The Health Service Executive has confirmed to a Cork TD that it does not audit the outcomes of patients sent overseas under the Treatment Abroad Scheme, does not record whether those patients recover or deteriorate, and has no unit responsible for overseeing their clinical care.
Independent Ireland deputy, Ken O’Flynn, said the admissions came in a series of replies from the Office of the Chief Clinical Officer.
“Taken together, they describe a scheme that spends public money sending Irish patients abroad for treatment they cannot get at home, and then loses sight of them entirely,” he said.
The Cork North-Central TD said that “The HSE confirmed, in its own words:
“That no audits have been conducted since 2020 on clinical outcomes or patient safety for procedures funded under the scheme. Six years without a single audit.”
“That there is “no unit within the HSE with specific responsibility for oversight of clinical outcomes” under the scheme. Nobody owns it.”
“That the data held relates only to activity and expenditure, not outcomes. The State records what these treatments cost and how many people go. It does not record whether they worked.”
“That follow-up care for patients returning home is “individualised,” which is to say there is no system for it at all.”
“And that there is no single definition of clinical or medical necessity applied when approving who qualifies.”
Deputy O’Flynn said he wanted to be “clear about what I am and am not saying.”
“I am not claiming any patient has been harmed. The point is worse than that. If a patient were harmed, the State would have no way of knowing, because nobody is auditing outcomes, nobody is recording them, and nobody has been given responsibility for them. You cannot spot a problem you have decided not to look for,” he said.
“These are seriously ill people, sent thousands of miles from home for treatment this State could not give them,” he said.
“The very least they are owed is that someone checks how they got on. Instead, the moment the invoice is paid, the system stops watching.”
“I am calling on the Minister to establish, without delay, a dedicated unit with clear responsibility for clinical outcomes under the Treatment Abroad Scheme, to begin auditing those outcomes, and to put in place a proper system of follow-up care for every patient who returns to the State,” he added.
“The State was willing to pay for these treatments. It should be willing to find out whether they worked,” he said.