AQW 30671/22-27
Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry
Tabled Date: 09/09/2025
Answered On Date: 24/09/2025
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to outline how his Department is communicating the application process for the EU Treatment Scheme to patients and to healthcare providers who may be supporting them.
Answer:
The Department ensured to establish a central information hub as part of the Waiting List Scheme launch. The online information hub provides all necessary procedural guidance, parameters of the scheme and key performance indicators for application submission and approval processes. Timelines have been clearly articulated to help support applicants across the application journey with a reinforcement that this readily accessible information hub provides all necessary information. This hub managed by a dedicated Scheme team who are available Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm. A dedicated helpline has been set up to provide guidance on the process from start to finish, assisting with any and all ad hoc questions prospective applicants may have. Applicants can seek assistance through telephone, email and were appropriate face to face scheduled assistance. The Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme was launched on 2 June 2025 with Phase one covering the Republic of Ireland. Phase two, launched 15 September 2025, extends access to the wider European Union. Through a well-established communications and engagement plan, details of the Scheme, both Phase one and Phase two launches, were communicated to both internal and external stakeholders inclusive of HSC Trusts, General Practitioners and other professional bodies. The Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme is a patient led Scheme. In choosing to arrange healthcare themselves, the patient is effectively stepping outside of the HSC system. At this point, the patient is taking individual responsibility for ensuring that the service they obtain is appropriate and safe within the laws of ROI or EU (not under UK legislation). The Department of Health under this scheme will not be formally commissioning services from providers abroad and therefore will not be liable for the outcome of the treatment provided. The Waiting list Scheme is a reimbursement only scheme and one of many initiatives I have in place to tackle the overall waits within Northern Ireland. Discussions regarding alternative mechanisms to pay for treatment had been tabled, however, in the context of deliverability for patients and under requirement and readiness to go live by June 2025, a reimbursement scheme similar to that of previous Republic of Ireland reimbursement Scheme and the EU Cross Border Directive was agreed.
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