiting List Initiative was released into spending systems which varied between health boards and hospitals. Some used the money to recruit additional staff and consultants.