HC Deb 07 October 2003 vol 411 cc216-8W
Mr. Jon Owen Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients have been referred by the NHS in Northern Ireland to private healthcare providers(a) in England, (b) in Northern Ireland, (c) in Scotland, (d) in Wales and (e) abroad in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [131744]

Angela Smith

(a)-(e) Information on the number of patients referred to private health care providers across the United Kingdom and abroad is detailed.

Patients may be referred to private health care providers under two schemes

  1. 1. Extra Contractual referral scheme (ECR)
  2. 2. Waiting List Initiatives

Under the ECR scheme patients are referred to private health care providers, as the specialist treatment they require is not available locally in a NHS hospital.

Patients may also be transferred to private healthcare providers to reduce waiting lists at NHS hospitals.

There are four Health and Social Services Boards in Northern Ireland. Each Board has not been able to provide the data in the same format and in some instances data was not available (n/a). To obtain complete and consistent data would require a manual exercise, the costs of this would be disproportionate.

Table 1 details the number of patients transferred by Eastern, Northern and Southern Health Board Areas under the ECR scheme.

Table 2 details the number of patients transferred by Eastern, Northern and Southern Health Board Areas as part of Waiting List Initiatives.

Table 3 details the number of patients transferred by Western Health Board Area under both ECR schemes and Waiting List Initiatives.

The figures are for patients referred to private health care providers within the acute programme of care. A number of patients from the elderly, learning disability and mental health programmes of care are treated in nursing and residential homes managed by private health care providers.

Table 1: Number of patients from each Health Board Area referred for private treatment under the ECR scheme
Health Board of Residence Northern Ireland Abroad England Scotland Wales Mainland GB Total
20011 Eastern 0 2 22 3 1 26 28
2001–02 Northern 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 9 10
2001–02 Southern 3 2 0 0 0 0 5
20021 Eastern 0 12 13 0 0 13 25
2002–03 Northern 0 5 n/a n/a n/a 15 20
2002–03 Southern 3 1 1 0
20031 Eastern 0 3 10 0 0 10 13
2003–042 Northern n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2003–042 Southern 4 0 1 0 0 1 5
1Eastern Board figures are supplied for calendar years
2Data for 2003–04 covers the period 1 April 2003 to 22 September 2003

Table 2: Number of patients from each Health Board Area referred for
Health Board of Residence Northern Ireland Abroad England Scotland Wales Total
2000–01 Eastern 4 129 0 45 0 178
2000–01 Northern n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
2000–01 Southern 204 98 0 30 0 332
2001–02 Eastern 66 1,200 0 88 0 1,354
2001–02 Northern 53 0 0 54 0 107
2001–02 Southern 39 0 0 48 0 87
2002–03 Eastern 551 163 0 13 0 727
2002–03 Northern 196 86 0 30 0 312
2002–03 Southern 197 62 0 6 0 265
2003–041 Eastern 0 9 0 0 0 9
2003–041 Northern 0 100 0 0 0 100
2003–041 Southern 138 39 0 0 0 177
1Data for 2003–04 covers the period 1 April 2003 to 22 September 2003

Note:

Treatment as part of Waiting List Initiatives

Table 3: Number of Patients from Western Health Board Area referred to
Health Board of Residence Northern Ireland Abroad England Scotland Wales Total
1999–20001 Western 0 10 8 90 1 109
2000–01 Western 158 9 13 28 0 208
2001–02 Western 227 5 6 73 0 311
2002–03 Western 648 15 28 32 0 723
1Figures for transfers under waiting list initiatives were not available for 1999–2000

Note:

Data supplied for the Western Board Area includes all transfers to private healthcare providers

Mr. Jon Owen Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria is used by the NHS in Northern Ireland to decide when to refer a patient to a private healthcare provider for treatment. [131745]

Angela Smith

The decision to refer a patient to a private healthcare provider for treatment is based on a variety of factors, including the availability of the treatment on the health and social services in Northern Ireland or on the NHS in Great Britain and how long the patient may have to wait for such treatment, as well as the cost. Private health care providers also have to satisfy the appropriate Health and Social Services Board as to the quality of care that will be provided, including arrangements for the provision of any necessary aftercare.

Mr. Jon Owen Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money has been spent by the NHS in Northern Ireland to obtain healthcare from private healthcare providers in(a) in England, (b) in Northern Ireland, (c) in Scotland, (d) in Wales and (e) abroad in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [131746]

Angela Smith

The information requested is not available centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.